Trudeau gives Liberal convention red meat rhetoric on Senate reform

MONTREAL – Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is accusing his political rivals of playing with fire on Senate reform.

Trudeau’s speech to the Liberal convention in Montreal today had scant specifics on economic policy as he instead took aim at the Senate issue, a sensitive spot for the Harper Conservatives.

He said Prime Minister Harper and NDP leader Tom Mulcair are making dangerous promises to try to score political points over public anger with the upper chamber.

Trudeau said Harper is still preaching the need for an elected Senate even though he knows it would require opening the constitution.

Trudeau said Mulcair has out and out promised to open the constitution to address Senate reform.

Trudeau says Senator Mike Duffy is not worth risking another Meech Lake-style constitutional crisis over.

Duffy, along with Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau, are three of the Senators who have been at the heart of the ongoing Senate expense scandal.

Trudeau highlighted the fact that they were all appointed by Harper and used it to counter Conservative attacks that he is too inexperience and lacks the judgement to be prime minister.

”Anyone who put Pamela Wallin, Mike Duffy and Pat Brazeau into the Senate might want to be careful about making judgement a campaign issue,” Trudeau said to loud cheers.

Trudeau initiated his own form of Senate reform this year by kicking out Liberal Senators from the Parliamentary caucus, a move that was decried by the Conservatives and New Democrats as a gimmick.