Sibbeston goes independent
NWT Senator quits Senate Liberal caucus; says partisanship is "dirty side" of politics in Ottawa
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Saturday, May 7, 2016
OTTAWA
NWT Senator Nick Sibbeston has quit the Senate Liberal caucus to sit as an independent for the remainder of his term.
NWT Senator quits Senate Liberal caucus to sit in upper chamber as true independent. - NNSL file photo
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He made the announcement in a news release yesterday. Even though Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled 32 Liberal senators from the Liberal caucus in 2014 before he became PM, Sibbeston said they were still independent Senate Liberals. He has now given that up all together and will sit as an independent with no party affiliation whatsoever.
"The Liberals that were kicked out still considered themselves Liberals but were independent in the sense that they were not aligned with the Liberal Party. They were not permitted into the Liberal caucus," Sibbeston said. "With me, there are now 23 independents in the Senate. We sit together as a group but we are not aligned with the Liberals or the Conservatives."
Sibbeston said he supported Trudeau's decision to expel the Liberal senators from the national caucus to reduce partisanship.
"The prime minister intends for the Senate to become more independent. For me, it is only logical to take the next step and join the growing number of independents in the chamber," Sibbeston stated in his news release.
Sibbeston was appointed to the Senate in 1999 by then-Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. He said he has fewer than three years left in his term as he must retire at age 75. He said he does not feel this move will hurt his relationship with the Liberal Party, Trudeau or any of the current Liberal cabinet ministers.
"I'm helping Mr. Trudeau have the Senate more independent and non-partisan because I am moving away from any suggestion that I have any Liberal leanings or Liberal attachments." Sibbeston said. "I would think that they wouldn't hold that against me."
Sibbeston said he saw partisanship at its worst during the decade when Conservative Stephen Harper was prime minister. He said it was very difficult to get a meeting with a Conservative cabinet minister because he was not in their party.
"I used to sometimes refer people to (Nunavut Senator) Dennis Patterson because he was a Conservative. In the interest of getting things done . I thought (there was) no use wasting my time because the minister is not going to react positively to me so I would send them to Dennis. That's the dirty side of the way politics works in Ottawa," Sibbeston said.
