The Canadian Senate chamber.ADRIAN WYLD/The Canadian Press
Senators are preventing two bills passed by the elected House of Commons from becoming law – obstruction that critics say is undemocratic and being fuelled by partisan politics.
In one case, Conservative senators are making amendment after amendment to prevent a final vote on a bill that would tweak the wording of O Canada to make it gender neutral. That bill has been before the Senate for the past 16 months.
In the other, senators in the independent Liberal caucus have repeatedly adjourned debate on a bill introduced by former Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose. That has prevented the legislation from going to a committee where it can be studied.
Ms. Ambrose's bill, which would require sexual-assault training for judges, has been at the Senate since May. That is not a long time in parliamentary terms, but it was passed with unanimous consent and with the support of all parties in the House of Commons. Ms. Ambrose is more than frustrated.
"This has been a long-standing issue in the judiciary," she said in a telephone interview. "We need people that are presiding over cases to understand the law. It just goes to basic competency."
Just this week, Quebec's Justice Minister asked the province's judicial council to investigate a judge who commented on the physical appearance of a teenage sexual-assault victim and suggested she was flattered by the attention.
"We have constitutional experts in favour of this bill, we even have chief justices that have been in favour of the bill," Ms. Ambrose said. "I am left to think that it is pure politics."
Senator Joan Fraser, an independent Liberal who has opposed the bill in the Senate and who has called for adjournment of the debate on Ms. Ambrose's bill, is travelling and could not be reached for comment.
Senator Raynell Andreychuk, the Conservative who is sponsoring the bill in the Senate, said she does not yet have an opinion about whether it is being deliberately delayed. Some senators say their colleagues who oppose the legislation merely want to have their say.
"I will encourage them to finish that debate and see that it goes to committee," Ms. Andreychuk said.
Ms. Ambrose is not convinced that will happen soon. She said she has been unable to get so much as a courtesy meeting with those senators who have stopped the bill from going forward.
Karina Gould, the Minister of Democratic Institutions, said in an e-mail that she has confidence in "the good work" the Senate does as a chamber of sober second thought.
But Nathan Cullen, the NDP critic for ethics and democratic reform, said the Senate's delay of bills passed by elected MPs is a fundamental offence to democracy.
"It's about authority. What moral authority do a group of unelected, unaccountable people have over the elected House?" asked Mr. Cullen, whose party supports Senate abolition.
Duff Conacher, the co-founder of Democracy Watch, a non-profit organization that advocates for accountability in government, agrees with Mr. Cullen.
The fact that the Senate can block bills is dangerous, Mr. Conacher said. "We're going to end up with the kind of gridlock they have in the U.S." he said, "but it will be even worse because the gridlock is going to be caused by appointed people who were given a job for life by a prime minister from one party or another."
The bill to amend the national anthem was introduced in the House of Commons by Liberal MP Mauril Bélanger, who has since passed away.
Last week, Senator Frances Lankin, who is sponsoring Mr. Bélanger's bill in the Senate, wrote to Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer pleading with him to ask the small number of Conservative senators who are blocking it to "end the games" and allow the bill to come to a vote.
That prompted outrage from Conservative Senator Don Plett, who is one of those taking part in the delay tactics. He accused Ms. Lankin of violating his parliamentary privilege, telling the Senate her letter to Mr. Scheer "undermines the independence of this chamber and the ability of senators to carry out their functions independently."
Mr. Plett did not return phone calls this week.
But Ms. Lankin said the bill is being stalled by a "dilatory use" of Senate rules. She said the Conservative senators are hoping they can delay a vote on the bill long enough that it will die when Parliament is prorogued.
Some senators have said the act of holding up a bill that was passed by the elected House of Commons will cast the Senate in a bad light, Ms. Lankin said. "And those of us who have been making that argument say it loudly."