Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to cut partisan ties with the Senate has been the most significant reform to the upper house in decades. The change has brought more rigorous attention to legislation and is also now a wild card for the Liberal government, which can no longer dictate or predict what the Senate will do. In recent weeks, the government made aggressive moves to pass Bill C-10 in the House of Commons, only to face a Senate that refused to rubber-stamp the controversial legislation. New Brunswick Senator David Richards, appointed by Trudeau in 2017, said in his speech on June 29 that Bill C-10 needs “a stake through the heart.” “I will always and forever stand against any bill that subjects freedom of expression to the doldrums of government oversight, and I implore others to do the same,” the long-time screenwriter and novelist said. Richards was one of five …