The Senate of Canada building and Senate Chamber are pictured in Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2019. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
A week after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his first picks for the Red Chamber, the federal government named almost a dozen people to its Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments.
In 2016, the previous Liberal government created the independent advisory board to provide non-binding recommendations on Senate appointments to the prime minister. But the board had become largely dormant under Carney, with most of the seats on it left vacant.
On Wednesday, the government announced its plans for the board. The statement said the board will continue to have three federal members, including a chair, and two additional members from each province or territory where a Senate vacancy is to be filled—the same as it was under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
A news release Wednesday said the board will be chaired by François Rolland, who has served as a federal member of the board since 2018.
Others named to the board include former senator Sarabjit Marwah, former mayor of Westmount Christina Smith and indigenous leader and retired provincial court judge James Igloliorte.
Melissa Blake, former mayor of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, has been on the board since 2018 and will continue as federal member.
Carney named four new senators to the upper chamber earlier this month, including his principal secretary Tom Pitfield and Conservative MP Richard Martel.
There are now 97 senators in the upper chamber and eight vacancies—one in Newfoundland and Labrador, one in Nova Scotia, one in Ontario and five in Quebec.
Two of the Quebec vacancies will be filled when Pitfield and Martel are sworn in.
Geeta Tucker of Manitoba and Rodney Ouellette of New Brunswick are already listed as senators, following their appointments last week.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed Carney selected Pitfield and Martel as appointees himself. Tucker and Ouellette were appointed following advice from the previous board.
The advisory board was part of former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s attempt to modernize the senate.
That plan included him naming senators as independents, and not as partisan members of a caucus. Trudeau had pushed all Liberal senators out of his caucus in 2014, before he became prime minister.
While the new appointment process did not bar people who had been involved in partisan politics, it was supposed to put a premium on merit and those appointed served as Independents. Senators can choose which caucus in the Red Chamber they join, or can choose not to join any.
The Conservatives are the only political party which maintains a caucus in the Senate. There are several others not directly affiliated with a party, including the Independent Senators Group, the Progressive Senate Group and the Canadian Senators Group.
Many of the senators Trudeau appointed had clear Liberal ties, including former provincial or federal Liberal politicians, and major party donors.
Carney announced last week he is dropping the non-partisan criteria for appointments to the upper chamber.
A news release from the Prime Minister’s Office also said Carney is putting an “enhanced focus” on Senate applicants with expertise in Canadian strategic industries, regulatory frameworks and emerging social and economic affairs.
