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84-677: The majority of Independent Senators Group members have been Canadians who have applied directly to the Senate through the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments . The Advisory Board, when convened by the Prime Minister, reviews applications in provinces and territories where there are planned or current vacancies. Organizations and individuals are also encouraged to nominate high-quality individuals whom they consider to be potential candidates for appointment to

168-603: A whip designate an individual to serve as a liaison; they have accordingly been compared to technical groups or crossbenchers in other jurisdictions. By contrast, the Conservative group remains affiliated with the federal party with its members attending caucus meetings with its members of the House of Commons; they follow the party whip as a condition of continued affiliation. A majority of sitting senators are women. As of September 7, 2023 , there are 51 women in

252-594: A Committee of the Whole for a number of purposes, including to consider legislation or to hear testimony from individuals. Nominees to be officers of Parliament often appear before Committee of the Whole to answer questions with respect to their qualifications prior to their appointment. The Senate also has several standing committees, each of which has responsibility for a particular area of government (for example, finance or transport). These committees consider legislation and conduct special studies on issues referred to them by

336-620: A Senate appointment at any time, or nominate someone they believe meets the merit criteria. The original Senate chamber was lost to the fire that consumed the Parliament Buildings in 1916. The Senate then sat in the mineral room of what is today the Canadian Museum of Nature until 1922, when it relocated to Parliament Hill . With the Centre Block undergoing renovations, temporary chambers have been constructed in

420-460: A bill are usually accepted by the Commons. The Senate tends to be less partisan and confrontational than the Commons and is more likely to come to a consensus on issues. It also often has more opportunity to study proposed bills in detail either as a whole or in committees. This careful review process is why the Senate is still today called the chamber of "sober second thought", though the term has

504-514: A divorce. If the committee found that the request had merit, the marriage would be dissolved by an Act of Parliament . A similar situation existed in Ontario before 1930. This function has not been exercised since 1968 as the Divorce Act provided a uniform statutory basis across Canada accessed through the court system. Larry Campbell Larry W. Campbell (born 28 February 1948)

588-452: A large margin of 58% to 30% for his nearest opponent. Shortly after Campbell's election, divisions began to emerge within his COPE party between a centrist group, led by Campbell and a more left-wing group. On 14 December 2004, Campbell and councillors Jim Green , Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson announced that they would form an independent caucus within COPE. The media quickly dubbed

672-400: A point of order if a rule (or standing order) has been breached, on which the speaker makes a ruling. However, the speaker's decisions are subject to appeal to the whole Senate. When presiding, the speaker remains impartial, while maintaining membership in a political party. Unlike the speaker of the House of Commons , the speaker of the Senate does not hold a casting vote, but, instead, retains

756-462: A political party and there has been no government caucus in the Senate. On December 6, 2016, for the first time in Canadian history the number of senators without a partisan affiliation exceeded that of the largest parliamentary group of senators with a partisan affiliation, and on October 17, 2017, the largest parliamentary group became one composed of senators unaffiliated with a political party. By

840-399: A population of about five million, sends six senators to Ottawa, whereas Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, both with populations under one million, are entitled to 10 senators each. Only Quebec has a share of senators approximate to its share of the total population. Senators must possess land worth at least $ 4,000 and have residency in the province or territory for which they are appointed. In

924-555: A rule introduced to ensure senators were not beholden to economic vagaries and turmoil. There is a mandatory retirement age of 75. A sitting senator is disqualified from holding office if they: Each province and territory is entitled to its number of Senate seats specified in section 22. That section divides most of the provinces of Canada geographically among four regions, with one province and all three territories remaining outside any division. The divisions have equal representation of 24 senators each: Western Canada , Ontario, Quebec, and

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1008-453: A senator-in-waiting in 1998 and 2004, and appointed to the Senate in 2007 on the recommendation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper ; and the third was Betty Unger , elected in 2004 and appointed in 2012. The base annual salary of a senator was $ 150,600 in 2019, although members may receive additional salaries in right of other offices they hold (for instance, the title of Speaker). Most senators rank immediately above Members of Parliament in

1092-426: A short list of recommended candidates to the Prime Minister, who is not bound to accept them. Some provinces refused to participate, stating that it would make the situation worse by lending the Senate some legitimacy. From the beginning of the new appointments process in 2016 until April 2023, 66 new senators, all selected under this procedure, were appointed to fill vacancies. All Canadians may now apply directly for

1176-492: A slightly different meaning from what it did when used by John A. Macdonald. The format of the Senate allows it to make many small improvements to legislation before its final reading. The Senate, at times, is more active at reviewing, amending, and even rejecting legislation. In the first 60 years after Confederation, approximately 180 bills were passed by the House of Commons and sent to the Senate that subsequently did not receive Royal Assent, either because they were rejected by

1260-611: A spinoff, Da Vinci's City Hall , in which the Da Vinci character followed his real-life counterpart into politics. He was also one of several coroners who dismissed the murders of several indigenous women in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver between 1967 and 1985 as "unnatural and accidental." Campbell was elected mayor in the 2002 Vancouver municipal election as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors , by

1344-462: A vote of 43 to 32. Historically, before the passage of the Divorce Act in 1968, there was no divorce legislation in either Quebec or Newfoundland . The only way for couples to get divorced in these provinces was to apply to Parliament for a private bill of divorce. These bills were primarily handled by the Senate, where a special committee would undertake an investigation of a request for

1428-570: Is a Canadian politician who was the 37th mayor of Vancouver , Canada, from 2002 until 2005, and a member of the Senate of Canada from 2005 until his retirement in 2023. Before he was mayor, Campbell worked for the RCMP as a police officer, and in 1969, he was transferred to the Vancouver detachment. From 1973, he served as a member of the force's drug squad. Starting in 1981, Campbell worked for

1512-583: Is abolition". He declined to say how long he would allow vacancies to accumulate. Under the Constitution Act, 1867 , senators are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. If no such advice is forthcoming, according to constitutional scholar Adam Dodek , in "extreme cases, there is no question that the Governor General would be forced to exercise such power [of appointment] without advice". On December 5, 2015,

1596-698: Is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada . Together with the Crown and the House of Commons , they compose the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords with members appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister . The appointment is made primarily by four divisions, each having twenty-four senators: the Maritime division,

1680-404: Is theoretically equal; the approval of each is necessary for a bill's passage. In practice, however, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber of parliament, with the Senate very rarely exercising its powers in a manner that opposes the will of the democratically elected chamber. Although the Senate has not vetoed a bill from the House of Commons since 1939, minor changes proposed by the Senate to

1764-516: The 1989 Alberta Senate nominee election were non-binding. Following the Canadian Senate expenses scandal Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared a moratorium on further appointments. Harper had advocated for an elected Senate for decades, but his proposals were blocked by a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that requires a constitutional amendment approved by a minimum of seven provinces, whose populations together accounted for at least half of

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1848-542: The Canadian Senate . On 29 January 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal senators, including Campbell, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents. According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan , the senators will still refer to themselves as Liberals even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. On 6 April 2016, Campbell left

1932-557: The Canadian federal election of 1988 ) and the Goods and Services Tax . In the 1990s, the Senate rejected four pieces of legislation: a bill passed by the Commons restricting abortion (C-43), a proposal to streamline federal agencies (C-93), a bill to redevelop the Lester B. Pearson Airport (C-28), and a bill on profiting from authorship as it relates to crime (C-220). From 2000 to 2013,

2016-467: The Maritimes . The Western division comprises British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, each having 6 seats. The Maritimes division comprises New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, who each have 10 seats, and Prince Edward Island, which has 4 seats. Newfoundland and Labrador is represented by six senators. The Northwest Territories , Yukon and Nunavut have one senator each. Quebec senators are

2100-917: The Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the British North America Act 1867 (now entitled the Constitution Act, 1867 ), uniting the Province of Canada (as two separate provinces, Quebec and Ontario ), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into a single federal Dominion . The Canadian parliament was based on the Westminster system (that is, the model of the Parliament of the United Kingdom). Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald , described

2184-497: The Quiet Revolution and the rise of Western alienation . The first change to the Senate was in 1965, when a mandatory retirement age of 75 years was set. Appointments made before then were for life. In the 1970s, the emphasis was on increased provincial involvement in the senators' appointments. Since the '70s, there have been at least 28 major proposals for constitutional Senate reform, and all have failed, including

2268-414: The Senate of Canada Building , where the Senate began meeting in 2019. There are chairs and desks on both sides of the chamber, divided by a centre aisle. A public gallery is above the chamber. The dais of the speaker is at one end of the chamber, and includes the new royal thrones , made in part from English walnut from Windsor Great Park . Outside of Parliament Hill, most senators have offices in

2352-609: The Victoria Building across Wellington Street. Senators are appointed by the governor general via the recommendation of the prime minister. Traditionally, members of the prime minister's party were chosen. The constitution requires that a person be a subject of the King, between 30 and 75 years of age and a resident of the province or territory for which they are appointed, to become a senator. Senators must also own property worth at least $ 4,000 above their debts and liabilities,

2436-718: The order of precedence , although the speaker is ranked just above the speaker of the House of Commons and both are a few ranks higher than the remaining senators. While for much of the Senate's history, most senators were affiliated with the same federal political parties that seek seats in elections to the House of Commons, this has changed in the 21st century and the large majority of current senators have no formal partisan affiliations. From 1867 to 2015, prime ministers normally chose members of their own parties to be senators, though they sometimes nominated non-affiliated senators or members of opposing parties. Since November 4, 2015, all newly appointed Senators have not been affiliated with

2520-606: The 1987 Meech Lake Accord , and the 1992 Charlottetown Accord . Starting in the 1980s, proposals were put forward to elect senators. After Parliament enacted the National Energy Program Western Canadians called for a Triple-E (elected, equal, and effective) senate. In 1982 the Senate was given a qualified veto over certain constitutional amendments. In 1987 Alberta legislated for the Alberta Senate nominee elections . Results of

2604-645: The CSG was former facilitator Elaine McCoy. On November 14, 2019, the government's legislative deputy representative Diane Bellemare left her position and joined the ISG. On January 24, 2020, Senator Marc Gold left the Independent Senators Group, including his position as Caucus Liaison, to sit as a non-affiliated senator following his agreeing to become the new Representative of the Government in

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2688-426: The House of Commons and remain in office only so long as they retain the confidence of that chamber. Parliament is composed of the two houses together with the " Crown-in-Parliament " (i.e. the monarch , represented by the governor general as viceroy ). The approval of both houses is necessary for legislation to become law, and thus the Senate can reject bills passed by the House of Commons. Between 1867 and 1987,

2772-432: The House of Commons is the lower house, this does not imply the former is more powerful than the latter. It merely entails that its members and officers outrank the members and officers of the Commons in the order of precedence for the purposes of protocol. In fact, the opposite is true; as a matter of practice and custom, the House of Commons is the dominant chamber. The prime minister and Cabinet are responsible solely to

2856-586: The House of Commons. Because the Senate's schedule for debate is more flexible than that of the House of Commons, the government will sometimes introduce particularly complex legislation in the Senate first. In conformity with the British model, the Senate is not permitted to originate bills imposing taxes or appropriating public funds. Unlike in Britain but similar to the United States, this restriction on

2940-537: The ISG joined with two Conservative senators and one non-affiliated senator to form a new non-partisan parliamentary group known as the Canadian Senators Group . Speaking with CTV News ' Don Martin, CSG interim leader Scott Tannas cited the concern that the ISG— then numbering 58 members— had become too large, and that a "wider range of views and approaches" was needed. Included among those decamping to

3024-572: The ISG on December 2, 2016, passing a motion to fund the Independent Senators Group for the next two fiscal years. It was also agreed to make appointments of non-affiliated senators to committees proportionate to their numbers. However, the ISG's assigned budget of C$ 722,000 for 2017–2018 was less than the C$ 1 million allotted to each of the partisan caucuses. Beginning in January 2017, the official Senate website distinguished affiliations between members of

3108-514: The Independent Senators Group and other non-affiliated senators by listing ISG members as "Non-affiliated (ISG)". Several non-affiliated senators, including Speaker of the Senate of Canada George Furey and Representative of the Government in the Senate Peter Harder (along with two senators who share responsibilities with them) remain entirely non-affiliated and are not members of the ISG. On May 17, 2017 senators voted to remove

3192-573: The Quebec division, the Ontario division, and the Western division. Newfoundland and Labrador is not part of any division, and has six senators. Each of the three territories has one senator, bringing the total to 105 senators. Senate appointments were originally for life; since 1965, they have been subject to a mandatory retirement age of 75. Although the Senate is the upper house of parliament and

3276-476: The Senate . After the establishment of the Progressive Senate Group in late 2019, several ISG members left to join that caucus throughout 2020 and 2021: Patricia Bovey, Marty Klyne, Brian Francis and Margaret Dawn Anderson. On February 1, 2021, former senator Murray Sinclair was announced as the group's first Indigenous Advisor. On November 29, 2021, the ISG announced that Saint-Germain

3360-806: The Senate a non-partisan body. The growing number of these appointments created a challenge within the upper house as it had always been organized along partisan lines and there were no mechanisms in place to deal with a large number of independent senators, in terms of funding or appointments to committees, whereas the Conservative and Senate Liberal Caucuses were funded and guaranteed appointments. On March 10, 2016, six non-affiliated senators, former Independent Progressive Conservative Senator Elaine McCoy , former Conservative caucus members Jacques Demers , John D. Wallace , Michel Rivard and Diane Bellemare and former Liberal Pierrette Ringuette formed an independent, non-partisan working group that would "ensure

3444-399: The Senate and may hold hearings, collect evidence, and report their findings to the Senate. Standing committees consist of between nine and fifteen members each and elect their own chairmen. Special committees are appointed by the Senate on an ad hoc basis to consider a particular issue. The number of members for a special committee varies, but, the partisan composition would roughly reflect

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3528-574: The Senate and whom they feel meet the assessment criteria. Individuals who are nominated for a Senate appointment are still required to submit an online application. In January 2014, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau proposed the Senate should be made non-partisan, to better serve Canadians. He suggested an "open, transparent, non-partisan process" that would see all senators named to the Red Chamber sit as Independents. The Trudeau government began appointing independent senators, which in theory would make

3612-512: The Senate as a body of "sober second thought" that would curb the "democratic excesses" of the elected House of Commons and provide regional representation. He believed that if the House of Commons properly represented the population, the upper chamber should represent the regions. It was not meant to be more than a revising body or a brake on the House of Commons. Therefore, it was deliberately made an appointed house, since an elected Senate might prove too popular and too powerful and be able to block

3696-466: The Senate committees is the Committee of the Whole, which, as the name suggests, consists of all senators. The Committee of the Whole meets in the chamber of the Senate, but proceeds under slightly modified rules of debate. (For example, there is no limit on the number of speeches a senator may make on a particular motion.) The presiding officer is known as the chairman. The Senate may resolve itself into

3780-474: The Senate currently has fewer than 105 members again, with 9 vacancies as of December 29, 2023 . The presiding officer of the Senate is the speaker , who is appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister. The speaker is assisted by a speaker pro tempore ("Current Speaker"), who is elected by the Senate at the beginning of each parliamentary session. If the Speaker is unable to attend,

3864-454: The Senate or were passed by the Senate with amendments that were not accepted by the Commons. In contrast, fewer than one-quarter of that number of bills were lost for similar reasons in the sixty-year period from 1928 to 1987. The late 1980s and early 1990s was a period of contention. During this period, the Senate opposed legislation on issues such as the 1988 free trade bill with the US (forcing

3948-413: The Senate out of 94 sitting members (54.4%). The Senate has generally had a higher level of female representation than the House of Commons throughout history. The number of female senators equalled males for the first time ever on November 11, 2020, and surpassed males for the first time on October 2, 2022. There is some debate as to whether there is any requirement for the prime minister to advise

4032-467: The Senate rejected 75 bills in total. In December 2010, the Senate rejected Bill C-311 , involving greenhouse gas regulation that would have committed Canada to a 25 per cent reduction in emissions by 2020 and an 80 per cent reduction by 2050. The bill was passed by all the parties except the Conservatives in the House of Commons and was rejected by the majority Conservatives in the Senate on

4116-417: The Senate rejected fewer than two bills per year, but this has increased in more recent years. Although legislation can normally be introduced in either chamber, the majority of government bills originate in the House of Commons, with the Senate acting as the chamber of "sober second thought" (as it was called by John A. Macdonald , Canada's first prime minister). The Senate came into existence in 1867, when

4200-517: The Senate who are not members include the clerk, the deputy clerk, the law clerk, and several other clerks. These officers advise the speaker and members on the rules and procedure of the Senate. Another officer is the Usher of the Black Rod , whose duties include the maintenance of order and security within the Senate chamber. The Usher of the Black Rod bears a ceremonial black ebony staff, from which

4284-415: The Senate's internal economy committee required all senators to provide documents proving their residency in the provinces. There exists a constitutional provision—section 26 of the Constitution Act, 1867 —under which the sovereign may approve the appointment of four or eight extra senators, equally divided among the four regions. The approval is given by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister, and

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4368-408: The Senate. On April 12, 2016, seven new senators were sworn in, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 's hand-picked Representative of the Government in the Senate , Peter Harder . A series of additional appointments were announced for October and November 2016 that would fill all vacancies. Once these senators were summoned, the independent non-aligned senators became more numerous than either of

4452-632: The Standing Joint Committee on the Scrutiny of Regulations, which considers delegated legislation, and the Standing Joint Committee on the Library of Parliament, which advises the two speakers on the management of the library. Parliament may also establish special joint committees on an ad hoc basis to consider issues of particular interest or importance. Although legislation may be introduced in either chamber, most bills originate in

4536-674: The Supreme Court to determine whether women were eligible to become senators. In the Persons Case , the court unanimously held that women could not become senators since they were not "qualified persons". On appeal, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ruled that women were persons, and four months later, Cairine Wilson was appointed to the senate. In the 1960s, discussion of reform appeared along with

4620-694: The Vancouver District Coroner's office and in 1996 was appointed BC Chief Coroner, a post in which he served until 2000. Originally from Ontario and of Scottish descent, after high school Campbell's grandfather found him a job digging ditches for coaxial cable . Later he was a steel worker as a hand riveter in a boxcar plant in Hamilton . He joined the RCMP on a bet with a Hamilton municipal police officer. He spent about three years in uniform, but did not like to issue traffic tickets. He

4704-401: The appointment of senators to fill existing vacancies in 2014, arguing that the failure to do so violates the Constitution Act, 1867 . On July 24, 2015, Harper announced that he would not be advising the governor general to fill the 22 vacancies in the Senate, preferring that the provinces "come up with a plan of comprehensive reform or to conclude that the only way to deal with the status quo

4788-439: The bloc the "COPE Light" councillors (in contrast to the "COPE Classic" councillors). In 2005, the moderate group formed the centre-left Vision Vancouver party, but Campbell announced he would not run for re-election. On 2 August 2005, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced Campbell's appointment by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson as a Liberal senator. Campbell completed his term as mayor before taking up his seat in

4872-420: The caucus be approved by at least 60 percent of current ISG members. On October 30, 2017, the ISG became the largest caucus in the Senate. Following an agreement between the three Senate caucuses, a November 2, 2017 motion reallocating committee positions saw the ISG allotted both committee chair and committee member positions proportional to the size of their membership. On November 4, 2019, eight senators from

4956-450: The close of nominations on September 22, 2017, Yuen Pau Woo was the only candidate for facilitator with Raymonde Saint-Germain the only candidate for Deputy Facilitator. Larry Campbell had intended to run but decided to recuse himself. Woo and Saint-Germain were elected unopposed on September 25, 2017. In October 2017, the ISG replaced its previous informal approach to membership with a requirement that all new applicants for membership in

5040-415: The emerging AIDS pandemic, he became a strong advocate for progressive harm reduction policies, quipping that needle exchanges causing drug addiction "is like flies causing garbage". He served for 20 years, retiring as chief coroner for the province. As the city's former chief coroner , his life inspired a popular CBC Television drama called Da Vinci's Inquest . The show was later followed by

5124-404: The end of the 43rd Parliament , only 20 per cent of senators were affiliated with a political party, all members of the Conservative caucus. Senators are organized into one of four recognized parliamentary groups (or caucuses), or are described as non-affiliated if they are members of none. Three of the parliamentary groups have weak to nonexistent patterns of party discipline and in lieu of

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5208-545: The governor general is instructed to issue the necessary letters patent. This provision has been used only once: in 1990, when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney sought to ensure the passage of a bill creating the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The appointment of eight additional senators allowed a slight majority for the Progressive Conservative Party. There was one unsuccessful attempt to use Section 26, by Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie in 1874. It

5292-672: The governor general to appoint new senators to fill vacancies as they arise. In 2014, Leader of the Opposition Tom Mulcair argued that there is no constitutional requirement to fill vacancies. Constitutional scholar Peter Hogg has commented that the courts "might be tempted to grant a remedy" if the refusal to recommend appointments caused the Senate to be diminished to such a degree that it could not do its work or serve its constitutional function. Vancouver lawyer Aniz Alani filed an application for judicial review of Prime Minister Stephen Harper 's apparent refusal to advise

5376-511: The intent when the formula was struck was to achieve a balance of regional interests and to provide a house of "sober second thought" to check the power of the lower house when necessary. Therefore, the most populous province (Ontario) and two western provinces that were low-population at their accession to the federation and that are within a region are under-represented, while the Maritimes are over-represented. For example, British Columbia, with

5460-481: The members of the ISG elected McCoy to act as the group's facilitator until the end of the parliamentary term in June 2017. Unlike the two partisan caucuses, the ISG announced it would not have parliamentary whips and that its members would not vote together except on issues such as changes to Senate rules and logistics that would accommodate the existence and rights of independent senators. The Senate formally recognized

5544-499: The national population. In 2014, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau expelled all senators from the Liberal caucus and, as prime minister in 2016, created the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointment, both of which were attempts to make the Senate less partisan without requiring constitutional change. Members of the board include members from each jurisdiction where there is a vacancy. The board provides

5628-409: The new Liberal government announced a new merit-based appointment process, using specific new criteria as to eligibility for the Senate. Independent applicants, not affiliated with any political party, will be approved by a new five-member advisory board (to be in place by year end), a reform that was intended to begin eliminating the partisan nature of the Senate. At the time, there were 22 vacancies in

5712-416: The only ones to be assigned to specific districts within their province . This rule was adopted to ensure that both French- and English-speakers from Quebec were represented appropriately in the Senate. Like most other upper houses worldwide, the Canadian formula does not use representation by population as a primary criterion for member selection, since this is already done for the House of Commons. Rather,

5796-656: The party caucuses for the first time in the Senate's history. The independent senator group also grew to include over half the total number of senators. On December 12, 2018, the four remaining vacancies were filled in Nova Scotia, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Ontario. With these appointments, the Senate had a full complement of senators for the first time in over eight years. Since December 2018, additional senators have retired, resigned or died so

5880-651: The past, the residency requirement has often been interpreted liberally, with virtually any holding that met the property qualification, including primary residences, second residences, summer homes, investment properties, and undeveloped lots, having been deemed to meet the residency requirement; as long as the senator listed a qualifying property as a residence, no further efforts have typically been undertaken to verify whether they actually resided there in any meaningful way. Residency has come under increased scrutiny, particularly as several senators have faced allegations of irregularities in their housing expense claims. In 2013,

5964-402: The power of the Senate is not merely a matter of convention but is explicitly stated in the Constitution Act, 1867 . In addition, the House of Commons may, in effect, override the Senate's refusal to approve an amendment to the Canadian constitution; however, they must wait at least 180 days before exercising this override. Other than these two exceptions, the power of the two Houses of Parliament

6048-462: The province's Senate seats. These elections, however, are not held pursuant to any federal constitutional or legal provision; thus, the prime minister is not required to recommend the nominees for appointment. Only three senators-in-waiting have been appointed to the Senate: the first was Stan Waters , who was appointed in 1990 on the recommendation of Brian Mulroney; the second was Bert Brown , elected

6132-457: The requirement that a caucus must be formed by senators who are members of a political party, making the ISG equal under the rules of the senate with the two partisan caucuses. Following that change, McCoy stated that the ISG's influence in Senate standing committees will be increased to ensure its representation is proportional to the other caucuses. A formal secret ballot election was announced in June 2017 to replace facilitator Elaine McCoy . At

6216-401: The right to vote in the same manner as any other. As of the 44th Parliament , Senator Raymonde Gagné presides as Speaker of the Senate. The senator responsible for steering legislation through the Senate is the representative of the Government in the Senate , who is a senator selected by the prime minister and whose role is to introduce legislation on behalf of the government. The position

6300-458: The rights of equality" for all senators, "regardless of their political or non-political affiliation" while working to restore "public confidence" in the upper house "as a necessary and vital institution". In order to press for the recognition of the equal rights and obligations of non-affiliated senators and facilitate their activities, the group, which had grown to fifteen senators adopted the name "Independent Senators Group". On September 27, 2016

6384-461: The speaker pro tempore presides instead. Furthermore, the Parliament of Canada Act authorizes the speaker to appoint another senator to temporarily serve. Muriel McQueen Fergusson was the Parliament of Canada's first female speaker, holding the office from 1972 to 1974. The speaker presides over sittings of the Senate and controls debates by calling on members to speak. Senators may raise

6468-564: The strength of the parties in the whole Senate. These committees have been struck to study bills (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Bill C-36 (the Anti-terrorism Act ), 2001) or particular issues of concern (e.g., the Special Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs). Other committees include joint committees, which include both members of the House of Commons and senators. There are currently two joint committees:

6552-571: The title "black rod" arises. This position is roughly analogous to that of the sergeant-at-arms in the House of Commons , but the Usher's duties are more ceremonial in nature. The responsibility for security and the infrastructure lie with the director general of Parliamentary Precinct Services. The Parliament of Canada uses committees for a variety of purposes. Committees consider bills in detail and can make amendments. Other committees scrutinize various government agencies and ministries. The largest of

6636-584: The will of the House of Commons. In 2008 the Canadian Heraldic Authority granted the Senate, as an institution, a coat of arms composed of a depiction of the chamber's mace (representing the monarch's authority in the upper chamber) behind the escutcheon of the Arms of Canada . Discussion of Senate reform dates back to at least 1874, but to date there has been little meaningful change. In 1927, The Famous Five Canadian women asked

6720-568: Was created in 2016 to replace the former position of leader of the Government in the Senate. The opposition equivalent is the leader of the Opposition in the Senate is selected by the leader of the Official Opposition . However, if the Official Opposition in the Commons is a different party than the Official Opposition in the Senate (as was the case from 2011 to 2015), then the Senate party chooses its own leader. Officers of

6804-499: Was denied by Queen Victoria , on the advice of the British Cabinet. The clause does not result in a permanent increase in the number of Senate seats, however. Instead, an attrition process is applied by which senators leaving office through normal means are not replaced until after their province has returned to its normal number of seats. Since 1989, the voters of Alberta have elected "senators-in-waiting" , or nominees for

6888-531: Was elected as the new deputy facilitator, replacing Tony Dean . A 2017 CBC News study found that independent senators appointed by Justin Trudeau voted with the government 94.5 percent of the time. The Globe and Mail reported in May 2019 that Trudeau used Liberalist, a Liberal Party database, in order to vet prospective Senate appointees. Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments The Senate of Canada ( Quebec French : Sénat du Canada )

6972-425: Was elected by acclamation to be the next caucus facilitator. Tony Dean was announced as the new deputy facilitator. Under the ISG's charter, a facilitator can serve for a maximum of two two-year terms, meaning that incumbent facilitator Woo was term-limited. Woo congratulated Saint-Germain and pledged his full support. Saint-Germain and Dean's roles formally began on January 1, 2022. In June 2023, Bernadette Clement

7056-547: Was transferred to the drug squad in Vancouver where he worked in street enforcement mainly regarding heroin, including undercover work. He started a drug squad in Langley . Throughout his RCMP tenure, he never laid a single marijuana charge. After serving in the RCMP for 12 years, the provincial chief coroner told him that the new Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms would negatively impact his drug enforcement efforts and convinced him to become Vancouver's coroner. During

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