List of current senators of Canada

The Senate Chamber, located in the Centre Block of Parliament Hill

This is a list of current members of the Senate of Canada (French: Le Sénat du Canada), the upper house of the Canadian Parliament. Unlike the Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, the 105 senators are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister.^[1] Senators originally held their seats for life; however, under the British North America Act, 1965, members may not sit in the Senate after reaching the age of 75. Prime ministers normally choose members of their own parties to be senators, though they sometimes nominate non-affiliated senators or members of opposing parties.

Seats are allocated on a regional basis, each of the four major regions receives 24 seats, and the remainder of the available seats being assigned to smaller regions. The four major regions are Ontario, Quebec, the Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), and the Western provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan). The seats for Newfoundland and Labrador, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut are assigned apart from these regional divisions.^[2] The province of Quebec has 24 Senate divisions that are constitutionally mandated. In all other provinces, a Senate division is strictly an optional designation of the senator's own choosing, and has no real constitutional or legal standing. A senator who does not choose a special senate division is considered a senator for the province at large.^[2] The distribution of seats has been criticized for not being proportional per region. For example, Ontario has 40 percent of Canada's population but only 24 seats, while the smaller Atlantic provinces have a combined 30,^[3] and British Columbia, the third most populous province, only has six seats.^[4]

As of 27 April 2017, there are 99 sitting senators and 6 vacancies. Of the sitting senators, 39 senators are members of the Senate Conservative Caucus, which is affiliated with the Conservative Party, 34 are members of the Independent Senators Group, 18 "Independent Liberals" (Senate Liberal Caucus), and 8 are unaffiliated.

The pattern of political affiliation in the Senate in the most recent era is distinct in several key respects from what has been the case historically. Since November 4, 2015, there has been no government caucus in the Senate because the Senate Liberal Caucus is not affiliated with the governing Liberal Party of Canada. On December 6, 2016, for the first time in Canadian history the number of senators without a partisan affiliation exceeded that of the largest caucus of senators with a partisan affiliation.

Active senators have been appointed on the advice of six different prime ministers: Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, Jean Chrétien, Brian Mulroney and Pierre Trudeau. Anne Cools is the longest-serving current senator; she was appointed on the advice of Pierre Trudeau in 1984. As of 6 December 2016, there are 44 women in the Senate.^[5]

Current senators

^ † Quebec is the only province with Senate divisions that are constitutionally mandated. In all other provinces, a Senate division is strictly an optional designation of the senator's own choosing, and has no real constitutional or legal standing. A senator who does not choose a special senate division is considered a senator for the province at large.^[2]

^ * Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau were suspended during the 41st Parliament and removed from the Conservative caucus. While suspended, they were unpaid and unable to debate or vote in the Senate. Their suspensions ended upon dissolution of the 41st Parliament on August 2, 2015. Brazeau was on a leave of absence with pay until charges against him were withdrawn in July 2016; he returned to the Senate on September 27, 2016.^[7] Duffy's suspension ended on April 21, 2016 when he was acquitted on all counts.

^ ‡ On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal senators were removed from the Liberal parliamentary caucus, and asked to sit as independents;^[9] however, the senators decided to refer to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus, though they no longer sit in caucus with Liberal MPs nor are they formally affiliated with the Liberal Party of Canada.^[10]

Vacancies and pending appointments

Standings

Seating plan of the Canadian Senate

Members of the Senate of Canada may sit as representatives of a political party if agreed by themselves and their party.
The current party standings in the Senate of Canada are as follows:

¹The group was formed by 15 non-affiliated Senators in September 2017, with Elaine McCoy being elected as the group's facilitator for a term ending June 2017 (by January 2017, 35 Senators were members of the ISG).^[7] In December 2016, the Senate passed a motion to fund the Independent Senators Group for the next two fiscal years.^[11] As of January 2017, the Parliament of Canada website distinguishes between non-affiliated Senators who belong to the Independent Senators Group (ISG) and those who do not.^[12]

² On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents. According to then-Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators refer to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus even though they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.^[10]

³ Senator Stephen Greene was expelled from the Conservative caucus on May 16, 2017, and designated himself as "Independent Reform" due to his previous allegiance to the defunct Reform Party of Canada.

Party standings since the last election

Appointment breakdown

Upcoming retirements

Seventeen current senators are scheduled to retire before the end of 2019:

1. Daniel Lang, August 15, 2017, Conservative (Harper) - Yukon, (early retirement)
2. George Baker, September 4, 2017, Independent Liberal, (Chrétien) - Newfoundland and Labrador
3. Elizabeth M. "Libbe" Hubley, September 8, 2017, Independent Liberal, (Chrétien) - Prince Edward Island
4. Kelvin Ogilvie, November 6, 2017, Conservative, (Harper) - Nova Scotia
5. Nancy Greene Raine, May 11, 2018, Conservative, (Harper) - British Columbia (Sun Peaks)
6. Betty Unger, August 8, 2018, Conservative, (Harper) - Alberta
7. Anne Cools, August 12, 2018, Independent Senators Group, (P. E. Trudeau) - Ontario (Toronto Centre-York)
8. Art Eggleton, September 29, 2018, Independent Liberal, (Martin) - Ontario
9. Nick Sibbeston, November 21, 2018, Independent Senators Group, (Chrétien) - Northwest Territories
10. Colin Kenny, December 10, 2018, Independent Liberal, (P. E. Trudeau) - Ontario (Rideau)
11. Ghislain Maltais, April 22, 2019, Conservative (Harper) - Quebec (Shawinigan)
12. Charlie Watt, June 29, 2019, Independent Liberal (P. E. Trudeau) - Quebec (Inkerman)
13. Raynell Andreychuk, August 14, 2019, Conservative (Mulroney) - Saskatchewan
14. Jacques Demers, August 25, 2019, Independent Senators Group (Harper) - Quebec (Rigaud)
15. Joan Fraser, October 12, 2019, Independent Liberal (Chrétien) - Quebec (De Lorimier)
16. Paul McIntyre, November 2, 2019, Conservative (Harper) - New Brunswick
17. Richard Neufeld, November 6, 2019, Conservative (Harper) - British Columbia (Charlie Lake)

Longevity

Furthest year of retirement of existing senators, by prime minister

• Charlie Watt, appointed by Pierre Trudeau, is due to retire on June 29, 2019
• David Tkachuk, appointed by Brian Mulroney, is due to retire on February 18, 2020
• Grant Mitchell, appointed by Paul Martin, is due to retire on July 19, 2026
• Pierrette Ringuette, appointed by Jean Chrétien, is due to retire on December 31, 2030
• Chantal Petitclerc, appointed by Justin Trudeau, is due to retire on December 15, 2044
• Patrick Brazeau, appointed by Stephen Harper, is due to retire on November 11, 2049

See also

• Canadian Senate seating plan
• List of Canadian Senate appointments by Prime Minister
• List of senators in the 42nd Parliament of Canada
• List of current Senators of Canada by age

References