Fifteen new senator named in a push for a non-partisan senate
On Thurs, Oct. 27, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named nine senate appointees, and on Mon, Oct. 31, he announced an additional six representing Ontario in the Federal senate. The appointees are part of the Liberal government’s plan to reform the senate back to a non-partisan and independent chamber of sober second thought.
The change in appointment comes in response to the Liberal government’s promise to make changes to the reputation the senate has gained through controversies like the Mike Duffy expense scandal.
The new appointees come from a variety of backgrounds stretching from an art historian to a police commissioner. The seven women and six men are all independent members and will fill the 21 positions that were left vacant before Thursday.
After Oct. 31, the total number of vacancies will be six within Quebec. Peter Harder, the government’s representative in the senate, said that the following vacancies will be filled in the upcoming days.
Following the new appointments, the number of independent senators will be 44, outnumbering the 21 liberal and 40 conservative senators.
The new senators appointed by Trudeau come from a variety of backgrounds to alleviate the previous absence of diversity in the Canadian senate.
Yuen Pau Woo is the former president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada and currently senior fellow in public policy at the Institute of Asian Research at the University of British Columbia.
Manitoba art historian Patricia Bovey is the former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, former member of the board of trustees of the National Gallery of Canada, and the board of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Lawyer and human rights activist Marilou McPhedran is the former chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and is currently a professor at the University of Winnipeg Global College.
New Brunswick’s francophone René Cormier is an Acadian artist and president of the Société Nationale de l’Acadie, the lead organization for the international strategy for the promotion of Acadian artists.
New Brunswick’s Nancy Hartling is the founder of the non-profit Support to Single Parents Inc. and founder of St. James Court Inc., an affordable housing complex for single parents. Hartling co-chaired the provincial minister’s working group on violence against women.
Winnipeg psychiatrist Harvey Chochinov is an internationally recognized expert in palliative care. His appointment was controversial as he argued against assisted suicide in court.
Nova Scotia social worker and educator Wanda Thomas Bernard is the first African-Canadian to hold a tenure-track position at Dalhousie University and to be promoted to full professor.
Daniel Christmas is senior advisor for the Mi’kmaw First Nation of Membertou, N.S. He is credited with playing a key role in transforming his home community from a First Nation on the brink of bankruptcy to one of the most successful in Canada.
Prince Edward Island conservationist Diane Griffin is the former provincial deputy minister of environmental resources, and recipient of the Governor General’s Conservation award.
Representing Ontario, Gwen Boniface is the first woman appointed as commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police and the first female president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
Tony Dean is an internationally recognized professor at the University of Toronto’s School of Public Policy since 2009.
Sarabjit S. Marwah is the retired vice-chairman and chief operating officer of Scotiabank. While at Scotiabank, he was a member of numerous industry committees, including the Canadian Bankers Association.
Lucie Moncion is the chief executive officer of the Alliance des caisses populaires de l’Ontario. L’Alliance is a network of 12 credit unions that serves 23 francophone municipalities in northeastern Ontario.
Kim Pate is the executive director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies and part-time professor in the University of Ottawa’s faculty of law.
Howard Wetston is a councillor with Goodmans LLP and adjunct professor of law at the University of Toronto.
Photo courtesy Xiaphias (CC-BY-SA-3.0).