Vacancies pile up in the Senate with Trudeau slow to appoint new members
CBC
Canada's Senate is nearly 20 per cent vacant after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau allowed some seats in the upper chamber to go unfilled, in some instances for years at a time.
Of the 105 seats in the upper house, 17 are unoccupied and some provinces — most of them west of Quebec — have been left without the representation they are entitled to expect under the Constitution. Four more senators are slated to retire in the next year when they hit the mandatory retirement age of 75.
The Senate hasn't had a full complement of senators since late 2018, which means fewer senators to carry out the chamber's duties proposing new laws or making amendments to government legislation.
Under the Constitution, the Governor General appoints individuals to the Senate. By convention, senators are appointed on the advice of the prime minister.
Former B.C. Conservative senator Richard Neufeld retired 965 days ago and the government still hasn't found someone qualified to take his place. That leaves just five senators in the upper house to represent the country's third most populous province and its 5.3 million people.
Nova Scotia has also been waiting a long time for a full contingent of senators to represent its interests in Parliament — former Conservative senator Tom McInnis retired in April 2020.
Saskatchewan's Lillian Dyck, a former member in the Progressive Senate Group, was forced into mandatory retirement 673 days ago and her replacement has yet to be named. Other seats in Alberta, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador have been vacant for more than 500 days.
There are five vacant seats in Ontario, leaving only 19 senators on hand to represent the province's 15 million people in federal matters.
In fact, it's been nearly a year since Trudeau named anyone to the Red Chamber with the last batch of Liberal appointees being named in July 2021. The only province that is fully represented is Quebec as all of its 24 Senate seats are currently occupied.
Paul Thomas is a professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba and a Senate watcher. In an interview with CBC News, Thomas said the growing vacancy list shows the government has little regard for the upper house and its work.
"It contributes to an impression that the Senate is an embarrassment — that it lacks legitimacy. It seems the decision-makers in government don't seem to care, it's unimportant in their eyes and they're not getting around to finding people to serve," Thomas said.
"To have this many vacancies at one time means you weaken the Senate's performance and it can't do the job the constitution assigns it to do or it can't do it well. This neglect impairs the functioning of the system and its ability to offer sober second thought and scrutinize legislation."
Quebec Sen. Marc Gold, the government representative and Trudeau's point-man in the Senate, wasn't available for an interview.
Quebec Sen. Raymonde Saint-Germain, the "facilitator" or leader of the Independent Senators Group (ISG), the body's largest group and one that is mostly composed of Trudeau appointees, said the prolonged vacancies have not had any meaningful effect on the chamber's ability to represent every region of the country — but she's hopeful the prime minister will name new members soon.
Saskatoon resident Delynne Bortis knew her commute to work Tuesday morning would be particularly difficult.
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