Despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s promises Remove partisanship and cronyism from the SenateMost of the members appointed to the Senate in the past year have ties to the Liberal Party.
Trudeau has appointed 12 senators since July 2023, eight of whom (66 per cent of the total) are donors to the federal Liberal Party or serve in the federal or provincial Liberal Party.
This represents a significant increase in the number of senate appointees with partisan ties to the Liberal Party, down from roughly 30% of all senators appointed between January 2019 and July 2023.
“I think this is a worrying trend,” said Emmett MacFarlane, a political science professor at the University of Waterloo who wrote the draft law on which the Senate Personnel Advisory Committee is based.
“I think it’s entirely legitimate to appoint people who are partisan or who have partisan backgrounds from time to time,” he said. “The problem is that we have a lot of partisan appointments, particularly people who are aligned with the government’s policy. That goes against the whole spirit of reform.”
In 2014, after the Senate was mired in an expenses scandal, Trudeau, who was then opposition leader, expelled senators from the Liberal caucus.
Prime Minister Trudeau established an independent, bipartisan advisory committee on senator appointments in 2016. Since then, he has appointed only senators recommended by the committee. Trudeau has appointed more than 80 senators since taking office.
His most recent roles include:
Victor Boudreau of New Brunswick: A long-time Liberal member, he served as a provincial cabinet minister and interim leader. He also served as campaign manager for Public Security Minister Dominique Leblanc in 2019.
Mohammed Al Zaibak is an entrepreneur and businessman who has donated more than 150 times, totaling tens of thousands of dollars, to the Liberal Party of Canada.
Roger Cousner is a former Liberal MP from Cape Breton who was first elected in 2000 and served as parliamentary secretary in the Trudeau government until 2019.
Joan Kingston is a registered nurse who served as a Liberal Member of the New Brunswick Legislature from 1995 to 1999. She also served as Chief of Staff in the Opposition Office when the provincial Liberal Party was in Opposition in the early 2000s.
Toni Vallone is a Toronto businessman and philanthropist who has been a regular donor to the Liberal Party since at least 2004. In the five years leading up to his term, he donated more than $14,500 to the federal party.
John McNair was a New Brunswick lawyer and provincial Liberal leader, as well as executive director of the New Brunswick Liberal Association (provincial and federal). His grandfather, John B. McNair, was the Liberal premier of New Brunswick.
The other two recently appointed senators with ties to the Liberal Party are lawyer Rejean Aucwan and Olympian Marnie McBean, both of whom have donated to the federal party.
According to Elections Canada records, Aucoin has made 11 donations to the Liberal Party of Canada over an 18-year period.
McBean made one donation to Liberal MP and Olympian Adam van Koeverden. In a statement to CBC News, McBean said he supports causes promoted by Liberal and Conservative premiers and premiers, and that he supports individuals and their causes, not political parties.
Conservative Senator Dennis Butters said the ties between the newly appointed senators and the ruling party proved the appointment process was not truly independent.
“Frankly, this is very similar to a lot of what happened under the Trudeau government,” Butters told CBC News.
“Justin Trudeau promised an independent Senate, but what has actually happened is quite the opposite. He still tries to hide behind this pretense of independence.”
Butters has long been a critic of Trudeau’s senator appointments process, saying the Liberal bias in senator appointments has become more “blatant” in recent years and accusing the Liberals of trying to pack the upper house with like-minded individuals ahead of next year’s federal election.
“I think it’s because they’re watching the polls just like we are and they’re worried that they’re going to lose the next election, so they want to make sure that as many senators as possible actually have their seats filled by Liberals,” she said.
No change in nomination method: PMO
Downing Street spokeswoman Anne-Clara Vaillancourt said there was no change in the prime minister’s stance on the senate elections.
Candidates for the Senate must apply through an independent, non-partisan body set up in 2016 to advise the Prime Minister on candidates for Senate appointments. The Prime Minister reviews the list of names presented by the committee and makes a decision.
“The ethics committee has also noted that lawful donations to political parties do not disqualify one from appointment, which is inappropriate because it would exclude Canadians from lawfully participating in our democracy,” Vaillancourt said in a media statement.
She offered no explanation for the increase in the number of senate appointees with ties to the Liberal Party over the past year.
Cuzner, who was appointed last October, said the application process was “fairly complicated and fairly extensive.” He said he received letters of support from three people, including one Conservative and one New Democrat.
He said the rise in Liberal senators is “not very noticeable in Parliament” and that he is impressed with the caliber of his fellow senators.
“I thought it would be a really great experience and I’d find a way to contribute,” he said. “I came here to help the people back home in Nova Scotia and to help on a larger scale.”
Cuzner suggested that if the Conservatives win the next election, leader Pierre Poirierbre could revert to the traditional way of appointing senators and abolish the advisory committee.
“I can’t imagine that Pierre Poirievre would feel obliged to follow any advice put forward by the commission, even if he has any success in the next elections,” he said.
“He’s going to be a young, enthusiastic choice. Young, enthusiastic and conservative.”
A spokesman for Mr Poirievre declined to say whether the Conservative government would maintain the independent advisory committee. He said he would repeal it if elected.
In a media statement, Scheer, who is now the Conservative House of Commons leader, accused Trudeau of breaking his promise.
“For nine years, Prime Minister Trudeau has told Canadians one thing, while doing everything in his power to enforce extreme policies that have brought pain and misery across our country,” he said.
