SENATE SENAT John D. Wallace John D. Wallace CANADA Senator Senateur New Brunswick Nouveau•Brunswick November 18, 2015 Senator Claude Carignan Leader of the Opposition in the Senate 275•S, Centre Block Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A4 Mr. David Sweet, M.P. Conservative Caucus Chair 449-D, Centre Block Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A4 Conservative Caucus Leaders, Differences that I consider to be irreconcilable exist between myself and Conservative Senate Leader Claude Carignan, and other Conservative Senate Caucus members, regarding the required Constitutional roles, responsibilities and independence of Conservative Senators. For me, these differences are fundamental to the role's and responsibilities that I have sworn to uphold as a member of the Senate of Canada, and particularly so as it relates to the extent of involvement of political partisanship in the performance of Senators' intended legislative role as "a chamber of sober second thought". Tel/Tel.: (613) 947.4240 375, East Block/Edifice de l'Est Fax/Telec.: (613) 947.4252 Ottawa (Ontario) 1-800.267-7362 K1A 0A4 [email protected] In this regard, I am very mindful of the following reference found in Paragraph 57 of the 2014 Supreme Court of Canada decision in "Reference re Senate Reform": "... it is clear the intention was to make the Senate a thoroughly independent body which would canvass dispassionately the measures of the House of Commons The framers sought to endow the Senate with independence from the electoral process to which members of the House of Commons were subject, in order to remove Senators from a partisan political arena that required unremitting consideration of short-term political objectives." I have no doubt whatsoever that this statement by the Supreme Court is entirely consistent with the expectations of the overwhelming majority of Canadian citizens. Consequently, this is to advise that effective immediately, I am resigning as a member of the Conservative National Caucus and the Conservative Senate Caucus. It is my intention to remain in the Senate of Canada as an independent New Brunswick Senator. Sincerely, Senator John Wallace CC: Senator Leo Housakos, Speaker of the Senate Senator Yonah Martin, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Senator Linda Frum, Conservative Caucus Chair in the Senate Senator Donald Plett, Opposition Whip in the Senate .