Reprint Visit www.islandtides.com for more interesting articles on other BC, national & international topics Reprint from Volume 28 Number 23 November 17, 2016 New ‘independent’ senators appointed- Natalie Dunsmuir rime Minister Justin Trudeau has Prime Minister. In order to follow up on his recommended the appointment of 21 new campaign promise of senate reform, Prime Minister senators, using a new process designed to Trudeau added an additional step to the process— Pensure that senators are independent and chosen Canadians can now apply for the position of senator, based on merit. and their submissions are reviewed by an Appointees include lawyers, doctors, social Independent Advisory Board for Senate activists, financial experts, politicians and police Appointments, which then in turn provides the PM leaders. Among the new senators is Gwen Boniface, with non-binding recommendations. The Prime the first woman to be appointed as commissioner of Minister can choose to ignore the advice of the the Ontario Provincial Police; Raymonde Saint- Board, so the process is not iron clad. Trudeau has Germain, a Quebec senior public servant; Rosa also attempted to change the partisanship nature of Galvez, an expert in environmental pollution control; the senate by appointing all ‘independent’ senators, Sarabjit S Marwah, the vice-chairman and chief who belong to no one political party. operating officer of Scotiabank; Marilou McPhedran, It’s the first time Canadians have been allowed to who was the youngest lawyer to be admitted to the apply for the position of senator. The application Order of Canada; and Kim Pate, an internationally period was open for a month this summer and the renowned human rights expert. BC’s appointee is Board received over 2,700 applications. Yuen Pau Woo, an expert in Canada-Asia relations Criteria for appointment to the senate retains the and a supporter of open trade. previous age requirements (over 30 and less than Six senators are from Quebec, six from Ontario, 75), citizenship, residency (being a permanent three from Manitoba, two from New Brunswick, resident of the province to which the senator is two from Nova Scotia, one from PEI and one from appointed), and net worth—senators must own at British Columbia. least $4,000 of property in the province they are These appointments are not the first made by appointed to. This is a left-over tradition from Trudeau. He appointed seven new senators in Canada’s beginning, when $4,000 in property March of this year, to fill two vacancies in Manitoba, effectively reserved the senate to the upper class. three in Ontario and two in Quebec. These Added to these ‘constitutional eligibility appointments were also made by the new method requirements’ are the government’s new ‘merit- of senator appointment enacted shortly after based criteria’, which includes being non- Trudeau formed government after the 2015 election. partisanship, knowledgeable in the legislative Independent Advisory Board process and Canada’s constitution, and a high level Under the Canadian Constitution, it is the Governor of experience, community service or leadership in a General who appoints people to the Senate. chosen field. The government will also choose However, these senators are, by convention, candidates with the aim of achieving a gender recommended to the Governor General by the balance and increasing diversity. 0 © Island Tides Publishing Ltd. This article may be reproduced with the following attribution, in its entirety, and notification to Island Tides Publishing Ltd. ‘This article was published (November 17, 2016) in ‘Island Tides’, an independent, regional newspaper distributing on the Canadian Gulf Islands, on Vancouver Island and, via the internet, worldwide.’ Island Tides Publishing Ltd, Box 55, Pender Island, BC V0N 2M0 • 1-250-216-2267 • [email protected] • www.islandtides.com.