{"id":43170,"date":"2026-05-13T08:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/43170\/"},"modified":"2026-05-13T08:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T08:43:15","slug":"carneys-senate-announcement-raises-more-questions-than-it-answers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/43170\/","title":{"rendered":"Carney’s Senate Announcement Raises More Questions Than It Answers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mark Carney will use Trudeau\u2019s Senate appointment model \u2014 a decision he kept to himself for more than a year, and revealed only after his government secured majority status<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be appointing senators in due course and I will take into account the advice of the independent advisory committee that was established by my predecessor,\u201d Carney said at a news conference<\/a> in Mirabel, Quebec on May 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was his response in full. The Hill Times editorial board noted<\/a> today that Carney \u201chad nothing to say about the Senate until after he had secured a majority in the House of Commons following a spate of floor-crossings and byelection victories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine Senate seats are currently vacant, with six more senators set to retire later this year \u2014 meaning Carney faces upward of 15 appointments before 2027. Quebec alone has five vacancies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The advisory committee<\/a> meant to recommend candidates is itself nearly dismantled: of its required composition of three federal members plus two representatives from each province and territory, only the three federal positions and Nova Scotia\u2019s two spots are filled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Senator Marilou McPhedran warned last month that the vacancy pile-up may signal the end of \u201ca largely community-driven selection process at arm\u2019s length from the patronage of the Prime Minister\u2019s Office.\u201d<\/p>\n

The advisory committee\u2019s recommendations are non-binding. Carney said he will \u201ctake into account\u201d \u2014 not follow \u2014 its advice, leaving him full discretion over final appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s use of the same model drew consistent Conservative criticism, with the party arguing his ostensibly independent picks \u201cskewed progressive\u201d and that the application process has \u201calways been fake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trudeau\u2019s reforms, introduced after a 2014 Senate expense scandal, removed Liberal senators from caucus and replaced patronage appointments with the committee model \u2014 creating three new recognized Senate groups that now outnumber Conservatives and hold equal procedural powers to call witnesses, defer votes, and sit on committees.<\/p>\n

Whether Carney intends to appoint Liberals to the Senate \u2014 reversing Trudeau\u2019s model \u2014 or continue with independent appointments remains unstated. The phrasing \u201ctake into account\u201d leaves both options open.<\/p>\n

Read: Liberals Lead Among Young Canadians Even as Youth Unemployment Hits Near-Record Highs<\/a><\/p>\n

Information for this story was found via the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to the organizations discussed. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Carney will use Trudeau\u2019s Senate appointment model \u2014 a decision he kept to himself for more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[2577,111,18890],"class_list":["post-43170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mark-carney","tag-liberal-government","tag-mark-carney","tag-senate-appointments"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}