Carney Says He Will Consider Independent Advisory Committee Recommendations for Senate Appointments

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday he will take into account the advice of an independent advisory body to fill vacancies in the Senate. Carney gave only a brief response when asked if he would follow the same Senate appointment process as former prime minister Justin Trudeau or return to appointing partisan Liberals.

"We 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," he said.

Mark Carney did not explicitly say how the advisory committee's advice will impact his decisions on Senate appointments. Carney has not appointed a single senator since taking office. There are currently nine vacant seats in the Senate and more Senate vacancies are expected to open in the coming months.

Former prime minister Justin Trudeau upended 150 years of Canadian parliamentary tradition when he dumped Liberal senators, named Independents to the upper chamber and generally stripped the place of its partisan elements. Justin Trudeau set up the independent advisory committee to accept applications for Senate spots and make recommendations for appointments.

The advisory committee's recommendations for Senate appointments are non-binding.

The independent advisory committee is meant to be composed of three federal members and two members from each of the provinces and territories. Only the three federal positions and the two Nova Scotia spots on the advisory committee are currently filled. The advisory committee, like the Senate, is also lacking members to the point of being almost entirely vacant.

Vacancies in the Senate have piled up over the last year. Conservative Sen. Denis Batters said on Wednesday morning: "That application process has always been fake. " The Senate adopted new rules in 2024 that gave more power to the Progressive Senate Group, Canadian Senators Group and Independent Senators Group.

The leaders of recognized groups in the Senate can now defer votes on legislation and sit in on committees to question witnesses. The recognized groups now outnumber the Conservatives in the Senate. Cbc reported that while the committee makes recommendations for Senate appointments, that advice is non-binding.

Conservatives have argued that even though Trudeau's appointments were slated as independent, they often skewed progressive.