Chantal Petitclerc, Murray Sinclair among 7 new Trudeau-appointed senators

A Paralympic gold medallist and anesteemed jurist who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into residential schools havebeen appointed to the Senate.

Chantal Petitclerc and Murray Sinclair areamong sevennew senators named by the Liberal governmenttoday.

The five 'independent' senators are:

• Peter Harder, a former bureaucrat who led Justin Trudeau's transition team.
• Raymonde Gagn, former president of Manitoba's Universit de Saint-Boniface.
• FrancesLankin, a former Ontario NDP cabinet ministerand a national security expert.
• RatnaOmidvar, executive director atRyersonUniversity's Global Diversity Exchange.
• AndrPratte, editorialwriter at La Presse.

Petitclerc, a14-timeParalympicgold medallist and world-record-holding wheelchair racer,wasCanada's chef de mission at the 2014 Commonwealth Gamesthe first time a Paralympic athlete had held that post.She is also Canada'schef de mission for the Rio Paralympicsin September 2016.

She tweeted, "There we go: feeling humbled."

Making reconciliation areality

Sinclair issued a statement expressing "heartfelt gratitude" for the appointment. He said he believes there is a "new era" of relations with indigenous people in Canada.

"I approach this appointment with hope for the future, and remain committed to reconciliation between indigenous and non-indigenous people, something I believe in my heart is possible," his statement reads. "It is my wish to work toward repairing this relationship and doing what I can to make reconciliation a reality in Canada."

Ontario appointee Omidvartold CBC News she was "stunned into silence" when she received the call from Trudeau.

"The prime minister has asked, and I haveaccepted to be a senator who sits as an independent and I'm excited to sit as an independent because it means I can vote with my values," she said. "And I can review the issues that come before the Senate not in a partisan or political way but based on the way I have experienced the lives of people."

A news releasefrom the Prime Minister's Office described the senators as "independent" and said Harder will serve as the "government representative" in the Senate.

Liberals appoint 7 Senators

9 years ago

Duration 2:49

Murray Sinclair and Chantal Petitclerc among the new Senators filling vacancies in the Red Chamber

Ending partisanship

"The government is today taking further concrete steps to follow through on its commitment to reform the Senate, restore public trust, and bring an end to partisanship in the appointments process," he said in a statement.

He added that today's appointments will "help advance the important objective to transform the Senate into a less partisan and more independent institution that can perform its fundamental roles in the legislative process more effectively."

Trudeau tweeted that the appointments mark "next steps" to fulfilthe Liberalpromise to reform the Senate and "restore the public's trust in that institution."

Claude Carignan, the opposition Leader in the Senate, said members of the Red Chamber will continue reforms that began years ago to modernize the institution and make it more transparent and accountable. But he said theappointment process Trudeau put in place is "substantially no different than in the past."

"I note that this process yielded the same type of appointments as it has previously former judges, provincial ministers, journalists, Olympians have all been appointed to the Senate before," he said in a statement."Mr. Trudeau's appointments also show that he understands that previous involvement in the partisan political process cannot be discounted and those appointments do have merit."

Two Conservative MPs also slammed the secrecy and accused the prime minister of putting "fresh paint on a tired, undemocratic process."

"Regardless of the merits of those appointed, the new senators were still appointed from secret short lists, created by an unelected, unaccountable board that reports to the prime minister himself," saidajoint statement from MPs Blake Richards and Scott Reid. "Despite the flowery words from the prime minister, today's announcement shows that business continues largely as usual."

'Archaic institution'

The NDP, which wants to abolish the Senate, saidwhile the individuals appointed are experienced and highly respected Canadians, they were not elected by Canadians.

"Contrary to what was promised, the Liberal appointment process was as secretive and unaccountable as it has always been," said the party's Democratic Reform critic Nathan Cullen."The NDP continues to hold a principled position that there is no need for this archaic institution in a modern democracy."

Back in January, the Liberalsnamed anadvisory board tohelp Prime Minister JustinTrudeaumake his picks for the Red Chamber.

• Liberal plan to pick 'non-partisan' senators draws quick criticism
• Senate Liberals unsure how to work withTrudeaugovernment
• Conservative senators bristle at Trudeau Senate reforms

Only three provincesOntario, Manitoba and Quebec are participating in thatadvisory board right now. The federalgovernment has stated those three are involvedbecause they have the most vacancies in the Senate.

According to the Senate's website,Ontario hadeight vacancies before today's appointments, Quebec hadsix and Manitoba hadfour. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick both hadtwo vacancies, while British Columbia and Prince Edward Island hadone each.

With today's appointments, there are now 42 Conservative senators, 26 who still identify as Liberal senators, and 20 independents, including today's appointments. There are still 17 vacancies.

Working with the Senate

9 years ago

Duration 7:32

Government House Leader Dominic LeBlanc discusses seven new Senate appointees and how his government will get legislation through the Red Chamber

British Columbia has declined to participate in the advisory board process. Premier Christy Clark said in December that the province declinedto take partbecause it didnot want to validate it. She also said B.C. with a total of six senators allocated to it in the 105-member Senate is under-represented.

• Christy Clark says Trudeau legitimizing unaccountable Senate, B.C. under-representation

Trudeauhad promised to create the advisory body two years ago, when he kicked all Liberal senators out of his party's caucus.

Merit over party affiliation

The objective was to appoint new senators based on merit, rather than party affiliation.

Former prime minister Stephen Harper's last Senate appointment was in March 2013 when the scandal over improper expenses claimed by some senators began to engulf his government.

He had spent three decades championing an elected Senate, buttheSupreme Court ruled that reforming the Senate would require a constitutional amendment approved by at least seven provinces representing at least 50 per cent of the population.

The top court set an even higher bar of unanimous provincial consent for Harper's fallback position abolishing the Senate altogether.

Last spring, Harper formalized his refusal to appoint senators, announcing a moratorium which he said was aimed at pressuring the provinces to either come up with their own reform proposals or conclude that abolition was the only answer.

During the election campaign, Trudeausaidhis approach to Senate reform was the only practical solution, one that would deliver real change without requiring a constitutional amendment.

The Constitution specifies that it's the job of the Governor General to appoint senators. But by convention, the Governor General acts only on the advice of the prime minister.

Seven Senate appointees

9 years ago

Duration 9:09

MPs Blake Richards and Nathan Cullen discuss the Prime Minister's picks for the Senate and whether they will actually change the Red Chamber