Trudeau drags feet on filling Manitoba Senate vacancy

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This article was published 09/08/2017 (3038 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Six months after almost clinching its full slate of senators, Manitoba remains shortchanged on representation in the Red Chamber, with the government tight-lipped on whether it’s doing anything about it.

Since 1905, Manitoba has been entitled to six seats in the Senate, which it last held in 2013. 

Scholars say provincial quotas form part of an understanding since Confederation that aims for adequate representation in Parliament, because House of Commons seats mostly change at the whim of population counts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau entered office in autumn 2015 with four Manitoba vacancies. He soon launched an advisory process in which bureaucrats screen applications from any Canadian before presenting a shortlist to the prime minister.

Trudeau filled two of Manitoba’s vacancies in April 2016 and appointed three Manitobans to fill the remaining seats in October 2016.

But Harvey Chochinov declined the role this past February, with the government citing “personal, family and professional reasons.” In the six months since then, Ottawa’s had nothing to show for replacing him 

“Announcements regarding Senate nominations for Manitoba will be made in due course,” Privy Council spokesman Paul Duchesne said in a statement on Tuesday. He refused to say whether the last senator would be picked from the 145 Manitobans who applied last summer or if the advisory board would kick off another months-long process.

According to the advisory board report, 60 per cent of Manitobans who applied for the Senate last summer were male, but the pool of candidates was more diverse than the general Manitoba population.

Almost one in four applicants were Indigenous, more than one in five from a visible minority and 10 per cent were francophone. Two-thirds were between the ages of 50 and 70. Six were older than 70 and there were no applicants under the age of 30.

Back in January, the government held a second round of senate applications, but only for New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Ontario (Chochinov hadn’t yet stepped away from the role).

The advisory board is supposed to publish a review of each application round three months after it creates a shortlist for the prime minister. With none posted, it suggests the board took more than four months just to create the shortlist.

If the board reopens applications for Manitobans, it seems unlikely the position would be filled this year. Trudeau’s spokesman, Cameron Ahmad, referred questions to the Privy Council and wouldn’t say when Manitoba will have its full slate.

Manitoba’s shortfall comes at a time when the Senate is playing an increasingly activist role, amending vital parts of government legislation such as the budget. Trudeau removed senators from the Liberal caucus in 2014. 

In recent months, two Manitoban senators appointed by Trudeau have led a standoff with his government. They’re seeking to expand a law fixing what they say are discriminatory parts of the Indian Act, which prevent some women from passing along Indian status to their children.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca