Senate seats now filled after PM announces 5 more appointments

OTTAWA — With just days to go until Prime Minister Justin Trudeau leaves federal politics, his office says five new appointments have now filled all the vacancies in the 105-seat Senate.

The Prime Minister’s Office says in a news release that the Governor General has appointed former Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold for New Brunswick and former MLA Tony Ince for Nova Scotia.

Non-profit executive Katherine Hay, charity CEO Farah Mohamed and former provincial politician Sandra Pupatello have been appointed for Ontario.

There were 22 vacancies in the Senate when Trudeau became prime minister in 2015 and launched what his government called a “new, non-partisan, merit-based process” to advise on appointments.

There have been 100 independent appointments to the Senate made on the advice of Trudeau, with a dozen in 2024 and 10 this year.

In a statement, Conservative House Leader Andrew Scheer said Trudeau confirmed his “so-called ‘non-partisan’ Senate was a farce all along by appointing two former Liberal elected officials.”

Pupatello was a Liberal MPP and Ince was a Liberal MLA.

“Trudeau lied to Canadians and said he would make the Senate independent and non-partisan but the reality is that nearly every person he has appointed is in fact a Liberal Senator,” Scheer said.

The Liberal Party of Canada is set to announce its new leader to replace Trudeau on March 9.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.

Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press