Conservative and Liberal Caucuses Make Room for Non-Aligned Senators on Committees

April 18, 2016, Ottawa – Leader of the Opposition, Senator Claude Carignan, and Leader of the Senate Liberals, Senator James Cowan, today jointly wrote Senator Elizabeth Marshall, Chair of the Selection Committee, to advise that the Conservative and Liberal caucuses have chosen to make a slot on each Senate committee available to non-aligned Senators.

The slots for each committee must be chosen by the non-aligned Senators themselves, and with this new practice there will now be two non-aligned Senators on each committee, regardless of its size. This is an historic change.

Senator Marshall was asked in the letter to solicit interest from non-aligned Senators and appoint them to committees as soon as possible. The aim of this new system is to remove any concern that senators who do not belong to an established caucus do not have the opportunity to participate on a fair and equitable basis in the work of Senate committees.

It should be noted that even Conservative and Liberal caucus members often and unfortunately do not receive their first choice for committees. Nonetheless recommendations to the Selection Committee represent best efforts to balance Senators’ wishes, experience, expertise and gender with regional representation and relative standings in the Senate.

The issue of committee membership is also before the Special Committee on Senate Modernization, which will report on this and other matters in the coming months.

Senator Carignan and Senator Cowan anticipate that the Selection Committee will deal with this request expeditiously, allowing the Senate to attend to the Government’s legislative agenda with committees more accurately reflecting the new and evolving reality of the Senate’s composition. This is part of the necessary modernization of the Senate which has been a priority for both Senate caucuses for the past three years.

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Senator Claude Carignan

For more information on Senator Carignan: Biography of Senator Claude Carignan

Follow Senator Carignan on Twitter: @senatcarignan – Senator Carignan on Facebook

Information (media only):
Jenn Gearey
Office of the Honourable Senator Claude Carignan, P.C.
Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
[email protected]
613-992-024

Senator James Cowan

For more information on Senator Cowan: Biography of Senator James Cowan

Follow Senator Cowan on Twitter: @SenCowan

Information (media only):
Caitlin Gropp
Office of the Honourable Senator James Cowan, Q.C.
Senate Liberal Leader
[email protected]
613-943-4600