Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)

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Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Chef de l'opposition au Sénat
Incumbent
Don Plett
since November 5, 2019
StyleThe Honourable
Member ofSenate of Canada
AppointerElected by the caucus of the official opposition in the Senate
Inaugural holderLuc Letellier de St-Just
Formation1 July 1867
DeputyDeputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
Salary$186,900 (2017)[1]

In Canada, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (French: Chef de l'opposition au Sénat) is the leader of the largest party in the Canadian Senate not in government.

Even though the position's name is very similar to the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons (the Opposition House Leader), the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate's role is more analogous to the Leader of the Official Opposition because its holder is the leader of the party's Senate caucus. The responsibilities that, in the House of Commons, are done by the house leaders—including day-to-day scheduling of business—are undertaken in the Senate by Government and Opposition deputy leaders and Opposition whips.[2]

Selection[edit]

Since it is the House of Commons of Canada that determines what party(ies) form government, the size of party caucuses in the Senate bear no relation to which party forms the government side in the Senate and which party forms the opposition. Thus, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate may lead more Senators than the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Since senators normally have longer tenure than MPs, this is often the case immediately following a change in government, until the new prime minister can appoint more people from their party.

There are no set rules governing the manner in which the position is filled from within caucuses. When the Conservative Party (and its predecessor, the Progressive Conservative Party) have been in opposition, the party's Senate caucus has historically elected its own leader, although as noted by John Williams in a 1956 book on the Conservative Party, it may choose to follow the wishes of the national leader.[3] The traditional practice of the Liberal party in opposition had been for the party leader to select their leader in the Senate.

The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is not necessarily from the same party as the opposition in the House of Commons. From 1993 until 2003, the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate was a Progressive Conservative despite the fact the Progressive Conservatives were not the Official Opposition in the House of Commons; this was because the Official Opposition in the Commons (Bloc Québécois, Reform, Canadian Alliance) did not have Senate representation. This scenario repeated itself following the results of the 2011 election that saw the Liberal Party lose Official Opposition status in the House to the New Democratic Party, but since the NDP had no representation in the Senate, the Liberals continued to form the Official Opposition in the Senate.

The Official Opposition also does not need to be linked to a party in the Commons. This was determined on January 29, 2014, after Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced that all Liberal Senators would no longer be members of the national Liberal caucus. When the Senate met in the afternoon, Senator Jim Cowan informed the Senate that the Liberal Senators intended to self-designate as Liberals, as well as sit and act together as a caucus. Following a lengthy discussion, the Senate Speaker ruled that the Liberal Senators met the definition under the Senate rules of being a caucus of at least five Senators of the same political party, that the rules state that the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is the head of the party other than the government party with the most Senators, and that "as has been indicated by Senator Cowan, he has been elected by his colleagues and, therefore, meets the definition of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate." (Debates of the Senate, January 29, 2014).

List of leaders of the opposition in the Senate[edit]

No. Portrait Name[4]
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Party
Took office Left office
1 Luc Letellier de St-Just
Senator for Grandville, Quebec
(1820–1881)
July 1,
1867
November 5,
1873
Liberal
2 Alexander Campbell
Senator for Cataraqui, Ontario
(1822–1892)
November 5,
1873
October 8,
1878
Conservative
3 Sir Richard William Scott
Senator for Ottawa, Ontario
(1825–1913)
October 8,
1878
April 27,
1896
Liberal
4 Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Senator for Hastings, Ontario
(1823–1917)
April 27,
1896
March 1,
1906
Conservative
5
(1 of 2)
James Alexander Lougheed
Senator for Calgary, Alberta
(1854–1925)
April 1,
1906
October 6,
1911
Conservative
6 Sir Richard John Cartwright
Senator for Oxford, Ontario
(1835–1912)
October 6,
1911
September 24,
1912
Liberal
7 Sir George William Ross
Senator for Middlesex, Ontario
(1841–1914)
September 24,
1912
March 7,
1914
Liberal
8
(1 of 2)
Hewitt Bostock
Senator for Kamloops, British Columbia
(1864–1930)
March 19,
1914
January 1,
1919
Liberal
9
(1 of 3)
Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942)
January 1,
1919
December 31,
1919
Liberal
8
(2 of 2)
Hewitt Bostock
Senator for Kamloops, British Columbia
(1864–1930)
January 1,
1920
December 28,
1921
Liberal
5
(2 of 2)
Sir James Alexander Lougheed
Senator for Calgary, Alberta
(1854–1925)
December 28,
1921
November 2,
1925
Conservative
10
(1 of 2)
William Benjamin Ross
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1855–1929)
January 1,
1926
June 28,
1926
Conservative
9
(2 of 3)
Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942)
June 29,
1926
December 31,
1926
Liberal
10
(2 of 2)
William Benjamin Ross
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1855–1929)
December 31,
1926
January 10,
1929
Conservative
11 Wellington Willoughby
Senator for Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
(1859–1932)
January 11,
1929
August 7,
1930
Conservative
9
(3 of 3)
Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942)
August 7,
1930
October 22,
1935
Liberal
12 Arthur Meighen
Senator for St. Mary's, Ontario
(1874–1960)
October 22,
1935
January 16,
1942
Conservative
13 Charles Ballantyne
Senator for Alma, Quebec
(1867–1950)
January 16,
1942
September 11,
1945
Conservative
Progressive Conservative
14 John Thomas Haig
Senator for Winnipeg, Manitoba
(1877–1962)
September 12,
1945
June 20,
1957
Progressive Conservative
15 William Ross Macdonald
Senator for Brantford, Ontario
(1891–1976)
June 20,
1957
April 21,
1963
Liberal
16 Alfred Johnson Brooks
Senator for Royal, New Brunswick
(1890–1967)
April 22,
1963
October 31,
1967
Progressive Conservative
17
(1 of 2)
Jacques Flynn
Senator for Rougemont, Quebec
(1915–2000)
October 31,
1967
June 3,
1979
Progressive Conservative
18 Ray Perrault
Senator for North Shore-Burnaby, British Columbia
(1926–2008)
June 3,
1979
March 2,
1980
Liberal
17
(2 of 2)
Jacques Flynn
Senator for Rougemont, Quebec
(1915–2000)
March 3,
1980
September 16,
1984
Progressive Conservative
19 Allan MacEachen
Senator for Highlands-Canso, Nova Scotia
(1921–2017)
September 16,
1984
November 30,
1991
Liberal
20 Royce Frith
Senator for Glen Tay, Ontario
(1923–2005)
November 30,
1991
October 25,
1993
Liberal
21 John Lynch-Staunton
Senator for Grandville, Quebec
(1930–2012)
October 25,
1993
September 30,
2004
Progressive Conservative
Conservative
22 Noël Kinsella
Senator for Fredericton-York-Sunbury, New Brunswick
(born 1939)
October 1,
2004
February 7,
2006
Conservative
23 Dan Hays
Senator for Calgary, Alberta
(born 1939)
February 8,
2006
January 18,
2007
Liberal
24 Céline Hervieux-Payette
Senator for Bedford, Quebec
(born 1941)
January 18,
2007
November 3,
2008
Liberal
25 Jim Cowan
Senator for Nova Scotia
(born 1941)
November 3,
2008
November 5,
2015
Liberal
Senate Liberal Caucus
26 Claude Carignan
Senator for Mille Isles, Quebec
(born 1964)
November 5,
2015
March 31,
2017
Conservative
27 Larry Smith
Senator for Saurel, Quebec
(born 1951)
April 1,
2017
November 5,
2019
Conservative
28 Don Plett
Senator for Manitoba
(born 1941)
November 5,
2019
Incumbent Conservative

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances". Parliament of Canada.
  2. ^ "Senate of Canada - Fact Sheet - Key roles in the Senate". Parl.gc.ca. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
  3. ^ John R. Williams, The Conservative Party of Canada 1920 to 1949, Duke University Press, 1956, pg. 193.
  4. ^ "Political Officers - Senate - Leaders of the Opposition 1867 to Date". Parliament of Canada.