Governor-General Mary Simon has appointed Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold to fill a vacancy in New Brunswick, while former Nova Scotia politician Tony Ince has been appointed to fill a seat in that province. Ms. Simon speaks during the opening ceremony of the Invictus Games, in Vancouver, B.C., on Feb. 8.Chris Helgren/Reuters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed five senators in his final days in office, including several with ties to federal and provincial Liberal parties.
The appointments, announced Friday afternoon, mean there are now no vacancies in the 105-seat Senate.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Governor-General Mary Simon has appointed Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold to fill a vacancy in New Brunswick, while former Nova Scotia politician Tony Ince has been appointed to fill a seat in that province. Three Ontario vacancies were filled by Katherine Hay, Farah Mohamed and former Ontario MPP Sandra Pupatello.
Mr. Trudeau kicked Liberal senators out of his caucus in 2014 in a move he said was designed to make the Senate less partisan. He has appointed 100 senators since he was elected Prime Minister in 2015 – though critics have questioned how truly independent they are, as many of those appointments have had Liberal ties.
“These new senators were recommended by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments and chosen using a merit-based process open to all Canadians,” reads a statement from the PMO. The process was introduced in 2016, and the statement says it ensures senators are “independent and able to tackle the broad range of challenges and opportunities facing the country.”
Ms. Pupatello was a Liberal MPP for 16 years, according to her LinkedIn profile. During that time, she held a number of cabinet positions, including minister of economic development and trade from 2006 to 2011. She is currently the president of auto parts supplier Canadian International Avenues Ltd., which she founded in 2011.
Mr. Ince was a Liberal MLA from 2013 to 2024, when he announced he would not seek re-election. The PMO notes he “is a strong advocate for social justice, equity, and diversity, particularly within African Nova Scotian communities.” He was co-founder and co-chair of the Canadian Congress of Black Parliamentarians.
Ms. Mohamed, meanwhile, spent more than five years as director of communications to former Liberal deputy prime minister Anne McLellan, according to her LinkedIn profile, and spent nine years with the Government of Canada overall. She is currently the chief executive officer of the King’s Trust Canada, a charity founded by King Charles to help young people facing employment barriers, according to the PMO statement.
In 2016, Ms. Arnold was the first woman elected to serve as the mayor of Moncton, says the PMO statement, adding that she has more than 30 years of experience in municipal government, community development and publishing. She is known to be a friend of Liberal ministers Dominic LeBlanc and Ginette Petitpas Taylor.
Ms. Hay currently leads the Kids Help Phone, a role she started in 2017. Before that, she led the Women’s College Hospital Foundation, according to the PMO.
There are currently 12 Conservatives in the Senate. Many of the remaining senators have created their own affiliations, such as the 41-member Independent Senators Group, the largest. There are 18 members of the Canadian Senators Group and 15 in the Progressive Senators Group. Fourteen are unaffiliated. Those figures do not include the five senators appointed Friday.