Representative of the Government in the Senate

Government representative in the Canadian Senate

Representative of the Government in the Senate

Représentant du gouvernement au Sénat

Incumbent
vacant

since June 30, 2025

Government Representative Office
Senate of Canada
Style| The Honourable
Member of|

* Senate
* Privy Council

Reports to| Prime Minister
Appointer| Prime Minister[1]
Formation| July 1, 1867
First holder| Alexander Campbell
(as Leader of the Government)
Salary| $275,000 (2024)[2]
Website| senate-gro.ca

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The representative of the Government in the Senate (French: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after they are passed by the House of Commons. The representative is appointed by the prime minister.

The position replaced the leader of the Government in the Senate (French: leader du gouvernement au Sénat), which from 1867 to 2015 was a senator who was a member of the governing party and led the government caucus in the Senate of Canada (whether or not that party held a majority in the Senate). The position of Leader had almost always been held by a Cabinet minister, except briefly in 1926, from 1958 to 63 and from 2013 to the position being discontinued in 2015.

The government representative's counterpart on the Opposition benches is the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, who continues to be a member of the Official Opposition political party.

Senator Marc Gold served as the second and most recent representative of the Government in the Senate from January 24, 2020 until June 30, 2025.

## History

[edit]

### As Leader of the Government

[edit]

Early Canadian cabinets included several senators who would be answerable to the Senate for government actions, one of whom would serve as de facto government leader in the Senate. In the nineteenth century, it was not considered unusual for a senator to be Prime Minister. Sir John Joseph Caldwell Abbott and Sir Mackenzie Bowell served as prime minister from the Senate. Abbott and Bowell both found it difficult to lead the government from the Senate, however, and over time, the perceived legitimacy of the Senate declined. Today, it is rare for senators to occupy prominent positions in cabinet. From 1935 on, it was typical for a cabinet to have only one senator who would have the position of minister without portfolio alongside the position of leader of the government in the Senate.

There have been a few rare occasions when the leader of the government in the Senate was not included in the cabinet by virtue of a separate ministerial appointment, such as William Benjamin Ross who served in the position in 1926, and Walter Morley Aseltine and Alfred Johnson Brooks who were not included in the cabinets of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker from 1958-1963. In 1968, the position of leader of the government in the Senate became an official Cabinet position in its own right with the appointment of Paul Martin, Sr. (father of Canada's future prime minister, Paul Martin). From July 2013, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the government leader in the Senate was again a non-cabinet minister.

Occasionally, senators still hold senior cabinet positions (other than the leader of the government in the Senate) in order to ensure regional balance in cabinet if the governing party is unable to elect members in a particular region or province, e.g., when the Progressive Conservative Party formed the government under the leadership of Joe Clark in 1979, and when the Liberal Party formed the government under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau in 1980. However, it is usually the case that the leader of the government in the Senate is the sole senator serving in Cabinet.

The responsibilities of the leader of the government in the Senate include:

1. Planning and managing the government's legislative program in the Senate
2. Answering all questions for the government during the Senate's Question Period
3. Maintaining relations with the opposition on all matters concerning Senate activities
4. Working with the leader of the Government in the House of Commons to ensure the effective coordination of the government's legislative programme.

The government side in the Senate is the party that forms the government in the House of Commons. This means that the government party in the Senate may have fewer seats than the opposition, particularly when a general election results in a new party forming government.

### As Representative of the Government

[edit]

Due to former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's 2014 decision to remove senators from the Liberal Party of Canada caucus, leaving them all effectively sitting as independent senators, Trudeau named a Representative of the Government in the Senate in the 42nd Canadian Parliament rather than a government leader.[3] The situation created some uncertainty about how the Senate would function, and how government legislation would be brought to the Senate.[3] Retired civil servant Peter Harder was named to the position on March 18, 2016.[4][5]

On November 29, 2019, the Prime Minister's office announced[6] that Senator Harder would be stepping down from his position as Representative of the Government in the Senate effective December 31, 2019.[6] It was also announced that Senator Grant Mitchell would retire as Government Liaison in the Senate but would continue until a replacement for Harder was named in "due course."[6] On January 24, 2020, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Senator Marc Gold had agreed to become the new Government Representative in the Senate, sitting as a non-affiliated senator and would also be sworn in as a Privy Councillor.[7]

## Office holders

[edit]

Key:

Liberal Party of Canada

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

Conservative Party of Canada

Non-affiliated

No.  | Portrait  | Name
(Birth–Death) | Term of office  | Party  | Prime minister
(Ministry)

|
|
|
|
|

Took office | Left office
Leader of the Government in the Senate
1 |  | Alexander Campbell
Senator for Cataraqui, Ontario
(1822–1892) | July 1,
1867  | November 5,
1873  |  | Liberal-Conservative | Sir John A. Macdonald
(1st)
2 |  | Luc Letellier de St-Just
Senator for Grandville, Quebec
(1820–1881) | November 5,
1873  | December 14,
1876  |  | Liberal | Alexander Mackenzie
(2nd)
3 |  | Richard William Scott
Senator for Ottawa, Ontario
(1825–1913) | December 14,
1876  | October 7,
1878  |  | Liberal
(1) |  | Sir Alexander Campbell
Senator for Cataraqui, Ontario
(1822–1892) | October 18,
1878  | February 7,
1887  |  | Conservative | Sir John A. Macdonald
(3rd)
4 |  | Sir John Abbott
Senator for Inkerman, Quebec
(1821–1893) | May 12,
1887  | June 6,
1891  |  | Conservative
June 16,
1891  | October 30,
1893  | Sir John Abbott
(4th)
5 |  | Sir Mackenzie Bowell
Senator for Hastings, Ontario
(1823–1917) | October 31,
1893  | December 12,
1894  |  | Conservative | Sir John Thompson
(5th)
December 21,
1894  | August 19,
1896  | Sir Mackenzie Bowell
(6th)
Sir Charles Tupper
(7th)
6 |  | Sir Oliver Mowat
Senator for Ontario
(1820–1903) | August 19,
1896  | November 18,
1897  |  | Liberal | Sir Wilfrid Laurier
(8th)
7 |  | David Mills
Senator for Bothwell, Ontario
(1831–1903) | November 18,
1897  | February 7,
1902  |  | Liberal
(3) |  | Sir Richard William Scott
Senator for Ottawa, Ontario
(1825–1913) | February 7,
1902  | January 20,
1909  |  | Liberal
8 |  | Sir Richard John Cartwright
Senator for Oxford, Ontario
(1835–1912) | January 20,
1909  | October 10,
1911  |  | Liberal
9 |  | Sir James Alexander Lougheed
Senator for Calgary, Alberta
(1854–1925) | October 10,
1911  | December 28,
1921  |  | Conservative | Sir Robert Borden
(9th and 10th)
| Unionist
| Conservative | Arthur Meighen
(11th)
10 |  | Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942) | December 29,
1921  | June 28,
1926  |  | Liberal | William Lyon Mackenzie King
(12th)
11 |  | William Benjamin Ross[n 1]
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1855–1929) | June 28,
1926  | September 24,
1926  |  | Conservative | Arthur Meighen
(13th)
(10) |  | Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942) | September 25,
1926  | August 6,
1930  |  | Liberal | William Lyon Mackenzie King
(14th)
12 |  | Wellington Willoughby
Senator for Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
(1859–1932) | August 7,
1930  | February 3,
1932  |  | Conservative | R. B. Bennett
(15th)
13 |  | Arthur Meighen
Senator for St. Mary's, Ontario
(1874–1960) | February 3,
1932  | October 22,
1935  |  | Conservative
(10) |  | Raoul Dandurand
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
(1861–1942) | October 23,
1935  | March 11,
1942  |  | Liberal | William Lyon Mackenzie King
(16th)
14 |  | James Horace King
Senator for Kootenay East, British Columbia
(1873–1955) | May 26,
1942  | August 24,
1945  |  | Liberal
15 |  | Wishart McLea Robertson
Senator for Shelburne, Nova Scotia
(1891–1967) | August 24,
1945  | October 14,
1953  |  | Liberal
Louis St. Laurent
(17th)
16 |  | William Ross Macdonald
Senator for Brantford, Ontario
(1891–1976) | October 14,
1953  | June 20,
1957  |  | Liberal
17 |  | John Thomas Haig
Senator for Winnipeg, Manitoba
(1877–1962) | October 9,
1957  | May 11,
1958  |  | Progressive Conservative | John Diefenbaker
(18th)
18 |  | Walter Aseltine[n 1]
Senator for Rosetown, Saskatchewan
(1886–1971) | May 12,
1958  | August 31,
1962  |  | Progressive Conservative
19 |  | Alfred Johnson Brooks[n 1]
Senator for Royal, New Brunswick
(1890–1967) | August 31,
1962  | April 21,
1963  |  | Progressive Conservative
(16) |  | William Ross Macdonald
Senator for Brantford, Ontario
(1891–1976) | April 22,
1963  | February 2,
1964  |  | Liberal | Lester B. Pearson
(19th)
20 |  | John Joseph Connolly
Senator for Ottawa West, Ontario
(1906–1982) | February 3,
1964  | April 20,
1968  |  | Liberal
21 |  | Paul Martin Sr.[n 2]
Senator for Windsor-Walkerville, Ontario
(1903–1992) | April 20,
1968  | August 7,
1974  |  | Liberal | Pierre Trudeau
(20th)
22 |  | Ray Perrault
Senator for North Shore-Burnaby, British Columbia
(1926–2008) | August 8,
1974  | June 3,
1979  |  | Liberal
23 |  | Jacques Flynn
Senator for Rougemont, Quebec
(1915–2000) | June 4,
1979  | March 2,
1980  |  | Progressive Conservative | Joe Clark
(21st)
(22) |  | Ray Perrault
Senator for North Shore-Burnaby, British Columbia
(1926–2008) | March 3,
1980  | September 29,
1982  |  | Liberal | Pierre Trudeau
(22nd)
24 |  | Bud Olson
Senator for Alberta South, Alberta
(1925–2002) | September 30,
1982  | June 29,
1984  |  | Liberal
25 |  | Allan MacEachen
Senator for Highlands-Canso, Nova Scotia
(1921–2017) | June 30,
1984  | September 16,
1984  |  | Liberal | John Turner
(23rd)
26 |  | Dufferin Roblin
Senator for Red River, Manitoba
(1917–2010) | September 17,
1984  | June 29,
1986  |  | Progressive Conservative | Brian Mulroney
(24th)
27 |  | Lowell Murray
Senator for Pakenham, Ontario
(born 1936) | June 30,
1986  | November 3,
1993  |  | Progressive Conservative
Kim Campbell
(25th)
28 |  | Joyce Fairbairn
Senator for Lethbridge, Alberta
(1939–2022) | November 4,
1993  | June 10,
1997  |  | Liberal | Jean Chrétien
(26th)
29 |  | Alasdair Graham
Senator for The Highlands, Nova Scotia
(1929–2015) | June 11,
1997  | October 3,
1999  |  | Liberal
30 |  | Bernie Boudreau
Senator for Nova Scotia
(born 1944) | October 4,
1999  | January 8,
2001  |  | Liberal
31 |  | Sharon Carstairs
Senator for Manitoba
(born 1942) | January 9,
2001  | December 11,
2003  |  | Liberal
32 |  | Jack Austin
Senator for Vancouver South, British Columbia
(born 1932) | December 12,
2003  | February 6,
2006  |  | Liberal | Paul Martin
(27th)
33 |  | Marjory LeBreton
Senator for Ontario
(born 1940) | February 6,
2006  | July 14,
2013  |  | Conservative | Stephen Harper
(28th)
34 |  | Claude Carignan[n 1]
Senator for Mille Isles, Quebec
(born 1964) | August 20,
2013  | November 3,
2015  |  | Conservative
Representative of the Government in the Senate
35  |  | Peter Harder[n 1]
Senator for Ottawa, Ontario
(born 1952) | March 18,
2016  | December 31,
2019[6] |  | Non-affiliated[n 3][6] | Justin Trudeau
(29)
36  |  | Marc Gold[n 1][7][8]
Senator for Stadacona, Quebec
(born 1950) | January 24,
2020  | June 30,
2025  |  | Non-affiliated[n 3][6]

## See also

[edit]

* Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f Not in the Cabinet.
2. ^ Until April 1, 1969, Martin was, as had been typical, Minister without portfolio while holding the unofficial post of leader of the government in the Senate. Thereafter, Leader of the Government in the Senate became an official ministerial office.
3. ^ a b Sits as non-affiliated but represents the Liberal government for the purposes of introducing legislation and acting as a liaison.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Senate of Canada - About the Senate". 25 January 2019.
2. ^ "Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances". Parliament of Canada.
3. ^ a b "4 issues hanging on Justin Trudeau’s plans for the Senate". Toronto Star, November 8, 2015.
4. ^ "Justin Trudeau names seven new senators". Toronto Star. March 18, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
5. ^ "Liberals set up non-partisan, merit-based process for choosing new senators". Toronto Star, December 3, 2015.
6. ^ a b c d e f "The Prime Minister announces changes to the Senate leadership". Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. Government of Canada. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
7. ^ a b "The Prime Minister announces new Government Representative in the Senate". Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
8. ^ "Trudeau appoints constitutional lawyer Marc Gold as government leader in the Senate". CBC News. January 24, 2020. Retrieved January 24, 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Parliament of Canada biography of current Leader of the Government in the Senate

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