This is a list of Canadian Senate appointments during a prime minister's tenure. Members of the Senate of Canada are appointed by the governor general of Canada on the recommendation of his or her prime minister. This list is broken down by party and further sorted into three categories: senators appointed who sat in the government caucus, senators appointed who sat in opposition caucuses, and senators appointed who sat in neither.
Only three prime ministers have recommended with any frequency the appointment of senators belonging to opposition parties: John A. Macdonald, Pierre Trudeau, and Paul Martin. The remaining prime ministers have, between them, recommended the appointment of only six opposition senators. Of those six, five were from the party forming the Official Opposition: three were appointed on the recommendation of Prime Minister Robert Borden, who was trying to create a cross-party coalition National Government during World War I; one was made on the recommendation of John Sparrow David Thompson; and one was made on the recommendation of Louis St. Laurent, upon the advice of his strategists, as the PC Party was in danger of losing official party status in the Senate by dropping below five seats. The remaining one was from a minor party. One prime minister, Kim Campbell, recommended no senators during her time in office.
Prime minister Term(s) Total Party Government Opposition Non-partisan From To No Other # % # % # % Royal proclamation 73 27 45 — 1 — — 45 61.6 27 36.9 1 1.2 Macdonald 91 9 78 1 1 1 — 78 85.7 9 9.8 3 3.3 Mackenzie 16 16 — — — — — 16 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Abbott 6 — 6 — — — — 6 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Thompson 5 1 4 — — — — 4 80.0 1 20.0 0 0.0 Bowell 13 — 13 — — — — 13 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Tupper 1 — 1 — — — — 1 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Laurier 81 80 — 1 — — — 80 98.8 0 0.0 1 1.2 Borden 62 3 57 — 1 — 1 58 93.6 3 4.8 0 0.0 Meighen 15 — 13 — — 1 1 14 93.3 0 0.0 1 6.7 King 103 103 — — — — — 103 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Bennett 33 — 32 — — 1 — 32 97.0 0 0.0 1 3.0 St. Laurent 55 51 1 2 — 1 — 51 92.7 1 1.8 3 5.5 Diefenbaker 37 — 36 — 1 — — 36 97.3 0 0.0 1 2.7 Pearson 39 38 — 1 — — — 38 97.4 0 0.0 1 2.6 P. E. Trudeau 81 70 7 — — 3 1 70 86.4 8 9.9 3 3.7 Clark 11 — 11 — — — — 11 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Turner 3 3 — — — — — 3 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 Mulroney 57 — 55 — — 1 1 55 96.4 1 1.8 1 1.8 Campbell 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — Chrétien 75 72 — — — 3 — 72 96.0 0 0.0 3 4.0 Martin 17 12 2 — 2 — 1 12 70.6 5 29.4 0 0.0 Harper 59 — 59 — — — — 59 100.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 J. Trudeau 100 — — — — 100 — — — — — 100 100.0 Carney 4 — — — — 4 — — — — — 100 100.0
Notes
References
External links Parliament of Canada: Appointments to the Senate by Prime Minister