Canadian PM names nine new senators

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, October 25, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

OTTAWA - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday announced his appointment of nine new, independent Senators to fill vacancies in the Senate of Canadian Parliament.

The nine nominees include five women and four men hailing from a wide variety of backgrounds, from an art historian to a renowned human rights lawyer to a conservationist.

They come separately from British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

The individuals being recommended Thursday for appointment to the Senate were chosen using the Government of Canada's new merit-based process - which is designed to help ensure that the Senate is independent, reflective of Canada's diversity, and best able to tackle the broad range of challenges and opportunities facing the country.

For the first time ever, the process was opened up to allow Canadians to apply. Following a four-week application period, which generated over 2,700 applications from Canadians across the country, the candidate submissions were reviewed by the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments, which then provided the Prime Minister with non-binding recommendations. From that pool of candidates, the Prime Minister selected the nine people.

After Thursday's appointment, there are still 12 vacancies - six each in Ontario and Quebec. Peter Harder, the government's representative in the Senate, said Thursday that appointments to fill those vacancies would come in the next few days.

When those are announced, independent senators will hold a plurality of 44 seats.

Prime Minister Trudeau took the first step toward transforming the Senate in January 2014, when he kicked senators out of the Liberal caucus in a bid to diminish the hyper-partisanship he maintained had destroyed the Senate's intended role as an independent chamber of sober second thought.

The much-maligned chamber was engulfed in the notorious expenses scandal at the time, which exposed the degree to which former Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office attempted to manipulate the Senate's Conservative majority.

Under the Canadian Constitution, the Governor General of Canada appoints people to the Senate. By convention, Senators are appointed on the advice of the Prime Minister.

In making their recommendations, the Independent Advisory Board for Senate Appointments was guided by public, transparent, non-partisan and merit-based criteria to identify highly-qualified people.