Senate Liberal Caucus


The Senate Liberal Caucus, also known as the Senate Liberals, was a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were individually members of the Liberal Party of Canada and were appointed on the advice of previous Liberal prime ministers. The caucus was not formally affiliated to or recognized by the Liberal Party.
The caucus was dissolved on November 14, 2019 and its members formed a new non-partisan parliamentary group, the Progressive Senate Group. The dissolution of the Senate Liberals marked the first time the Senate of Canada had no Liberal members since Canadian Confederation in 1867.

History

Liberal senators were part of the national Liberal Party parliamentary caucus, alongside MPs, until party leader Justin Trudeau expelled all 32 senators from the caucus January 29, 2014. The expulsion came as part of Trudeau's proposal for a non-partisan Senate, arguing that "the party structure within the Senate interferes with responsibilities," and said the remaining Liberal senators would have no formal ties to the Liberal Party machinery. The move came as a surprise to the Senate Liberals, who were not informed the decision ahead of time. Although Trudeau described them as "former Liberal senators" and that they would now sit as independents, the 32 senators chose to keep the designation "Liberal" and continue to sit together as a caucus. Jim Cowan, the former leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate, remained the leader of his Liberal colleagues, and continued to be recognized as the as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. According to Cowan, the only change would be that they "will not need to be concerned any more about the real or perceived direction from the national Liberal caucus."
Unlike previous practice in which the Liberal leaders in the Senate were appointed by the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, the leader of the Senate Liberal Caucus was directly elected by Liberal senators. When the Liberal Party under Trudeau formed the government following the 2015 federal election, contrary to previous practice, the Senate Liberals did not become the government caucus in the Senate. Instead, Trudeau appointed a non-affiliated senator to be the Representative of the Government in the Senate. Since 2015, several senators have left the caucus and redesignated themselves as non-affiliated senators or joined the Independent Senators Group.
The Senate Liberals were expected to lose their status as an official Senate caucus on January 24, 2020, when the caucus would have been reduced to eight senators with the retirement of Senator Joseph A. Day. A minimum of nine members is required for official caucus status which entitles the grouping to access to funding for a research budget and other supports and privileges. Additionally, Liberal party member Senators Joyal and Dyck were to retire from the Senate on February 1, 2020, and August 24, 2020, respectively, which meant that the parliamentary group would have been further reduced to six senators.
Day announced in a November 14, 2019 press conference that the Senate Liberal Caucus had been disbanded, with its current complement of nine members forming a new non-partisan parliamentary group called the Progressive Senate Group. Unlike the Independent Senators Group and the Canadian Senators Group, which impose either prohibitions or limits, respectively, on outside partisan activities, there was no mention that the new Progressive Senate Group would have similar limits; however, Day confirmed that, like the aforementioned two groups, the PSG would not have whipped votes, and the requirements of membership included supporting or holding "progressive" political values, support of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and supporting a new relationship with Canada's Indigenous peoples. With the dissolution of the Senate Liberal Caucus, the Senate was without any Liberal senators for the first time in its history.

Leaders of the Senate Liberal Caucus

Membership

Members at dissolution

NameProvince Mandatory retirement date
Nova Scotia2 July 2025
Quebec 28 September 2024
New Brunswick 24 January 2020
Prince Edward Island 8 July 2029
Saskatchewan 24 August 2020
Quebec 1 February 2020
Nova Scotia 6 May 2022
Ontario 14 July 2021
New Brunswick15 April 2023

Former members

NameProvince Left caucusReason
Newfoundland and Labrador4 September 2017Retired
Prince Edward Island25 July 2014Retired
British Columbia6 April 2016Joined Independent Senators Group
Manitoba1 March 2016Retired
Ontario 17 April 2015Retired
Nova Scotia22 January 2017Retired
Quebec 17 June 2014Retired
Ontario 29 September 2018Retired
Quebec 2 February 2018Retired
Newfoundland and Labrador3 December 2015Left to sit as non-affiliated
Quebec 22 April 2018Retired
Prince Edward Island8 September 2017Retired
British Columbia20 December 2018Left to sit as non-affiliated
Quebec 30 October 2017Joined Independent Senators Group
Saskatchewan31 March 2017Retired
Alberta2 May 2016Left to sit as non-affiliated
Nova Scotia 14 January 2017Retired
New Brunswick2 February 2016Joined Independent Senators Group
New Brunswick2 December 2014Retired
Northwest Territories5 May 2016Left to sit as non-affiliated
Ontario 16 May 2016Retired
Alberta2 February 2018Retired
Quebec 16 March 2018Retired

Footnotes