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, four 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; 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 | Lib. | Cons. [a] | Ind.Lib. | Ind.Cons. | No af. | Other | # | % | # | % | # | % | |||
Royal Proclamation | October 23, 1867 | 73 | 27 [b] | 45 [c] | — | 1 | — | — | 45 | 61.6 | 27 | 36.9 | 1 | 1.2 | ||
Macdonald | July 1, 1867 | November 5, 1873 | 91 | 9 | 78 [d] | 1 | 1 | 1 | — | 78 [d] | 85.7 | 9 | 9.8 | 3 | 3.3 | |
October 17, 1878 | June 6, 1891 | |||||||||||||||
Mackenzie | November 7, 1873 | October 8, 1878 | 16 | 16 [e] | — | — | — | — | — | 16 [e] | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Abbott | June 16, 1891 | November 24, 1892 | 6 | — | 6 [f] | — | — | — | — | 6 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Thompson | December 5, 1892 | December 12, 1894 | 5 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 4 | 80.0 | 1 | 20.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Bowell | December 21, 1894 | April 27, 1896 | 13 | — | 13 [g] | — | — | — | — | 13 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Tupper | May 1, 1896 | July 8, 1896 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Laurier | July 11, 1896 | October 6, 1911 | 81 | 80 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 80 | 98.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1.2 | |
Borden | October 10, 1911 | July 10, 1920 | 62 | 3 | 57 | — | 1 | — | 1 [h] | 58 [i] | 93.6 | 3 | 4.8 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Meighen | July 10, 1920 | December 29, 1921 | 15 | — | 13 | — | — | 1 | 1 [j] | 14 [i] | 93.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 6.7 | |
June 29, 1926 | September 25, 1926 | |||||||||||||||
King | December 29, 1921 | June 28, 1926 | 103 | 103 [k] | — | — | — | — | — | 103 [k] | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
September 25, 1926 | August 7, 1930 | |||||||||||||||
October 23, 1935 | November 15, 1948 | |||||||||||||||
Bennett | August 7, 1930 | October 23, 1935 | 33 | — | 32 | — | — | 1 | — | 32 | 97.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 3.0 | |
St. Laurent | November 15, 1948 | June 21, 1957 | 55 | 51 | 1 | 2 | — | 1 | — | 51 | 92.7 | 1 | 1.8 | 3 | 5.5 | |
Diefenbaker | June 21, 1957 | April 22, 1963 | 37 | — | 36 | — | 1 | — | — | 36 | 97.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2.7 | |
Pearson | April 22, 1963 | April 20, 1968 | 39 | 38 | — | 1 | — | — | — | 38 | 97.4 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2.6 | |
P. E. Trudeau | April 20, 1968 | June 4, 1979 | 81 | 70 | 7 | — | — | 3 | 1 [l] | 70 | 86.4 | 8 | 9.9 | 3 | 3.7 | |
March 3, 1980 | June 30, 1984 | |||||||||||||||
Clark | June 4, 1979 | March 3, 1980 | 11 | — | 11 | — | — | — | — | 11 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Turner | June 30, 1984 | September 17, 1984 | 3 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 3 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Mulroney | September 17, 1984 | June 25, 1993 | 57 | — | 55 | — | — | 1 | 1 [m] | 55 | 96.4 | 1 | 1.8 | 1 | 1.8 | |
Campbell | June 25, 1993 | November 4, 1993 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
Chrétien | November 4, 1993 | December 12, 2003 | 75 | 72 | — | — | — | 3 | — | 72 | 96.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 3 | 4.0 | |
Martin | December 12, 2003 | February 6, 2006 | 17 | 12 | 2 | — | 2 [n] | — | 1 [o] | 12 | 70.6 | 5 | 29.4 | 0 | 0.0 | |
Harper | February 6, 2006 | November 4, 2015 | 59 | — | 59 [p] [q] [1] | — | — | — | — | 59 | 100.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | |
J. Trudeau | November 4, 2015 | — | 100 [2] | — | — | — | — | 100 [2] | — | — | — | — | — | 100 | 100.0 |