Stephen Harper’s five new senators reflect ethnic diversity
OTTAWA — A former Progressive Conservative politician from New Brunswick, a citizenship judge who fled Vietnam and the first Filipino-Canadian elected in Canada’s largest city are among the crop of new additions to the Senate with the latter two making history as the first from their ethnic groups to sit in the Red Chamber.
The five vacancies filled Friday bolstered Tory ranks in the Senate, swelling the party’s majority to 62 seats in the 105-seat chamber, and, the government argued, added to its support for its Senate reform agenda.
In making the announcement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office noted that all five appointees pledged support for the Senate Reform Act, which would set term limits and create a voluntary framework for Senate elections.
The government made a similar statement when Harper announced seven new senators in December 2011, although some of those appointees have since changed their beliefs. Since then, the Senate Reform Act has not moved foward on the legislative agenda, and the minister overseeing the legislation wouldn’t say Friday whether Canadians would see the bill move quickly through the House of Commons.
Read more: Stephen Harper
The five vacancies filled Friday bolstered Tory ranks in the Senate, swelling the party’s majority to 62 seats in the 105-seat chamber, and, the government argued, added to its support for its Senate reform agenda.
In making the announcement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office noted that all five appointees pledged support for the Senate Reform Act, which would set term limits and create a voluntary framework for Senate elections.
The government made a similar statement when Harper announced seven new senators in December 2011, although some of those appointees have since changed their beliefs. Since then, the Senate Reform Act has not moved foward on the legislative agenda, and the minister overseeing the legislation wouldn’t say Friday whether Canadians would see the bill move quickly through the House of Commons.
Read more: Stephen Harper