The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; french: Groupe des sénateurs indépendants) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group (ISG) is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the ...

, two from the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

's Senate caucus, and one non-affiliated senator. The group named Scott Tannas as its interim leader and Josée Verner as interim deputy leader, though the actual caucus leadership roles and role titles have yet to be announced.

History

The caucus was formed on November 4, 2019. In an interview with CTV News' Don Martin, Tannas said that the motivation for him and at least several other senators to depart the ISG was a perceived lack of independence in the contentious spring 2019 legislation related to west coast oil tanker moratoriums and other oil and gas-related legislation. Additionally, Tannas cited the concern that the

, then numbering 58 Senators, had become too large, and that a "wider range of views and approaches" was needed. In addition, in an effort to avoid " groupthink", CSG interim leader Senator Scott Tannas announced that the initial founding members of the group had agreed to cap membership in the group to no more than 25 members. Also included among the reasons for the founding of a second, non-partisan, and independent Senate caucus was a perennially renewed effort to focus on regional issues, despite this notionally being the constitutionally-enshrined purpose of the Senate as a whole. Included among those decamping to the Canadian Senators Group was Elaine McCoy, who previously served as the ISG's founding facilitator from 2016 to 2017. On November 18, 2019, two more senators joined the CSG: Percy Downe, formerly of the

Progressive Senate Group The Progressive Senate Group (french: Groupe progressiste du sénat) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the now-defunct Senate Liberal Caucus, which had been expected to lose official pa ...

and Senate Liberal Caucus; and Jean-Guy Dagenais, a Conservative. Downe said he still supported the Liberal Party but liked the "diversity of views" in the CSG; while Dagenais cited disagreements with the leadership of Andrew Scheer, particularly Scheer's social views and the "low importance" he placed on Quebec, as the reasons for his defection. On February 4, 2022,

Dennis Patterson Dennis Glen Patterson (born December 30, 1948) is a Canadian politician and lawyer. He served as MLA for Frobisher Bay and Iqaluit from 1978 to 1995, as NWT Minister of Education, Justice and Municipal Affairs and was chosen as the fifth prem ...

joined the CSG, departing the Conservative caucus. The "last straw" was disappointment that members of the party weren't condemning the Freedom Convoy. On August 4, 2022, Larry Smith left the Conservative caucus to join the CSG. Smith clarified that he would remain a member of the Conservative Party.

Leadership

;Leader: * Scott Tannas (November 4, 2019 – present) ;Deputy Leader: *

(November 4, 2019 – present)

Membership

Former members

External links

Canadian Senators Group

References