The Progressive Senate Group (french: Groupe progressiste du sénat) is a

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary party, or parliamentary caucus is a group consisting of some members of the same political party or electoral fusion of parties in a legislative assembly such as a parliament or a city council. Parliamenta ...

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 ...

. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the now-defunct

Senate Liberal Caucus The Senate Liberal Caucus (french: Caucus libéral du Sénat), also known as the Senate Liberals (french: libéraux au Sénat), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were ind ...

, which had been expected to lose

official party status Official party status refers to the Westminster practice which is officially used in the Parliament of Canada and the provincial legislatures of recognizing parliamentary caucuses of political parties. In official documents, this is sometimes re ...

in January 2020, when Senator Joseph Day was due to leave the Senate due to mandatory retirement. The caucus lost official status on November 18, 2019, when

Percy Downe Percy E. Downe (born July 8, 1954) is a Canadian Senator and former political aide. Since graduating from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1977, Downe has had the opportunity to serve at the provincial and federal levels of Canadian Gov ...

switched to the

Canadian Senators Group The Canadian Senators Group (french: Groupe des sénateurs canadiens) is a parliamentary group of senators in the Senate of Canada founded on November 4, 2019, by eight senators from the Independent Senators Group, two from the Conservative Pa ...

, but regained it in May 2020 after several senators joined the caucus.

History

Facing extinction, on November 14, 2019, Senator Joseph Day announced during a press conference that the Senate Liberal Caucus had been officially disbanded, with its current complement of nine members forming a brand new, non-partisan

in the Progressive Senate Group, with the hope that the new group would be able to attract additional Senators. Unlike 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 ...

(ISG) and newly formed

, 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 The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

, and supporting a new relationship with

Indigenous peoples in Canada In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

. With this dissolution, as of November 14, 2019, the Canadian Senate no longer had a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Senator for the first time since Canada's confederation in 1867. Senator Terry Mercer, previously the Senate Liberal Caucus chair, was confirmed as the PSG's deputy leader. Senator

was named as interim whip/facilitator of the PSG. On November 18, Downe left to join the

. As Downe's departure dropped the PSG's standings below the minimum 9 members required to be recognized as a caucus, the PSG lost its official status and became ineligible for the privileges associated with being an official parliamentary group, such as $410,000 in annual funding for staff and research as well as its right to be represented on Senate committees and procedural rights on the Senate floor. Despite the loss of official recognition, interim PSG leader Joseph Day said that the group would not disband, and that it hoped to recruit additional members. With Senator Day's mandatory retirement forthcoming in January 2020, on December 12, 2019, Jane Cordy tweeted that her colleagues in the PSG had selected her as the new leader, ostensibly effective that same date. Additionally, it was announced later that day that Terry Mercer would be moving into the whip/caucus chair role, and that would become Deputy Leader. On May 8, 2020,

Patricia Bovey Patricia E. Bovey (born May 15, 1948) is a Canadian art historian from Manitoba. Bovey was the director of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1980–1999) and the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1999–2004); art consultant (2004–2016); founder and ...

joined the caucus. Bovey, a Trudeau appointee and former member of the ISG, was the first member of the PSG to not be a former Liberal senator. A week later, on May 14, former

Representative of the Government in the Senate The representative of the Government in the Senate (french: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after t ...

Peter Harder joined the caucus. Harder, previously non-affiliated, explained that he was concerned about "majoritarianism" in the Senate and believed that, as part of the PSG, he could be "part of a bulwark against that." On May 21, 2020, Pierre Dalphond joined the caucus, bringing their numbers to nine and thus restoring official party status to the group. On June 11, 2020, Bovey was named the PSG's liaison.

Leadership

* Jane Cordy - Leader (December 12, 2019 – present) * Pierre Dalphond - Deputy Leader (June 1, 2021 – present) *

- Liaison (June 11, 2020 – present) * Brian Francis - Caucus Chair (December 1, 2020 – present)

Former leadership positions

- Whip/Facilitator (interim) (November 14, 2019 – November 17, 2019) * Joseph Day - Leader (interim) (November 14, 2019 – December 11, 2019) * Terry Mercer - Deputy Leader (interim) (November 12 – December 11, 2019); Caucus Chair (December 12, 2019 – November 30, 2020) *

Dennis Dawson Dennis Dawson (born September 28, 1949) is a Canadian politician and administrator. Dawson is a retired Canadian Senator and former Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons. He was first elected as an MP in 1977 at the age 27, and was a ...

- Deputy Leader (December 12, 2019 – May 31, 2021)

Membership

Former
members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{Canadian federal political parties Senate of Canada Independent politicians in Canada 2019 establishments in Canada Political organizations established in 2019