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Carney appoints Conservative MP from Quebec to Senate, along with principal secretary
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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney is appointing Quebec Conservative MP Richard Martel to the Senate, as well as his own principal secretary and major Liberal power player, as he announced he was reversing the Trudeau-era appointment criteria of requiring that prospective senators demonstrate non-partisanship.
Martel, now a former MP, has been serving as the Conservative MP for the riding of Chicoutimi—Le Fjord since 2018. A spokesperson in the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Martel will sit as an Independent.
Carney announced on Tuesday that Martel, a former Quebec Major Junior League hockey coach, was among four names he was elevating to the upper chamber, with another one being his principal secretary, Tom Pitfield.
Pitfield, a digital strategist who worked on Carney’s 2025 election campaign before following him into the Prime Minister’s Office, is a longtime Liberal and friend of former prime minister Justin Trudeau .
Carney also appointed to the Senate physician and cancer researcher Dr. Rodney Oulette from Moncton, N.B. and Geeta Tucker, a Winnipeg consultant and former president of the Chartered Professional Accountants of Manitoba.
The Prime Minister’s Office announced that Carney was also changing the criteria for Senate appointments, removing the “ non-partisanship criterion” for picks and emphasizing that prospective candidates would be judged on “expertise in key Canadian strategic industries, regulatory frameworks, and emerging social and economic affairs.”
His office promised to establish a new independent advisory board for Senate appointments in the “coming days.”
During his time in office, Trudeau ushered in a new appointment criteria for the Senate with the expressed intent of trying to remove partisanship from the upper chamber, and went so far as to kick Liberal senators out of the party’s caucus back when he became leader in 2014.
Trudeau later ushered in a process that saw an independent board created to provide him with advice on who ought to be appointed to the Senate using a set of standard criteria.
Among that criteria is the requirement that “individuals must demonstrate to the advisory board that they have the ability to bring a perspective and contribution to the work of the Senate that is independent and non-partisan,” adding that past political activities would have to be disclosed but “would not disqualify an applicant.”
However, some of Trudeau’s later appointments were ultimately criticized for being just as partisan as appointments under previous prime ministers.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the decision to remove the non-partisan criteria recognizes “the valuable contributions made by Canadians who have chosen to serve in elected office or in other partisan roles, including knowledge of the governing and legislative processes, which will contribute to a stronger, more effective Senate.”
Tuesday’s announcement marks the first time Carney has made Senate appointments since becoming prime minister last year. There remain six vacancies, with five more expected by the end of the year, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Senators must retire after turning 75.
Martel’s departure from the House of Commons means there will need to be a byelection held in Chicoutimi—Le Fjord which, before Martel’s byelection win in 2018, was won by the Liberals in 2015. During the 2025 election, a three-way race emerged between the Conservatives, Bloc Québécois and Liberals to capture the riding, which has been represented by all federal parties, including the NDP, at some point over the past two decades.
His appointment also means that Opposition Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre loses another MP, bringing his party’s seat count in Parliament to 139. Last year, Poilievre lost four MPs through defections to the Liberals, putting pressure on his leadership.
The Conservative leader has not yet responded to his former MP’s Senate appointment.
Losing Martel, who backed former Quebec premier Jean Charest in the 2022 leadership contest that Poilievre won, means the Conservatives now only have 10 MPs from Quebec, a province where it has historically struggled to make gains.
In a statement posted to X, Senator Leo Housakos , who serves as the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, welcomed the new appointees, calling Martel a “longtime friend and colleague.”
“I look forward to continuing our collaboration and working with all our new colleagues in service to Canadian women and men.”
In a subsequent statement, Housakos said that it had become “routine practice” for a senator to enter as an Independent.
He said that Martel, along with any other senator, “would be welcomed with open arms” into the Conservative Senate caucus, pointing to how several former Independent senators have done so over the past year.
Unlike with the Liberals, senators can sit as Conservatives in the upper chamber and attend the party’s national caucus meetings.
More to come …
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