Six Canadian Senate seats filled for Ontario – not one by an engineer
OSPE sends letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Since the wake of the Canadian Senate expenses scandal, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made an effort to restore the Senate’s reputation as a sound and independent chamber of sober second thought by vowing to fill a total of 21 vacancies in the upper house with independent or non-affiliated senators who have been selected using a new process of merit-based appointment.
With the help of a non-partisan advisory panel, Trudeau has since named all 21 non-affiliated senators from a pool of over 2,700 applicants. Nine candidates have been appointed to fill vacancies for British Columbia, Manitoba and Atlantic Canada; six have filled the seats for Ontario and another six have filled vacancies for Quebec.
The 21 independent senators hail from a variety of professional backgrounds, including art history, law, psychiatry and social work, to name a few. Of particular concern, however, is that representatives from the engineering profession are noticeably missing from the lineup of appointed candidates. Despite the technical expertise, problem solving skills and deep understanding of the increasingly technical issues facing Ontario and Canada, out of the 21 independent candidates appointed to the Senate, only one is an engineer – Rosa Galvez, professor at Laval University in civil and water engineering – who was selected to fill one of the six vacancies for Quebec.
No engineers were appointed to fill any of the six vacancies for Ontario. As a result, on Monday, November 14, OSPE – as the voice of the engineering profession in Ontario – sent the following letter to The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, reminding the Prime Minister what engineers can bring to the table, and encouraging him to ensure diversity in the Senate by appointing a suitable number of Senators who represent the engineering community.
Read the letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau below:
Sources:
“Trudeau names 9 new senators — with more to come.” CBC News: Politics. October 27, 2016. Accessed November 14, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-new-senators-1.3823650.
“Justin Trudeau names top cop, prisoners’ advocate as new senators.” CBC News: Politics. October 31, 2016. Accessed November 14, 2016. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/senate-appointments-ontario-trudeau-1.3828893.
