The newest Tory senator is a Trudeau appointee. What to know about about David Adams Richards
Article content
In November 2019, he was one of the founding members of the new Canadian Senators Group (CSG), which was established in part to address centralization within the Senate, particularly in the ISG, and to reinforce senators' roles as regional representatives.
He remained with the second-largest ensemble in the upper house until May 21 this year, when he left to again sit as a non-affiliated member. He's the only Liberal-appointed Senator to have joined the Conservative caucus, which now counts 12 s enators.
As of Thursday, ISG leads the way with 45 members, CSG follows with 21, the Progressive Senator Group has 18, and there are eight non-affiliated. There's one vacancy — the seat left behind upon Don Plet's mandatory retirement at the age of 75 earlier last month.
He'll soon be joined in retirement by Richards, who turns 75 on Oct. 17.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Manitoba cabinet minister breaks silence about 2019 workplace harassment probe
Manitoba's sole cabinet minister has defended her work at a Winnipeg college and said she's being unjustly targeted more than five years after an investigation concluded she had harassed an employee. At least three employees of Red River College Polytechnic filed separate complaints about the behaviour of their boss, Rebecca Chartrand, in 2019. Chartrand, who won the riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski for the Liberals in April, was chosen by Prime Minister Mark Carney to be part of his inner circle. Between her failed 2015 run for office and her successful second try, the new MP and minister of Northern and Arctic affairs spent about 2-½ years in a senior management role at RRC Polytech's Indigenous education unit. On Tuesday, Chartrand provided a lengthy statement in which she touted her commitment to positive change and the progress she made on 'enhancing programs and fostering a student-centered environment' at RRC Polytech. She said her work is a 'source of great pride.' 'Let us concentrate on building up the community and supporting positive developments within the Indigenous community, instead of focusing on negativity that fans lateral violence within the Indigenous community,' the cabinet minister said via email Tuesday. The findings of the 2019 probe into her treatment of one particular employee on campus was leaked against the backdrop of the rookie politician's sudden rise up the ranks on Parliament Hill. Investigators from Rachlis Neville LLP concluded Chartrand had repeatedly harassed and humiliated a subordinate, who is also an Indigenous woman, over an extended period in 2019. RRC Polytech hired the firm that fall, after undertaking an internal investigation sparked by the same complainant. That one concluded Chartrand had breached school policy when she pushed through a controversial student survey — a project that several of her colleagues had raised concerns about — and taken retaliatory action against the employee who flagged the suspected breach. That individual, who left the college in 2020, repeatedly flagged the gist of those conclusions with her federal Liberal contacts before the April 28 election. 'As an Indigenous Liberal member who supports Mark Carney, I have been trying to warn the Winnipeg Liberal head office about (Chartrand). She will be a liability if elected and a scandal waiting to happen,' she wrote in an April 6 email to a fellow Liberal who was heavily involved in Carney's campaign. 'Let us concentrate on building up the community and supporting positive developments within the Indigenous community, instead of focusing on negativity that fans lateral violence within the Indigenous community.'–Rebecca Chartrand The Free Press has interviewed that employee and four others who worked closely with Chartrand when she oversaw Indigenous strategy at RRC Polytech from June 2017 to December 2019. Each of them expressed serious concerns about her treatment of employees — either themselves, former colleagues or both — who had voiced differing views to ones she held. Three said they made written complaints about her, but the report of only one of them was escalated and substantiated. They all agreed to share their experiences on the condition of anonymity. 'She's very authoritarian and she surrounds herself with 'yes' people and if you're not a 'yes' person, you're not going to be there — or she's going to make it really tough for you,' one source said. She said she frequently witnessed what she called 'lateral violence' — undermining and bullying of the whistleblower whose complaint was escalated. Chartrand's hostile behaviour made others 'cower,' the source said. Another ex-staffer recalled being fired on the basis of 'insubordination' after questioning the appropriateness and legalities of collecting deeply personal information from prospective students, via the survey. Chartrand faced criticism during the 2018-19 school year for creating 'an assessment readiness tool,' exclusively prepared for applicants of an Indigenous studies program, that requested details about their alcohol and recreational drug use. Multiple sources described Chartrand as a vindictive ladder-climber, citing one instance when she uninvited a staff member from an international trip to a conference he had pitched they go to because they'd had a disagreement. The employee in question had expressed problems with the survey, sources said. The decision to push forward the initiative and write off workers' concerns showed her 'bad judgment,' said a fourth ex-employee who indicated he contacted the federal NDP after learning Chartrand was nominated as the Liberal candidate for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski. That employee said he left RRC Polytech when his complaints involving Chartrand were unresolved. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. The Liberal party has declined to comment on the vetting of specific candidate applications, citing confidentiality. RRC Polytech has released limited information about Chartrand's tenure over the same rationale. 'I'm really disappointed at (the Liberals') lack of integrity or their lack of an answer to the people,' said the whistleblower whose complaints were substantiated by Rachlis Neville LLP. 'To be honest, it makes me question if the prime minister has been given the correct information to make the best decisions for who is in key positions.' She noted it was the party that had first brought her and Chartrand together, as they both worked on her 2015 bid under the leadership of then-Liberal leader Justin Trudeau. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Global News
5 hours ago
- Global News
Poilievre calls for ‘severe limits' on Canadian population growth
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the Canadian population has grown out of control and is calling on the Liberal government to further reduce immigration. 'We want severe limits on population growth to reverse the damage the Liberals did to our system,' Poilievre said during a press conference Tuesday in the foyer of the House of Commons. 'The population has been growing out of control, our border has been left wide open. This has caused the free flow of drugs, illegal migration, human trafficking and much worse.' Poilievre did not take followup questions from reporters on what he meant by 'severe limits on population growth.' Global News has reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada for clarification but did not receive a response at the time of publication. Story continues below advertisement Canada's population saw a substantial surge between 2021 and 2024, jumping by nearly nine per cent, according to Statistics Canada. In March of 2024, Canada's population reached 41 million people, the fastest domestic growth in over 60 years. 2:14 Canada's foreign student asylum claims hit record high in 2024, set to grow in 2025 Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau, the Liberal government said it would reduce the number of permanent residents admitted annually by 21 per cent from 500,000 to 395,000 in 2025, then falling further to 380,000 by 2026 and 365,000 by 2027. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Trudeau Liberals also promised to cap the number of temporary residents admitted from 6.5 per cent to five per cent of the total population by the end of 2026. 0:31 Canada's population hits 41M, seeing fastest growth in more than 60 years Prime Minister Mark Carney has broadly accepted the previous Trudeau targets, writing in his mandate letter to cabinet ministers that he wants to return 'overall immigration rates to sustainable levels.' Story continues below advertisement During the election, the Conservative platform promised the party would cut permanent immigration levels 'to a sustainable rate similar to the levels under the Harper government.' Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada's permanent immigration levels ranged between 240,000 in 2006 and 285,000 in 2016, but it was unclear if the Conservative proposal was an absolute reduction in immigration or proportional to current population levels.
Edmonton Journal
6 hours ago
- Edmonton Journal
Tasha Kheiriddin: Liberals finally making Canada's defence a priority
Article content Damn the torpedoes! Canada's Liberal government is taking aim at defence — and it's about time. This week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada will hit the NATO benchmark of 2 per cent of GDP on defence spending this year, instead of waiting for 2032, deploying an additional $9 billion in 2025-2026. Ever the banker, he's also deploying some accounting manoeuvres, shifting $16 billion from the ledgers of other departments to the defence budget to bring it up to the required amount. But that is in line with the tabulations of other NATO countries — and is something predecessor Justin Trudeau should have done, so that Canada would have appeared to be less of a defence laggard for the last decade.
