From the previous post (What’s Next?), the “best” Senate option was found to be limiting nominations to members of the Order of Canada (OC model) and to members of the provincial orders of merit. A very close second was the House of Elders model of the First Nations.

Based on these criteria, there are eight senators (out of 105 or 7.6%) who meet these criteria. These are:

Chretien Appointments: Serge Joyal

Martin Appointments: Roméo A. Dallaire, Sandra M. Lovelace Nicholas, Hugh Segal

Harper Appointments: Irving Russell Gerstein, Kelvin K. Ogilvie, Nancy Greene Raine, Pamela Wallin

NB: It is important to note that a member of the Order of Canada if convicted of a crime can have their membership to the Order revoked as illustrated here.

Based on the current Senate status, there are currently 9 vacancies (BC-1, Manitoba-2, Ontario-3, Quebec-1, Nova Scotia-2).

Based on the OC model and desirous to develop a First Nation’s “Elder” dimension to the Senate, my choices for the current nine vacancies are:

BC: There are 376 living members of the Order of Canada in BC. Further, there are around 300 members of the Order of BC. In terms of possible candidates for me, there is really only one that meets the ultimate vision of what a Senator should be for me. And that is (the Man in Motion) Rick Hansen: Companion of the Order of Canada, he, for me, is an example to follow and reflects the best in all of us.

Manitoba: There are some 118 Manitobans members of the Order of Canada. Further, there are some 180 members of the Order of Manitoba. My first candidate would be W. Yvon Dumont, Métis, who is a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba. The candidate for the second seat would be Raymond Poirier who is also a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of Manitoba.

Ontario: There are over 1200 Ontarians who have been named to the Order of Canada and over a thousand members of the Order of Ontario. My first nominee would be Phil Fontaine of the Sagkeeng First Nation. Apparently Mr Fontaine lives in Ontario. The second would be Ms Chantal Hebert who is member of the Order of Canada. The third Ontario vacancy can be filled by Annette Verschuren who is a member of the Order of Canada.

Quebec: There are some 750 living Quebecois member of the Order of Canada and some 600 member de l’Ordre national du Quebec. For the one current vacancy in Quebec, I would suggest if be filled by Denise Verreault who is a member of Order of Canada.

Nova Scotia: For the vacancies here, I would suggest Dr Joan Glode of the Mi’kmaq, member of the Order of Canada and Joseph Shannon member of the Order of Canada.