Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin named to Senate

NEWS RELEASE

PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

************************* Prime Minister Harper acts to fill Senate vacancies

Each new senator pledges to support Canada’s elected government, promote Canadian unity and advance Senate reform

OTTAWA - (December 22) - Prime Harper today announced that he will appoint 18 distinguished Canadians to serve in Canada’s Senate.

“Our government will continue to push for a more democratic, accountable and effective Senate,” said the prime minister. “If Senate vacancies are to be filled, however, they should be filled by the government that Canadians elected rather than by a coalition that no one voted for.”

The incoming senators have all pledged to support eight-year term limits and other Senate reform legislation.

Each incoming senator has also declared his or her unwavering commitment to support Canadian unity and oppose the coalition.

Four of the incoming senators will fill vacancies from the Province of Quebec.

Incoming senators will fill three vacancies in British Columbia and Nova Scotia while two vacancies are being filled in Ontario and New Brunswick.

One vacancy is being filled in each of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

“While I look forward to welcoming elected senators to the upper chamber in the future, these current vacancies must be filled in order for the Senate to transact legitimate government business,” said the prime minister. “If the opposition parties do not approve of these Senate appointments they should stop obstructing our attempts to introduce meaningful Senate reform. For our part, we will continue working with the provinces and reform-minded parliamentarians to build a more accountable and democratic Senate.”

List of new senators - Saskatchewan

Pamela Wallin, O.C., S.O.M is an award winning journalist whose career stretches back more than three decades. Ms. Wallin is most recognized from her time at CTV where she co-hosted Canada AM and later served as CTV’s Ottawa Bureau chief. Ms. Wallin would subsequently form her own production company Pamela Wallin Productions Inc. Ms. Wallin has remained active in public life as chancellor of the University of Guelph and senior advisor on Canada-U.S. relations to the president of the Americas Society and the Council of the Americas. In 2007, Prime Minister Harper appointed Ms. Wallin to the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan. Ms. Wallin has agreed to step down as senator and submit her name as a candidate when Saskatchewan holds its first legislated Senate election.

Prince Edward Island

Michael Duffy is one of Canada's most well-known and respected news personalities and the current host of CTV's daily program, Mike Duffy Live. Mr. Duffy joined CBC Radio News in 1974, switched to CBC TV’s The National in 1978, and joined CTV in 1988. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Mr. Duffy is involved in a number of charitable activities both in Ottawa and in his home province, including the UPEI Building fund, and the current Holland College Foundation Fundraising campaign. He has been a visiting fellow at Duke University; and has been twice nominated for the 'Best in the Business' award by the Washington Journalism Review. Mr. Duffy has received many other awards and citations, and honourary degrees from the University of PEI; from Niagara University in Niagara Falls, NY; and from Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Fabian Manning has dedicated his career to serving Newfoundlanders and Labradorians at all three levels of government. A three term councilor in the town of St. Brides, Mr. Manning served as coordinator for the Cape Shore Area Development Association for three years. Mr. Manning would go on to win three elections to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly as the representative for Placentia – St. Mary’s. Mr. Manning was subsequently elected as member of Parliament in the federal constituency of Avalon in the 2006 federal election campaign. Mr. Manning would go on to chair both the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans as well as the Conservative government’s Atlantic caucus.

Nova Scotia

Fred Dickson, QC is both one of Nova Scotia’s most respected lawyers and one of Canada’s top legal experts on offshore resource development. Mr. Dickson is counsel with the law firm of McInnes Cooper. Mr. Dickson has advised the federal and provincial government’s on numerous resource and infrastructure projects, including serving as an advisor to the Government of Nova Scotia during the singing of the 1982 and 1985 Canada/ Nova Scotia offshore oil and gas agreements. Mr. Dickson remains active in these files as a director of the Offshore/ Onshore Technologies Association of Nova Scotia and Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Stephen Greene has political and policy experience at both the federal and provincial levels. Mr. Greene served as chief of staff in the Leader’s Office of the Reform Party of Canada from 1993 and 1996 during which he helped manage the opposition response to the national unity and fiscal issues of the day. He went on to work as the executive director of the Insurance Brokers Association of Nova Scotia. For the past two years he has served as principal secretary and deputy chief of staff to Nova Scotia Premier Rodney MacDonald with wide responsibilities to help the premier administer an effective government for all Nova Scotians.

Michael L. MacDonald is a Nova Scotia businessman who since 1988 has been the owner and president of Fleur de Lis Motel Ltd. Mr. MacDonald had previously served terms as executive assistant to two federal cabinet ministers and the premier of Nova Scotia. A graduate of the University of King’s College and Dalhousie University, Mr. MacDonald has been an activist and volunteer with the federal and provincial Conservative parties since university, and is presently vice-president of the Conservative Party of Canada and a two-term representative for Nova Scotia on the party’s national executive. A native of Louisbourg, Mr. MacDonald is a long-time resident of Dartmouth where he resides with his wife and two teenaged sons.

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