Representative of the Government in the Senate | |
---|---|
Représentant du gouvernement au Sénat | |
since January 24, 2020 | |
Government Representative Office Senate of Canada | |
Style | The Honourable |
Member of | |
Reports to | Prime Minister |
Appointer | Prime Minister[1] |
Formation | July 1, 1867 |
First holder | Alexander Campbell (as Leader of the Government) |
Salary | $230,300 (2017)[2] |
Website | senate-gro |
The representative of the Government in the Senate (French: représentant du gouvernement au Sénat) is the member of the Senate of Canada who is responsible for introducing, promoting, and defending the government's bills in the Senate after they are passed by the House of Commons. The representative is appointed by the prime minister.
The position replaced the leader of the Government in the Senate (French: leader du gouvernement au Sénat), which from 1867 to 2015 was a senator who was a member of the governing party and led the government caucus in the Senate of Canada (whether or not that party held a majority in the Senate). The position of Leader had almost always been held by a Cabinet minister, except briefly in 1926, from 1958 to 63 and from 2013 to the position being discontinued in 2015.
The government representative's counterpart on the Opposition benches is the leader of the Opposition in the Senate, who continues to be a member of the Official Opposition political party.
Senator Marc Gold has served as the second and current representative of the Government in the Senate since January 24, 2020.