# Senate Liberal Caucus

The Senate Liberal Caucus (French: Caucus libéral du Sénat), also known as the Senate Liberals (French: libéraux au Sénat), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were individually members of the Liberal Party of Canada and were appointed on the advice of previous Liberal prime ministers. The caucus was not formally affiliated to or recognized by the Liberal Party.
The caucus was dissolved on November 14, 2019 and its members formed a new non-partisan parliamentary group, the Progressive Senate Group. The dissolution of the Senate Liberals marked the first time the Senate of Canada had no Liberal members since Canadian Confederation in 1867.

## History

Historically, Liberal senators were part of the national Liberal Party parliamentary caucus, alongside MPs; this changed on January 29, 2014, when party leader Justin Trudeau expelled all 32 senators from the caucus. The expulsion came as part of Trudeau's proposal for a non-partisan Senate, arguing that "the party structure within the Senate interferes with [their] responsibilities," and said the remaining Liberal senators would have no formal ties to the Liberal Party machinery. The move came as a surprise to the Liberal senators, who were not informed the decision ahead of time. Although Trudeau said that they would now sit as independents, the 32 senators chose to keep the designation "Liberal" and continue to sit together as a caucus, formally called the "Senate Liberal Caucus". Jim Cowan, the former leader of the Liberal Party in the Senate, remained the leader of his Liberal colleagues, and continued to be recognized as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. According to Cowan, the only change would be that they "will not need to be concerned any more about the real or perceived direction from the national Liberal caucus."
Unlike previous practice in which the Liberal leaders in the Senate were appointed by the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, the leader of the Senate Liberal Caucus was directly elected by Liberal senators. When the Liberal Party under Trudeau formed the government following the 2015 federal election, contrary to previous practice, the Senate Liberals did not become the government caucus in the Senate. Instead, Trudeau appointed a non-affiliated senator to be the Representative of the Government in the Senate. After 2015, several senators left the caucus and redesignated themselves as non-affiliated senators or joined the Independent Senators Group.
By 2019, redesignations and retirements had reduced the Senate Liberal Caucus to nine members. As a minimum of nine members is required for official caucus status, which entitles the grouping to access to funding for a research budget and other supports and privileges, the Senate Liberals were expected to lose their status as an official Senate caucus on January 24, 2020, when the mandatory retirement of Senator Joseph A. Day would have reduced the caucus to eight. Additionally, senators Serge Joyal and Lillian Dyck were set to retire from the Senate on February 1, 2020, and August 24, 2020, respectively, which meant that the parliamentary group would have been further reduced to six senators.
On November 14, 2019, Day announced that the Senate Liberal Caucus was disbanding, with its current complement of nine members forming a new non-partisan parliamentary group called the Progressive Senate Group (PSG). Day said the PSG had "no ties at all" to the Liberal Party, and hoped that other senators would be more likely to join their caucus after dropping the Liberal name. With the dissolution of the Senate Liberal Caucus, the Senate was without any Liberal senators for the first time in its history.

## Leaders of the Senate Liberal Caucus

| Name | Prov. | Term start | Term end |
| Jim Cowan | Nova Scotia | January 29, 2014 | June 15, 2016 |
| Joseph A. Day | New Brunswick | June 15, 2016 | November 14, 2019 |

## Membership
### Members at dissolution

| Name | Province (Division) | Mandatory retirement date |
| Jane Cordy | Nova Scotia | 2 July 2025 |
| Dennis Dawson | Quebec (Lauzon) | 28 September 2024 |
| Joseph A. Day | New Brunswick (Saint John-Kennebecasis) | 24 January 2020 |
| Percy Downe | Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown) | 8 July 2029 |
| Lillian Dyck | Saskatchewan (North Battleford) | 24 August 2020 |
| Serge Joyal | Quebec (Kennebec) | 1 February 2020 |
| Terry Mercer | Nova Scotia (Northend Halifax) | 6 May 2022 |
| Jim Munson | Ontario (Ottawa/Rideau Canal) | 14 July 2021 |
| Sandra Lovelace Nicholas | New Brunswick | 15 April 2023 |

### Former members

| Name | Province (Division) | Left caucus | Reason |
| George Baker | Newfoundland and Labrador | 4 September 2017 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Catherine Callbeck | Prince Edward Island | 25 July 2014 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Larry Campbell | British Columbia | 6 April 2016 | Joined Independent Senators Group |
| Maria Chaput | Manitoba | 1 March 2016 | Retired |
| Marie Charette-Poulin | Ontario (Northern Ontario) | 17 April 2015 | Retired |
| Jim Cowan | Nova Scotia | 22 January 2017 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Roméo Dallaire | Quebec (Gulf) | 17 June 2014 | Retired |
| Art Eggleton | Ontario (Toronto) | 29 September 2018 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Joan Fraser | Quebec (De Lorimier) | 2 February 2018 | Retired |
| George Furey | Newfoundland and Labrador | 3 December 2015 | Left to sit as non-affiliated |
| Céline Hervieux-Payette | Quebec (Bedford) | 22 April 2018 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Libbe Hubley | Prince Edward Island | 8 September 2017 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Mobina Jaffer | British Columbia | 20 December 2018 | Left to sit as non-affiliated |
| Paul Massicotte | Quebec (De Lanaudière) | 30 October 2017 | Joined Independent Senators Group |
| Pana Merchant | Saskatchewan | 31 March 2017 | Retired |
| Grant Mitchell | Alberta | 2 May 2016 | Left to sit as non-affiliated |
| Wilfred Moore | Nova Scotia (Stanhope Street-South Shore) | 14 January 2017 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Pierrette Ringuette | New Brunswick | 2 February 2016 | Joined Independent Senators Group |
| Fernand Robichaud | New Brunswick | 2 December 2014 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Nick Sibbeston | Northwest Territories | 5 May 2016 | Left to sit as non-affiliated |
| David Smith | Ontario (Cobourg) | 16 May 2016 | Retired (mandatory) |
| Claudette Tardif | Alberta | 2 February 2018 | Retired |
| Charlie Watt | Quebec (Inkerman) | 16 March 2018 | Retired |