Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Canada)
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Infobox official post
|post = Leader of the Opposition in the Senate
|body =
|flag =
|flagcaption = Flag of the Senate of Canada
|insigniasize =
|insigniacaption =
|native_name = Chef de l'opposition au Sénat
| image = 100px
|incumbent = Leo Housakos
|incumbentsince = May 14, 2025
|style = The Honourable
|member_of = Senate of Canada
|residence =
|appointer = Elected by the caucus of the official opposition in the Senate
|termlength =
|formation = 1 July 1867
|succession =
|inaugural = Luc Letellier de St-Just
|deputy = Deputy leader of the Opposition in the Senate
|salary = $223,900 (2024){{cite web|url=https://lop.parl.ca/sites/ParlInfo/default/en_CA/People/Salaries|title=Indemnities, Salaries and Allowances|publisher=Parliament of Canada}}
|website =
}}
{{Canadian politics}}
In Canada, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate ({{langx|fr|Chef de l'opposition au Sénat}}) is the leader of the largest party in the Canadian Senate not in government.
Even though the position's name is very similar to the leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons (the Opposition House leader), the leader of the Opposition in the Senate's role is more analogous to the leader of the Official Opposition because its holder is the leader of the party's Senate caucus. The responsibilities that, in the House of Commons, are done by the house leaders—including day-to-day scheduling of business—are undertaken in the Senate by Government and Opposition deputy leaders and Opposition whips.{{cite web|url=http://www.parl.gc.ca/About/Senate/Factsheets/leadership-e.htm |title=Senate of Canada - Fact Sheet - Key roles in the Senate |publisher=Parl.gc.ca |access-date=November 8, 2012}}
Selection
Since it is the House of Commons of Canada that determines what party(ies) form government, the size of party caucuses in the Senate bear no relation to which party forms the government side in the Senate and which party forms the opposition. Thus, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate may lead more Senators than the leader of the Government in the Senate. Since senators normally have longer tenure than MPs, this is often the case immediately following a change in government, until the new prime minister can appoint more people from their party.
There are no set rules governing the manner in which the position is filled from within caucuses. When the Conservative Party (and its predecessor, the Progressive Conservative Party) have been in opposition, the party's Senate caucus has historically elected its own leader, although as noted by John Williams in a 1956 book on the Conservative Party, it may choose to follow the wishes of the national leader.John R. Williams, The Conservative Party of Canada 1920 to 1949, Duke University Press, 1956, pg. 193. The traditional practice of the Liberal party in opposition had been for the party leader to select their leader in the Senate.
The leader of the Opposition in the Senate is not necessarily from the same party as the opposition in the House of Commons. From 1993 until 2003, the leader of the Opposition in the Senate was a Progressive Conservative, though the Progressive Conservatives were not the Official Opposition in the House of Commons; this was because the Official Opposition in the Commons (Bloc Québécois, Reform, Canadian Alliance) did not have Senate representation. This scenario repeated itself following the results of the 2011 election that saw the Liberal Party lose Official Opposition status in the House to the New Democratic Party, but since the NDP had no representation in the Senate, the Liberals continued to form the Official Opposition in the Senate.
The Official Opposition also does not need to be linked to a party in the Commons. This was determined on January 29, 2014, after Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced that all Liberal Senators would no longer be members of the national Liberal caucus. When the Senate met in the afternoon, Senator Jim Cowan informed the Senate that the Liberal Senators intended to self-designate as Liberals, as well as sit and act together as a caucus. Following a lengthy discussion, the Senate Speaker ruled that the Liberal Senators met the definition under the Senate rules of being a caucus of at least five Senators of the same political party, that the rules state that the leader of the Opposition in the Senate is the head of the party other than the government party with the most Senators, and that "as has been indicated by Senator Cowan, he has been elected by his colleagues and, therefore, meets the definition of the leader of the Opposition in the Senate." (Debates of the Senate, January 29, 2014).
{{anchor|List}} List of leaders of the Opposition in the Senate
{{sticky header}}
| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header-multi" style=text-align:left" style="margin:1em auto;" |
| rowspan="2" |No.
! rowspan="2" | Portrait ! rowspan="2" width="200px" | Name{{cite web |title=Political Officers - Senate - Leaders of the Opposition 1867 to Date |url=http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/compilations/OfficersAndOfficials/PoliticalOfficers/Senate/LeadersOfTheOpposition.aspx?Language=E |work=Parliament of Canada}} ! colspan="2" | Term of office ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Party |
|---|
| width="95"|{{small|Took office}}
! width="95"|{{small|Left office}} |
| 1
|Luc Letellier de St-Just |July 1, |November 5, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | | width="100px" |Liberal |
| 2
|Alexander Campbell |November 5, |October 8, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 3
|Sir Richard William Scott |October 8, |April 27, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 4
|Sir Mackenzie Bowell |April 27, |March 1, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 5 (1 of 2) |James Alexander Lougheed |April 1, |October 6, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 6
|Sir Richard John Cartwright |October 6, |September 24, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 7
|Sir George William Ross |September 24, |March 7, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 8 (1 of 2) |Hewitt Bostock |March 19, |January 1, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 9 (1 of 3) |Raoul Dandurand |January 1, |December 31, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 8 (2 of 2) |Hewitt Bostock |January 1, |December 28, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 5 (2 of 2) |Sir James Alexander Lougheed |December 28, |November 2, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 10 (1 of 2) | |William Benjamin Ross |January 1, |June 28, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 9 (2 of 3) |Raoul Dandurand |June 29, |December 31, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 10 (2 of 2) | |William Benjamin Ross |December 31, |January 10, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 11
| |Wellington Willoughby |January 11, |August 7, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| 9 (3 of 3) |Raoul Dandurand |August 7, |October 22, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 12
|Arthur Meighen |October 22, |January 16, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| rowspan="2" |13
| rowspan="2" |105x105px | rowspan="2" |Charles Ballantyne | rowspan="2" |January 16, | rowspan="2" |September 11, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative (historical)}}; " | |
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| 14
| |John Thomas Haig |September 12, |June 20, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| 15
|William Ross Macdonald |June 20, |April 21, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 16
| |Alfred Johnson Brooks |April 22, |October 31, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| 17 (1 of 2) | |Jacques Flynn |October 31, |June 3, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| 18
| |Ray Perrault |June 3, |March 2, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 17 (2 of 2) | |Jacques Flynn |March 3, |September 16, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| 19
|Allan MacEachen |September 16, |November 30, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 20
| |Royce Frith |November 30, |October 25, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| rowspan="2" |21
| rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" |John Lynch-Staunton | rowspan="2" |October 25, | rowspan="2" |September 30, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC}}; " | |
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
| 22
|Noël Kinsella |October 1, |February 7, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
| 23
| |Dan Hays |February 8, |January 18, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| 24
|Céline Hervieux-Payette |January 18, |November 3, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| rowspan="2" |25
| rowspan="2" | | rowspan="2" |Jim Cowan | rowspan="2" |November 3, | rowspan="2" |November 5, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal}}; " | |
| style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Senate Liberal}}; " | |
| 26
| |Claude Carignan |November 5, |March 31, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
| 27
| |Larry Smith |April 1, |November 5, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
| 28
|Don Plett |November 5, |May 14, | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
| 29
|Leo Housakos |May 14, |Incumbent | style="background:{{Canadian party colour|CA|Conservative}}; " | |
