Trudeau taps a former labour leader and a mayor to fill Senate vacancies

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced three new Senate appointments today — a former national union leader, the current mayor of Cornwall, Ont. and the CEO of Port Saint John — as he chips away at the 15 vacancies that have piled up in the Red Chamber over the past two years.

With these new picks, Trudeau has now installed 55 senators in the upper house — an unusually large number of appointments for a single prime minister.

More than half of all sitting senators were appointed by Trudeau. Former prime minister Stephen Harper let vacancies in the place pile up as the 2013-15