Senator Bellemare: Senator Gold, can you tell us how new senators will be received and what training they will be given? Will the various groups and caucuses be invited to give presentations to new senators and to help develop an onboarding program?

Hon. Diane Bellemare: Honourable senators, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the third report (interim) of the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, entitled Amendments to the Rules — Committee mandates.

(For text of report, see today’s Journals of the Senate, p. 446-9.)

Hon. Diane Bellemare: My question is for the Government Representative in the Senate.

Senator Gold, there are currently 15 vacant seats in the Senate, which represents 14% of all seats. There are four vacancies for Ontario, five for the Western provinces and six for the Atlantic provinces. More and more vacancies keep popping up. By May we will be up to 16 vacancies.

We all know that Canadians may apply through an open application process. The website currently indicates that there were some provincial and territorial members appointed to the Advisory Board recently, but there are still positions open.

What stage are we at with the appointment of members to the Advisory Board and, most importantly, appointments to the Senate? Is the process ongoing?