PM’s pick for Senate draws scrutiny

WINNIPEG — Manitoba’s newest representative in the Senate only moved to the province in 2019.

Unlike former Manitoba Senate candidates, Geeta Tucker hasn’t known this province for very long — and that’s raised the eyebrows of some experienced politicians and academics.

Retired Manitoba senator Don Plett said he hadn’t heard of Tucker until this week. The Conservative said he has nothing against her personally, but he questioned whether she knows Manitoba well enough to represent its interests in the chamber of sober second thought.

“I think it is imperative that you have strong roots to the region you’re representing,” Plett said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed Tucker, a chartered professional accountant, to the Senate on Tuesday. She was one of four appointees who will become senators upon confirmation.

She moved to Winnipeg when she was hired to lead CPA Manitoba, her CPA member profile says. The United Way Winnipeg says she volunteered on its board from 2022 until last month.

Tucker declined to be interviewed by the Winnipeg Free Press, instead deferring to the Privy Council Office for comment.

She was recommended by the independent advisory board for Senate appointments, a spokesman said Thursday.

“Her three decades of leadership experience across the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors reflects the kind of expertise the prime minister has emphasized is needed in the Senate,” Pierre Cuguen, of the Privy Council Office, wrote in an email.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Tuesday it is shifting from non-partisan recruits to include those with “expertise in key Canadian strategic industries, regulatory frameworks, and emerging social and economic affairs.”

An independent advisory board will identify “highly qualified candidates with diverse experience and perspectives, and make recommendations to the prime minister,” the PMO said.

“As the prime minister has said, Canada’s institutions must be equipped to respond to today’s challenges, and the Senate must bring together the talent, expertise, and perspectives required to meet the challenges of a new era,” Cuguen wrote.

“Ms. Tucker’s appointment reflects that objective and will strengthen the Senate’s capacity to serve Manitoba and all Canadians.”

But Plett questioned the move.

He pointed to two women, appointed by former prime minister Justin Trudeau, as examples of strong Manitoba representation in the Senate. They are social justice advocate Mary Jane McCallum, who has Cree heritage and was Brandon University’s first Indigenous chancellor; and health-care advocate Dr. Gigi Osler, who was the first female surgeon and the first racialized woman who was elected president of the Canadian Medical Association. Her parents immigrated from the Philippines.

“I would put them somewhat in the same category as I put myself,” said Plett, who is from rural Manitoba and has a background in agricultural business. “We were representing a unique community, and I think that needs to be sought out,” he said.

Tucker’s CPA Manitoba member profile says she visited the province “once as a kid” and a second time when she interviewed for the job to become its president and CEO.

It says she grew up in Montreal and attended university in Ontario, where she earned a bachelor of mathematics with a major in accounting. There, she met her husband and got a job at Nortel in Mississauga. In 1997, she received her professional accounting designation, and Nortel relocated her and her husband to Calgary. Tucker went on to work for Shaw Communications and Agriteam Canada, a for-profit consulting company that works in international development.

In 2017, Tucker was elected to the CPA Alberta board of directors. In 2019, she moved to Winnipeg after she was appointed president and CEO of CPA Manitoba, a role she held until January.

She volunteered with the United Way Winnipeg, and was chairperson of its board of trustees from June 2025 until last month.

“… We saw the care, rigour, and responsibility she brings to complex work,” board chairperson Rohith Mascarenhas said in a statement. “Manitobans and Canadians will be well served by her experience, integrity, and deep commitment to community.”

While community service is not uncommon for Senate picks, “this candidate does not fit the regular mould of what we’ve seen as appointees from Manitoba,” said University of Manitoba adjunct political studies professor Christopher Adams.

He said he was “surprised” by the appointment of an accountant with no political experience or name recognition in Manitoba.

Adams pointed to the deep roots of previous senators born in Manitoba and those transplanted from outside the province.

“Sharon Carstairs was from Atlantic Canada, but she had a very strong Manitoba pedigree by being leader of the Liberals here in the ’80s and then into the ’90s,” for example.

Adam suggested Carney, the former governor of central banks in Canada and England, may have an affinity for CPAs.

“CPAs are known for being very practical, being very oriented to achieving goals,” Adams said.

Plett said he’s prepared to see what Tucker brings to the role.

“Maybe (she) will prove to be a fine senator,” Plett said.

Five more Senate vacancies are anticipated before the end of the year.

» Winnipeg Free Press