Liberal campaign organizer Tom Pitfield has yet to take his seat in the Senate two months after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced his appointment, with Senate Administration continuing to list the position as “vacant.”Pitfield was one of four Senate appointments announced by Carney on July 7, but unlike the other three appointees, he has not taken up his official duties.Neither cabinet officials nor Pitfield’s family have publicly explained the delay.“We look at the Senate as a whole and what the competencies are, and obviously familiarity with government, familiarity with legislative processes and other things are helpful,” Carney said when announcing Pitfield’s appointment.“We want some core competencies in there as well. Where the Senate is more deficient and there’s people who are willing to serve, I am very pleased that they are.”Carney described Pitfield as an entrepreneur, philanthropist and technology expert.“Tom Pitfield is an entrepreneur,” Carney told reporters. “He’s a philanthropist. He’s got deep technological knowledge, knowledge about technology.”Carney denied Pitfield’s appointment was connected to his work helping the Liberals win the federal election.“Is Tom Pitfield’s appointment to the Senate a reward for helping you win?” a reporter asked.“Absolutely not,” Carney replied.The three other senators announced alongside Pitfield have since taken their seats.New Brunswick Senator Rodney Ouellette, founder of the Atlantic Canada Research Institute, and Manitoba Senator Geeta Tucker, a Winnipeg accountant, officially became senators July 9, two days after their appointments were announced.Quebec Senator Richard Martel, a former Conservative MP, took up his duties July 24.Senators must receive a summons from the Governor General before taking an oath of allegiance and signing the Senate roll. Those steps must be completed before they can take their seats.Neither the Privy Council nor Pitfield’s wife, Liberal MP Anna Gainey, would comment on his status. Gainey, the MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, previously served as president of the Liberal Party..The Government Representative in the Senate also did not respond to questions.The Senate is scheduled to return from its summer recess Sept. 28.Pitfield has previously faced scrutiny from Conservative MPs over his Montréal company, Data Sciences Incorporated.Opposition MPs sought an ethics committee investigation after the company received $75,000 in contracts from Liberal MPs through taxpayer-funded constituency budgets.A Liberal majority on the Commons ethics committee blocked an investigation in 2021 by a 6-5 vote.“What is Data Sciences doing for the Liberal members?” Conservative MP Michael Barrett asked at the time. Barrett had sponsored a motion seeking to summon Pitfield for questioning.“What are they getting from this contract?”Barrett said MPs needed to determine whether public money was being used to support partisan political activities.“I think it’s important that we understand whether or not there has been taxpayer money from members’ budgets being used to subsidize the political operations of a Party in Canada,” he said. “That’s very important.”The Liberal majority rejected hearings following a five-hour committee debate.“It is not becoming,” said Steven MacKinnon, who is now Government House Leader.
