Administration and Support
The Senate relies on administrative and procedural support to function efficiently and serve Canadians. The Senate Administration provides the services that allow senators to accomplish their work, for example, support in procedure, security, financial administration, human resources, communications and building maintenance.
The Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments leads the Senate’s commitment to the modern, effective management of its internal affairs. The Clerk fulfills this role with support from three senior executives of the administration: the Deputy Clerk, Legislative Services, the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, and the Chief Corporate Services Officer.
Another key position is the Usher of the Black Rod, a senior parliamentary officer who serves as personal attendant and messenger to the King in Parliament and as a senior protocol official.
Senators are also supported by staff in their respective offices.
Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments
Shaila Anwar
Telephone: 613-992-2493
Email: clerk-greffiere@sen.parl.gc.ca
Shaila Anwar is the 17th Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments. She assumed this role on May 6, 2024.
Ms. Anwar joined the Senate Committees Directorate in 2007 as a procedural clerk. First as a committee clerk and then as a table officer, she supported senators in their legislative work by providing impartial advice on parliamentary procedure, practices and precedents. In these roles, she gained significant expertise in the legislative process, working directly with several committees studying landmark legislation in the Senate. Since that time, she has taken on increasingly senior roles in the Senate Administration as a trusted source of parliamentary and legislative expertise. Fluently bilingual, she is an expert on the role of the Senate as a core component in Canada’s parliamentary democracy and has spoken at national and international conferences about the role of the Senate, and its procedure and practices.
The position of Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments is a Governor in Council appointment made pursuant to paragraph 130(b) of the Public Service Employment Act and reports to the Speaker of the Senate and to the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. As Clerk of the Senate, Ms. Anwar is head of the Senate Administration. In that role, she oversees the Senate’s day-to-day operations and supports the legislative process. As Clerk of the Parliaments, Ms. Anwar is custodian of all original acts of Parliament.
Ms. Anwar was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and grew up in Ottawa. Her interest in politics began at a very young age, when her parents brought her to Parliament Hill to see Queen Elizabeth II sign the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As a high school student, she spent three years working in a parliamentary office before earning a degree in political science and English literature from Carleton University. She then spent 13 years working with her father as a restaurant owner before a loyal customer recognized her enduring interest in Parliament and urged her to apply to be a procedural clerk.
Deputy Clerk, Legislative Services
Gérald Lafrenière
Gérald Lafrenière served as the 16th Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments on an interim basis from December 2020 until May 2024. On May 6, 2024, he was appointed Deputy Clerk, Legislative Services.
A senior executive of the Senate Administration, Mr. Lafrenière is responsible for providing executive leadership and strategic direction of the Legislative Services Sector of the Senate Administration, composed of the Office of the Usher of the Black Rod, the Chamber Operations and Procedure Office, the Committees Directorate, the Corporate Security Directorate, the Communications, Broadcasting and Publications Directorate, and the International and Interparliamentary Affairs Directorate.
Mr. Lafrenière brings a wealth of experience to this position. His distinguished career on Parliament Hill began in 1994 as a legal analyst at the Library of Parliament. Since joining the Senate in 2004 as a Procedural Clerk, he has worked within various directorates in the institution, assuming roles at the Committees Directorate (Deputy Principal Clerk), International and Interparliamentary Affairs (Principal Clerk), and Governance and Strategic Planning (Director). He has also been a Table Officer since 2008. Throughout his career Mr. Lafrenière has provided expert procedural and strategic advice to the Speaker of the Senate, the Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, other standing committees, as well as to individual senators.
Mr. Lafrenière has been a member of the Law Society of Ontario since 1994. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in law (LL.B.) from the University of Ottawa, and a Bachelor’s degree in Arts from the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface. He is also a member of the Association of Clerks-at-the-Table.
Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel
Catherine Beaudoin
Catherine Beaudoin was appointed as Acting Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the Senate on December 23, 2024.
As Acting Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, Ms. Beaudoin is the chief legal adviser to the Senate. She heads the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, the Senate’s in-house legal department. Her office is responsible for providing non-partisan legal advice to the Senate — including the Speaker of the Senate, standing and special Senate committees, individual senators, and the Senate Administration — on a range of parliamentary, policy, corporate governance, and organization-wide issues. This includes the law on the privileges, immunities, and powers of Parliament and its members. Her office also provides legislative drafting services to assist senators in their constitutional mandate to deliberate on all matters within the legislative authority of the federal Parliament.
As Acting Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, Ms. Beaudoin also arranges for the preparation of parchments of Senate bills, the engrossing of Senate amendments to House of Commons bills, and the publication of all Senate government bills and Senate public and private bills.
Ms. Beaudoin joined the Senate in 2019 as Deputy Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. Before that, she worked as parliamentary counsel and as Director of Legal Services in the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel at the House of Commons, and as a lawyer in the Ottawa office of a national law firm.
Ms. Beaudoin is a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario. She holds Bachelor of Science (Hons.), Master of Science, and Bachelor of Laws degrees.
Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
Pascale Legault
On November 20, 2017, Pascale Legault was appointed Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee of Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration.
A senior executive of the Senate Administration, Ms. Legault oversees the Corporate Sector, which includes three directorates: Finance and Procurement, Information Services, and Property and Services. In addition, she supports the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration as its most senior corporate and procedural adviser. The Committee oversees and directs the internal management and affairs of the Senate.
Ms. Legault joined the Senate as Chief Financial Officer and Director of the Finance and Procurement Directorate in 2015. She has over 20 years of experience in management with both the private and public sectors. She has held senior management positions, including that of Chief Financial Officer at the Canada Council for the Arts, Director General in Financial Management at Citizenship and Immigration Canada, and Principal Director with the Office of the Auditor General of Canada.
Ms. Legault is an accredited Chartered Professional Accountant and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Quebec.
The Usher of the Black Rod
John Gregory Peters, M.V.O.
The Usher of the Black Rod is a senior parliamentary officer appointed by the Governor in Council. The Black Rod, as the Usher is known to senators, is a senior protocol officer in Parliament and a floor officer of the Senate. J. Greg Peters is the 16th Usher of the Black Rod since Confederation.
The name Usher of the Black Rod comes from the ebony cane that Black Rod carries as a symbol of authority. Under a 600-year-old parliamentary tradition, the Black Rod is the personal attendant and messenger of the Sovereign or the Sovereign’s representative when either is in Parliament.
