Amina Gerba

Amina Gerba was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021. She represents Quebec, brings a background in entrepreneurship and African business development, and has spoken on issues of economic inclusion, immigration, and the francophone communities of Canada. Her professional background before the Senate is genuinely impressive: she built businesses connecting Canadian commerce with African markets, advocated for immigration pathways that supported economic integration, and brought a perspective on diaspora communities and global economic networks that is underrepresented in Canadian public life. None of this changes the fundamental accountability question about the Senate. Gerba was appointed by a prime minister whose government she is now expected to scrutinize. She draws a salary and pension from the public treasury. She was placed in the chamber by someone who needed that chamber to cooperate with his legislative agenda. The incentive structure for vigorous scrutiny is precisely backwards. During the years she has served, the federal government has run substantial deficits, managed an immigration surge that drove housing demand beyond supply, and oversaw the inflation trajectory that reduced real wages for millions of Canadians — many of them the same newcomers and working-class families Gerba has positioned herself as an advocate for. The Senate needs people like Gerba — her expertise is real. The appointment mechanism that brought her there does not produce the accountability the institution was designed to provide.