OTTAWA — Pamela Wallin knows her decision to resign from the Senate on Monday came as a surprise to some — but to her, she said, it “just felt like the right time” to move on after 17 years. “I know people are always surprised when somebody walks away, but we all know our time,” Wallin said in an interview. The news broke on Monday morning after a note was sent to senators from the Senate clerk and Wallin’s biography on the Senate website was changed to list her as a former member. She said she chose not to telegraph what she called a very personal decision to step down, adding a recent change in the government’s assisted dying policies gave her the closure she needed. Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced last week that the government will amend the Criminal Code to allow people to make advance requests for medical assistance in dying, also known as MAID. Wallin has long advocated for advance directives after watching her mother’s long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. She’s been an outspoken supporter of MAID and served on multiple parliamentary committees that have studied the issue in recent years. “I just think there are so many people in that situation that want to have some control and some sense of choice in the way that they leave, add some dignity to their departure,” she said. Wallin said she leaves the Senate convinced that the institution is a “core part of our democracy,” although she believes the provinces should have much more say over who is appointed to represent them. Albertans were voting Monday in a referendum that included a question about whether the government should work with other provinces to amend the Constitution to abolish the unelected Senate. Wallin said that “until somebody comes up with some other genius idea,” the Senate is a critical way to ensure checks on the partisan House of Commons. “The Senate itself is the only body that puts a second pair of eyes on crucial legislation, and our process is much more thoughtful and much more in-depth than the House has the opportunity to engage in,” she said. Wallin’s time in the Senate followed a trail-blazing career as a journalist. Wallin became a household name after being named co-host of Canada AM in 1981. She was tapped to lead CTV’s Ottawa bureau in 1985 — making her the first woman to head a national television news bureau in Canada — and was the producer and host of the network’s flagship political show Question Period. She broke ground again in 1992 when she became the first woman to co-anchor a nightly news show in Canada — CBC’s Prime Time News. Wallin had surgery for colorectal cancer in 2001 but continued a tour to promote her book at the time. In 2002, she was named consul general to New York, just months after the 9/11 attacks, and served in that role for more than four years. She was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2007 and was appointed to the Senate in 2009 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She became a key figure in the 2013 Senate expenses scandal after an audit found about $140,000 of the $500,000 in travel expenses she had billed to the Senate were improper because they were related to her work on corporate boards. In May 2013, Harper’s chief of staff asked her to leave the Conservative caucus in the Senate. During an interview with The National that year, Wallin apologized and said she did not “deliberately set out to use the system or abuse the system.” She attributed the mistakes to carelessness in dealing with mounds of paperwork and said she didn’t pay enough attention to her expense filings. In September, when she repaid some $150,000 — including interest — a defiant Wallin called out what she described as a “lynch mob” mentality in the Senate. She was suspended without pay from the Senate in November 2013 over disallowed expenses, along with Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau. Her Senate suspension was lifted when Parliament was dissolved for the 2015 election. On Monday, Wallin said she had no interest in reliving that time but said the reforms that followed the expense scandal were necessary. She has recently been a member of the Canadian Senators Group. Speaking on behalf of the group, Sen. Flordeliz Osler said in a media statement that Wallin spent her career “asking difficult questions, challenging conventional thinking, and standing firmly behind her convictions.” “From breaking barriers in Canadian journalism to representing Canada on the international stage and advocating passionately for the rights and dignity of Canadians in the Senate, she has never been one to shy away from difficult conversations,” said Osler. “Her independence, determination and unmistakable voice have left a lasting mark on public life in Canada.” Wallin, who is from Wadena, Sask., represented her home province in the Senate. She is two years shy of the mandatory retirement age of 75. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026. By Sarah Ritchie
