Terry M. Mercer (born May 6, 1947) is a former

Canadian Senator The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they compose the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the British House of Lords, with its member ...

who represented

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

from 2003 to 2022.

Career

From 1974 to 1978, Mercer worked as Executive Assistant to Nova Scotia's Minister of Labour and Housing. Mercer then acted as an administrator and fundraiser for numerous

charitable Charity is the voluntary provision of assistance to those in need. It serves as a humanitarian act, and is unmotivated by self-interest. Various philosophies about charity exist, with frequent associations with religion. Etymology The word ...

organizations such as the Kidney Foundation of Canada,

St. John Ambulance St John Ambulance is an affiliated movement of charitable organisations in mostly Commonwealth countries which provide first aid education and consumables and emergency medical services. St John organisations are primarily staffed by volunte ...

, the Nova Scotia Lung Association, the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

and the Canadian Diabetes Association and is currently Past Chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals' Foundation for Philanthropy in Canada.

As Senator

A long-time fundraiser and organizer for the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

, Mercer was National Director of the Liberal Party during much of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

's tenure as party leader. Mercer was appointed to the Senate representing

by Chrétien in November 2003, shortly before the Prime Minister's retirement. In February 2013, Mercer became a subject of criticism for having spent the most out of any senator in the previous year. On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

announced all Liberal Senators, including Mercer, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would sit as independents. The senators referred to themselves as the

Senate Liberal Caucus The Senate Liberal Caucus (), also known as the Senate Liberals (), was, from 2014 to 2019, a parliamentary grouping in the Senate of Canada made up of independent senators who were individually members of the Liberal Party of Canada and were ap ...

even though they were no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. With the

facing losing official

parliamentary caucus A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

status in 2020 with a third of its caucus facing mandatory retirements on their turning age 75, Senator Joseph Day announced that the

had been dissolved and a new

Progressive Senate Group The Progressive Senate Group () is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. It was formed on November 14, 2019, out of the former Senate Liberal Caucus. It is currently led by Pierre Dalphond. History Background On January 29, 2014, a ...

formed in its wake, with the entire membership joining the new group, including Mercer. With Senator

Day A day is the time rotation period, period of a full Earth's rotation, rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours (86,400 seconds). As a day passes at a given location it experiences morning, afternoon, evening, ...

's mandatory retirement in January 2020, on December 12, 2019, Senator

Jane Cordy Jane Marie Cordy (born July 2, 1950) is a former Canadian Senator who represented Nova Scotia from 2000 to 2024. Early life Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, she received a teaching certificate from the Nova Scotia Teachers College and a Bachelor of ...

tweeted that her colleagues in the PSG had selected her as the new leader, ostensibly effective that same date. Additionally, she subsequently announced later that day Senator Mercer would be moving into the Whip/Caucus Chair role, that Senator would become the new Deputy Leader, and that the interim monikers were being removed at the same time. Senator Mercer retired on May 6, 2022, upon reaching the age of 75, as required by the constitution.

References

External links

*
Liberal Senate Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Terry 1947 births Living people Liberal Party of Canada senators Senate Liberal Caucus Progressive Senate Group Canadian senators from Nova Scotia 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada