Section 25 of the Constitution Act, 1867

[7]Section 25 was found in Part IV of the Constitution Act, 1867, dealing with the legislative power of the federal government.

From that point on, senators have been appointed by the Governor General under section 24 of the Act, on the advice of the federal Cabinet.

Prior to Confederation, the Province of Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia all had bicameral parliaments, with the upper house termed the Legislative Council.

The Quebec Resolutions proposed that the senators would initially be nominated by the provincial governments, and the seats would be offered to current members of the provincial legislative councils, in proportion to the representation of the government and opposition members in each legislative council, so that "all political parties may as nearly as possible be fairly represented.

"[10][11] This principle was not expressly included in the Act itself, but was implemented in the initial appointments to the Senate, which were largely drawn from the provincial legislative councils.

Three nominees declined the position: Section 25 was repealed by the British Parliament in 1893, in the Statute Law Revision Act 1893.