Conservative MP Richard Martel resigned from Parliament on Tuesday after Prime Minister Mark Carney appointed him to the Senate. Martel will now sit in the upper chamber as an independent — that is, without a party label Globe and Mail.

Carney announced the appointment Tuesday alongside three others, including his principal secretary, Tom Pitfield Globe and Mail. Martel represented the Quebec riding of Chicoutimi–Le Fjord in the Commons since 2018. He is a former hockey coach and executive.

Here is how it works. The prime minister recommends people for the Senate, and the Governor General appoints them. A person cannot serve in both the Commons (the elected House) and the Senate (the appointed chamber) at the same time. So when Martel accepted the Senate appointment, he had to resign from the Commons. That happened on Tuesday.

The notable part is that Martel was a Conservative, but he will sit in the Senate as an independent. This is the way Prime Minister Carney's government has been doing Senate appointments since taking office — sending independent senators to the upper chamber rather than partisan ones. That means the Conservative Party lost an MP in the Commons but did not gain a Conservative voice in the Senate.

For the Conservative Party under Leader Pierre Poilievre, this means a few things. First, a byelection will need to happen in Chicoutimi–Le Fjord to replace Martel. Second, the party has now lost five MPs from its caucus during this Parliament — a notable turnover, though the reporting does not say whether all five left for the same reason.

Quebec's Senate seats have been sitting empty for some time. The province is entitled to 24 senators by law, but the government has not been filling those seats quickly. Martel's appointment fills one of those gaps.

For a government that holds power in the Commons — the chamber that matters most for passing laws — trading one backbench opposition vote for more say over who sits in the Senate can be a smart move. The Senate has less direct power in day-to-day work, so controlling who sits there through appointments is more valuable to a government than it might seem.

Appointing a sitting member of the opposition to the Senate is unusual but not unheard of. It is worth noting because it shows that prime ministers still use Senate appointments as a way to move or reward individual politicians — including opponents. Even though the process now runs through an independent advisory board, the prime minister keeps real power to shape the Senate through these appointments.

Neither Poilievre nor Martel has commented on the appointment. It is not yet known who will run for the Conservatives in the Chicoutimi–Le Fjord byelection.