Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending his first Senate appointments, including the selection of Tom Pitfield, his principal secretary. Multiple outlets report that Pitfield is a longtime Liberal strategist and is among four new appointments announced Tuesday. Carney says he is changing the approach to Senate nominations by dropping the non-partisan criteria that had been used for appointments to the upper chamber. Sources describe this as a shift from the practice under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who had ended partisan Senate appointments and relied on an independent panel to make recommendations. The appointments also include a sitting Conservative MP, according to coverage by City News Toronto and Global News, while other reports emphasize Pitfield’s appointment and Carney’s defense of it. Carney addresses reporters on the matter, including questions about appointing a Conservative figure and his rationale for moving away from the prior non-partisan standard. The reporting broadly agrees on the core elements: who was appointed, that the change to nomination criteria is a key part of Carney’s defense, and that the package includes four Senate nominees.