Prime Minister
Stephen Harper promised to advise the
Governor General to appoint Brown to the next available Senate seat from Alberta, according to comments made in the House of Commons April 18, 2007. The announcement came after long-serving senator
Dan Hays announced his intent to vacate his seat in the Senate at the end of June 2007. Brown was appointed to the Canadian Senate on July 10, 2007. Brown served five and a half years until mandatory retirement. Brown became the second person in Canadian history, after
Stan Waters, to be appointed to his Senate seat following a provincial senator-in-waiting
election. Brown chose to run with the Conservative Party of Canada caucus (federal party), even though he ran under the Progressive Conservative banner (provincial party counterpart), in the Alberta Senate election. On his 75th birthday, March 22, 2013, Brown retired from the Senate as per Senate rules. ==Awards==