Senator Gwen Boniface
- Province: Ontario
- Affiliation: Independent Senators Group
- Telephone: 613-995-9193
- Email: Gwen.Boniface@sen.parl.gc.ca Electronic card
- Staff: McAlpine, Lori; Ross, Cameron
Biography
Senator Gwen Boniface was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016 and is a member of the Independent Senators Group. Her work in the Senate includes past membership on the Senate Standing Committees on Aboriginal Peoples, Legal and Constitutional Affairs, and current membership on the Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament. She chaired the National Security and Defence Committee from 2017-2021.
Senator Boniface initiated a Truth and Reconciliation project in her home community of Orillia in 2019 with Indigenous and non-Indigenous members. The initiative has grown and continues to evolve through regular meetings with local Elders and community stakeholders. She has dedicated her efforts in the Senate to address Human Trafficking, ending Domestic Violence and curbing the Opioid Crisis. In November of 2021, she introduced a Senate public bill entitled Bill S-232: An Act respecting the development of a national strategy for the decriminalization of illegal substances, to amend the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts.
Prior to Senator Boniface’s appointment to the Upper Chamber, she served internationally for 10 years, including as Deputy Chief Inspector of Ireland’s Garda Síochána Inspectorate tasked with reforming Ireland’s national police service; as a Transnational Organized Crime Expert with the United Nations Police Division and as Deputy Executive Director of the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Senator Boniface was the first female Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police and is a past President of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police. Ms. Boniface served with Law Commission of Canada for 5 years as a Commissioner.