SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Honourable Ratna Omidvar, O.C., O.Ont.
Tribute on Retirement
October 29, 2024
It’s tough to follow that.
Honourable senators, when the Prime Minister proposed a different approach to selecting senators in 2015, there were many questions: What was this going to look like? Who would apply? Would this institution be better able to serve Canadians? Then the first slate of senators was appointed. One of those was a familiar name to me — Ratna Omidvar. She had worked with my wife, Jan, with my wife’s sister Dawn and my brother-in-law Kevin. She was practically part of our family. They had sung her praises all the time.
Colleagues, I was in awe of Ratna before I even met her. When I arrived here, it was amazing to move in across the hall from Ratna and her team. They were welcoming and so very helpful. Stephanie and Paul, you have become valued colleagues, and your hard work has mirrored that of Senator Omidvar’s.
Ratna has demonstrated the meaning of what it is to be an independent senator. She has drawn on her previous work and expertise to collaborate widely, to work towards what is just and what is right. She has constructively criticized this government when she did not think that it was doing what it should or could do. She has not been shy about suggesting alternatives or different directions and has rolled up her sleeves to work on improvements. She is a doer.
Always a staunch ally of the charitable and human rights sectors, she has brought those perspectives forward in her work as a committee chair and a senator. She has educated us and supported those who work to create a more just and equitable Canada.
I’m just going to focus on one issue. Her personal history has made her keenly aware of the geopolitical challenges that face us today and the importance of us becoming involved. One example is her work on seizing Russian assets to help fund Ukraine’s military and humanitarian response to Russia’s genocidal war on Ukraine. These efforts have been recognized nationally and globally and have been greatly appreciated by the Ukrainian diaspora here.
Ratna, I am personally thankful for your friendship, collaboration, mentorship and guidance. I want to thank you for choosing to come to this place. Our chamber has been the better for your presence here. You have used your role as a senator wisely. You have improved our Canada because of what you have done here. Your voice and your wisdom will be missed in this chamber. I, like everyone here, wish you well.
Ratna, in my mother tongue, we never say goodbye. We say, “Do pobachenia,” which means, “Until we see each other again.”
So, Ratna, thank you and do pobachenia.
Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to Senator Ratna Omidvar, a very dear friend and colleague.
As a Canadian of South Asian descent, I share Ratna’s love of the beautiful, colourful culture of that part of the world. We are not alone in this. Colleagues, I don’t know how many of you are aware, but there is a small Desi group in the Senate. “Desi” means a person of South Asian descent who lives abroad, and our group started when Senator Marwah was still here. With the retirement of Senator Marwah, Senator Jaffer and now Senator Omidvar, our Desi group is shrinking at an alarming rate. In case you’re wondering what we did, we ate and ate our way through the many Desi restaurants in Ottawa.
Although Ratna and I come from a subcontinent marred by disagreements of historic proportions, we worked wonderfully well together, proving that we are stronger when we work side by side. The special friendship that we share runs deeper than our culture and heritage; it is embedded in our deep commitment to diversity, inclusion and human rights.
When Ratna joined the Senate, she brought with her lived experience caring for the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. How I enjoyed having her in the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights, where we witnessed her wisdom and commitment to the less fortunate, and we can clearly see this in the recent study that she proposed on forced global displacement.
Ratna, I’m sorry to see you go. It was such a pleasure to work with a person who is so passionate and so authentic, who is never afraid to take a stand and who always speaks from the heart. I will miss our monthly dinners and our discussions about Desi movies, Desi places and all things Desi.
You have a special place in my heart. Rest assured that even though you’re leaving the Senate, the contributions you have made for the people who feel that they are fighting their battles alone will always be remembered. You have made a difference, and we all thank you for it.
I quote Rumi: “Some human beings are safe havens. Be companions with them.” Ratna, you are a safe haven. It is such an honour to be your friend. I will miss you.
Honourable senators, way back in 1985, I was chair of the board of a settlement house called St. Stephen’s Community House in Toronto. Among other things, we ran a child daycare centre. One day, my executive director said she wanted me to meet one of the daycare moms who was a new immigrant to Canada and whom she was very impressed with. That’s how I met Ratna. We decided to hire her right there on the spot; it was Ratna’s first job in Canada.
From there, she went from success to success. She quickly became our director of development, then went on to lead a non-governmental organization, or NGO, called Skills for Change, then became the long-time president of the Maytree Foundation, and then became the founder of the Global Diversity Exchange at Toronto Metropolitan University.
These roles gave her a platform from which she built a city-wide profile through leadership in the Toronto City Summit Alliance, then a national profile for advocacy and social justice, and then an international profile through initiatives with the World Refugee and Migration Council and the World Economic Forum. She has won way too many awards for me to even mention here.
Ratna is one of the most successful advocates that this country has ever seen, taking on poverty reduction, immigration, integration, the charitable sector, global human rights and other vital issues. She is “resourceful, relentless and highly respected,” to quote one very admiring colleague from her days at the Toronto City Summit Alliance.
Her reputation for hard work and the ability to get things done is legendary. She told me that when appointed to the Senate, she made a long list of things she wanted to accomplish: sponsor a bill, present a motion, launch an inquiry, take on a leadership position and more. After just two years here, she had already achieved most of the items on that list. She has had an extraordinary Senate career.
She’s also interested in having fun. She has hosted great Diwali parties in Ottawa and Toronto, as well as great receptions; I especially remember Ramona’s fabulous wedding, where Vic came in on a white horse. But her approach to fun is equally focused. “Tonight, I’m having fun between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.,” she might say, and the rest of us would smile knowingly.
Ratna has often said that her own experiences of immigration, displacement and integration have motivated her work. However, her work was not undertaken for her benefit but for the benefit of others in order to make this a better and more just society for all those who are disadvantaged and arrive on our shores, and for all Canadians. Our friendship came full circle when she walked with me into our Senate Chamber as my Senate sponsor 33 years after we first met at St. Stephen’s. Ratna, it’s a great joy of my life to have you as my friend. Thank you.
