SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — Tributes

Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to our colleague and friend Senator Marilou McPhedran as she concludes her service in this chamber.

Marilou’s retirement marks the closing of a remarkable chapter of public service, advocacy and principled engagement. Many Canadians know her from her co-leadership of the movement that helped secure stronger equality and protections in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, work for which she was appointed a member of the Order of Canada. They know her as a co-founder of organizations such as the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund, or LEAF, the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women, or METRAC, and the Gerstein Crisis Centre — institutions that have helped shape the advancement of women’s rights, access to justice and support for vulnerable Canadians for generations.

Others know her as a lawyer, scholar, educator and human rights advocate, whose work extended well beyond our borders. Through her teaching, research, international engagement and leadership in human rights institutions, she built a reputation as someone who believed that rights must be more than principles on paper; they must be lived realities.

Those accomplishments are significant. But, personally, what I have come to appreciate most during our many years together in this chamber is not only what Senator McPhedran has done but how she has done it. She has always approached public service with intellectual rigour and a genuine desire to advance what she believes to be in the public interest.

You always knew where she stood, you always knew where you stood, and you always knew what principles were guiding her.

Whether you agreed or disagreed with her — and, colleagues, I suspect that many of us experienced both over the years — you always knew you were engaging with someone who had done the work, thought deeply about the issues before her and arrived at her position in a principled and honest manner.

As I think all of us here can appreciate, public life can be demanding. It can test our resolve, our reputation and our sense of purpose. For those who choose to lead with conviction, those tests can be especially difficult. Acting on deeply held principles does not always lead to easy outcomes.

Senator McPhedran, I know that some of those tests have found their way to your doorstep in recent years, and I hope you’ll allow me to say that I am genuinely pleased that you are able to leave this institution with the recent findings of the Senate Ethics Officer bringing a close to a matter that I know weighed heavily on you.

As you leave this place, I hope you do so knowing that many of us never doubted what lay behind your actions throughout your career, and that is a sincere desire to help people in need, a willingness to stand up for what is right and a commitment to act in good conscience.

Those qualities have defined your work for decades, and they are the qualities that I suspect many of us will remember most.

Honourable colleagues, we all know that for a long time Senator McPhedran tried to lower the voting age from 18 to 16. Imagine if she had spent half of that energy trying to increase the mandatory retirement age for senators; she might still be here in the fall, fighting to lower the voting age.

All joking aside, Senator McPhedran, you have been a principled senator. You have been a voice for those who, at various times, feel they have not had a voice in Parliament, and that is, ultimately, the role of all senators.

I will leave with this final thought. In this place, when we argue with colleagues, we consider them opponents. Very often, when we agree with colleagues, we consider them friends. In my particular case, I have done both. I have argued and been in agreement with Marilou, so that makes us true friends.

God bless you. All the best in your retirement to you and your family. Thank you for your service.

Honourable senators, today I rise on behalf of the Independent Senators Group to give tribute to Senator Marilou McPhedran.

In this chamber sit eminent Canadians who have shaped our country through their courage, their intellect and their unrelenting commitment to justice. I regard our colleague the Honourable Senator Marilou McPhedran as one of these Canadians.

In her journey before joining the Senate, her contributions to Canada were outstanding. Widely recognized for her foundational work on gender equality protections in the Canadian Constitution, specifically sections 15 and 28 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and for her work with the Ad Hoc Committee of Canadian Women on the Constitution, she was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1985.

She co-founded some of Canada’s most respected institutions: the Women’s Legal Education & Action Fund, the Metropolitan Action Committee on Violence Against Women and Children and the Gerstein Crisis Centre.

She negotiated the Women’s College Hospital’s designation as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre in Women’s Health. She founded the International Women’s Rights Project at York University and served as Chief Commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, championing feminist foreign policy and women’s political leadership.

And through every role, institution and milestone, she showed up for the women who had no platform or protections.

She is a tireless, courageous and ceaseless advocate for Afghan women, raising her voice when much of the world looked away, and an outspoken advocate for justice for the Rohingya people.

On November 10, 2016, the Senate welcomed another remarkable Canadian when the late Honourable Murray Sinclair walked Senator McPhedran into the Senate and stood beside her as she took the oath of office.

During her time in this chamber, she never mistook comfort for purpose. She asked the hard questions, held firm positions and never shrank from the uncomfortable work that real advocacy demands.

She brought that same energy to nurturing the next generation, creating meaningful internship and leadership opportunities for young people, shaping future advocates and policy-makers who will carry her legacy forward.

Today, we are fortunate to have the voices of her children with us today:

We joined our first protests before starting kindergarten . . . . we “attended” our first grassroots organizing meetings while playing with toys under the table.

Our mom has inspired us to live feminist values . . . by caring for the people and communities around us.

I close with the words of Senator Pate:

In July, Marilou will leave this place and resume her role as a multi-tasking feminist human rights lawyer and mom.

I have no doubt this is not the last we will hear from the Honourable Marilou McPhedran.

This is not goodbye . . . it is a celebration of all that you have accomplished . . . it is an expression of gratitude for your service, leadership and friendship . . . and for your unwavering commitment to making this world a better place.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to Senator Marilou McPhedran.

Senator McPhedran has spent decades building a legacy that reaches from Manitoba to Ottawa to the international stage. So rather than recount her long list of achievements, let me share with you three personal tributes from people who know her impact.

The Honourable Petra Bayr, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, says:

For many of us, Marilou is not simply a parliamentarian. She is a force of conviction, a voice of courage, and a leader whose commitment to human rights has shaped debates far beyond Canada’s borders.

I have had the privilege of knowing Marilou since the days of the International Conference on Population and Development discussions in Ottawa almost a decade ago. From our very first encounters, I was struck by her unwavering dedication to gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and the empowerment of women and girls. She has never treated these issues as niche concerns. She has understood them for what they are: fundamental questions of human dignity, democracy, and justice.

Senator McPhedran’s impact as a “femtor” is best captured by one of her “femtees,” Counsellor Janine Cocker of the Embassy of Canada to the Netherlands, who says:

Senator McPhedran is truly 1 in a million — for what you have accomplished and most importantly for the way you have lived your life and shaped the lives of others along the way. As you retire, I find myself thinking less about the long list of titles, cases, and achievements, and more about the force of who you are: principled and fearless, and an undeniable force.

You have never been someone to sit quietly in the face of injustice. I witnessed it first hand. When something mattered, you leaned in, not away — even when sometimes the rest of us wanted you to run away! You challenged, you pushed, you persisted. And when it came to women’s rights, you were unyielding. You knew that progress does not happen politely — it happens because people like you refuse to accept injustice or inequality.

The Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, Honourable Anita Neville, shares that she has known Senator McPhedran for many years and:

there is much to say about this truly Renaissance woman. But the points that I would most like to make about her is that she is a loyal and devoted friend, who in my experience is always there for you.

Secondly, I have known Marilou in many instances to take on challenging and controversial issues. She is not afraid to speak truth to power. This has not always benefitted her well-being, but she has been adamant and forthright in what she believes to be right. Friendship with Marilou opens doors and windows to worlds we often know nothing about.

In closing, Senator McPhedran’s lifetime of work reminds us that human rights are rights and not abstract ideals, and her legacy inspires others to lead with courage, empathy and conviction.

Marilou, on behalf of your friends in the Canadian Senators Group, we wish you all the best in your retirement from the Senate of Canada.

Honourable senators, it is indeed my pleasure to deliver this tribute to Senator Marilou McPhedran on behalf of the Progressive Senate Group.

I have known and followed the work of Marilou McPhedran dating back to the early 1980s — always a leading feminist, intellectual and activist.

Surely, one of the most important campaigns in which she had a central role was entrenching women’s equality in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Through a series of private lobbying, a national conference and public demonstrations, section 28 was added to the Charter before it went into effect.

Colleagues, in 1980-81, in Parliament, there was the Special Joint Committee on the Constitution of Canada, co-chaired by Senator Dan Hays and then-MP Serge Joyal, which held hearings and made recommendations on the Charter. Mr. Joyal was, of course, later a member of this house.

Long before she was a senator, she was very actively involved in the development of the Charter and then spent many years advancing equality in the voluntary and academic sectors. It is a nice follow-through that, many years later, she got to be in the Senate, monitoring time and time again that the bills put forward by the government received adequate Charter analyses.

So there is something of a milestone that another person so actively involved in the development of the historic and important Charter 45 years ago now leaves the Senate of Canada.

The other interesting confluence of events for this week and in this chamber is that as a young law student at Osgoode Hall, her teacher and mentor was none other than one Professor Louise Arbour. I want to quote from two of our mutual friends from two generations of her work. Magda Seydegart said:

Marilou McPhedran has always been an astute strategist and dedicated advocate for the full and lasting equality of women, youth and those who have historically — or currently — been marginalized. She acts on her commitments with full engagement, courage and honesty.

From the younger generation, Donneton Brown said this:

Senator McPhedran has been a tireless champion for youth through initiatives such as her youth advisory council, the Canadian Council of Young Feminists, as well as her efforts to expand the voting age to 16.

Personally, I want to thank you, Marilou, for mentoring me when I arrived at the Senate — especially when I was attending my first conference at the United Nations — and for encouraging me to address the issues that are important to me.

Your career has been governed by your principles, and in this house of independents, as a non-affiliated senator, you have been the ultimate independent senator in the best sense of the term. I salute you for what you have accomplished, and I wish you the best at this halfway point of your career as you launch other campaigns yet to come.

Honourable senators, I rise on this unceded and unsurrendered territory to pay tribute to our dear colleague Senator Marilou McPhedran.

As a fierce gender justice advocate, Senator McPhedran has devoted her life’s work to strengthening human rights protections domestically and globally.

In 1980, when the Ad Hoc Committee of Canadian Women on the Constitution was convened, it was Senator McPhedran’s legal counsel, leadership and dogged fierceness that ensured a successful campaign for stronger gender equality protections in the Canadian Constitution.

For this trailblazing accomplishment, our colleague was awarded the Order of Canada by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé in 1985, less than 10 years after being admitted to the bar.

The Honourable Maryam Monsef, former Minister for Women and Gender Equality, puts it this way:

Marilou is a force. She gets things done. Her work to ensure women are included in the Charter is but one of many ways she’s fundamentally enhanced the status of Canadian women.

Her ongoing mentorship of young women and people at home and abroad in Afghanistan and other gender-oppressive regions has been unwavering.

Sasha Banka, a Grade 11 student, described her internship with Senator McPhedran’s Virus of Inequality Symposium as “an unforgettable learning experience.”

For as long as I have known her, Senator McPhedran has been an unwavering and unapologetic stalwart in the justice and equality sector. She has advocated for gender justice, along with disability rights, racial justice and Indigenous rights.

Michele Landsberg notes that Senator McPhedran’s inclination to be radically inclusive goes back to the earliest days of her career as a lawyer in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During this time, she told Michele Landsberg about a young person who was involuntarily confined in an Ontario hospital for people with disabilities. He was fighting to leave the institution and live in a group home. While that struggle was eventually victorious, Senator McPhedran stayed completely behind the scenes advocating for him.

As Michele Landsberg stated:

That was Marilou: She did not fight these battles to win headlines about herself and was often working hard behind the scenes to mobilize others.

Over the years, I’ve known this to be true about Senator McPhedran. I’ve seen her strategic brilliance and altruism at work. The near closing of Women’s College Hospital in Toronto is one such example. As the only hospital dedicated to women’s health care research and advocacy in Canada, the possibility of Women’s College Hospital closing was absolutely devastating. This was one of the few medical institutions dedicated to closing the gender gap in health research and care.

In response, Senator McPhedran — you won’t be surprised — founded Friends of Women’s College Hospital and led a grassroots campaign to prevent the hospital from being merged into another entity not once, but twice.

As with Justin Clark, she always put others in the foreground while she worked in the background. There may not be a plaque to commemorate these efforts, but today this world-renowned hospital stands as a space dedicated to women’s health care research and advocacy.

She’s been at the forefront of many of these critical institutions for rights and justice, including the Canadian Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, et cetera, and many of these leaders appreciated her feminist advocacy that led to their establishment.

Senator, I’m thankful to have served in this auspicious place with you, and I look forward to seeing what you take on in the next iteration of your journey for justice and equality for all.

Honourable senators, I rise today to give tribute to Senator McPhedran, but I’m also thinking about Senators Dasko, Busson and Al Zaibak. I’m in my feelings this week; it’s hard to lose good colleagues.

You’ve heard about Senator McPhedran’s terrific résumé, so I’m going to talk about how she makes me feel, because that’s always what we remember most about others.

My first impression of Senator McPhedran was her describing herself as an old feminist warhorse. My reaction: “Yes, Queen.” But also: “Wow, I need to get to know this woman more.”

Since then, I’ve been endlessly impressed by how she stands up for herself, and especially for others, and she stays true to her values regardless of the pushback. Senator McPhedran is fierce. She’s so focused on her work on equality and human rights and highly skilled as a lawyer, communicator and advocate. And it’s been so important for me to witness that, especially here in this place.

I’ve seen my colleague act according to her values, championing the expansion of youth voting rights, hosting a symposium about inequality and speaking about the challenges of being a non-affiliated senator in an institution that is already quite challenging.

Senator McPhedran, I say your name every time I go into a high school class, and that happens pretty often. I tell students about the vote 16 act, and I encourage them to take over and debate the idea. These conversations have been some of my best as a senator: engaging with students as they debate the voting age and then watching that discussion flow to all sorts of fascinating, intelligent and unexpected places.

Thanks to Senator McPhedran, I’ve been able to better connect with young people, but also connect them with the work of the Senate and with Canada’s political process, and that’s a big deal. I am grateful.

This week’s speech by our new Governor General was really moving, and it made me think about Senator McPhedran. I didn’t realize you were her student as well. Governor General Louise Arbour said:

Extreme polarization is dangerous—but so is extreme consensus.

It is through our differences, and our fundamental right to express them, that we will nourish critical thinking, creativity and innovation.

To listen and to watch Senator McPhedran is to witness someone unafraid of our differences. Leaning into discomfort is hard. I love that she is so brave. She says difficult things even if it makes us uncomfortable. She has reliably been that voice in this chamber. This nourishes critical thinking, leads to better debate and helps us in our work as senators, contributing to Canada’s present and future.

Thank you, Senator McPhedran, for your tireless work, your kindness and your feminist leadership. As a Black woman, a lawyer and a senator, I have so appreciated getting to know you, and I will miss you in this place.

Thank you.