SENATORS’ STATEMENTS — The Late Honourable Landon Pearson, O.C.

Honourable senators, I begin by acknowledging the traditional and unceded lands of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Peoples and thank them for allowing me to be here on their lands.

I also want to wish Elder Eric Large a big happy birthday on your eightieth birthday today.

I rise today to honour my friend and colleague the late former senator Landon Pearson. Belovedly known as Canada’s “children’s senator,” she would have celebrated her ninety-fifth birthday this past Sunday. I can think of no better day than National Child Day to honour Landon and her work — even though it is officially tomorrow and my tribute to her is one day early.

Tomorrow is a day for us to honour children by recognizing their right to be happy and safe, to be healthy and free and to realize their fullest potential.

Landon Pearson’s lifetime of advocacy spanned over six decades and touched countless lives. Landon co-founded Children Learning for Living, a groundbreaking mental health program for elementary-school-age children that ran for 23 years in the Ottawa area.

She participated in the creation of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and was a key figure in shaping Canada’s response to the convention.

It was in the early 1990s that I first met Landon. I participated with her in the National Children’s Agenda consultations that would inform her work in the 2002 international session on children.

It was also with her encouragement and support that I authored General Comment No. 11, which focused on interpreting how the convention applies specifically to Indigenous children.

Landon served in the Senate from 1994 to 2005, where she championed every piece of legislation affecting children’s and young people’s lives.

When she left the Senate, she founded the Landon Pearson Resource Centre for the Study of Childhood and Children’s Rights at Carleton University. Launched in 2006, the centre is Canada’s only dedicated children’s rights centre. The centre works to promote awareness and understanding of the UN convention to ensure that children’s participation is honoured, respected and upheld.

After a lifetime of public service, Landon’s gift to all of us remains. Her legacy and work continue to impact countless children across the world and influence senators here in this chamber to this day.

As we head into National Child Day tomorrow, I want to celebrate the many senators in this room who champion children, their rights and their well-being. I also want to celebrate each of you and your contributions to children’s well-being as mothers, fathers, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunties and uncles. I thank you.

Hiy hiy.