Honourable senators, I want to thank my colleagues in the Conservative caucus for this time.

I want to talk to you today about an amazing woman who died earlier this morning, Alia Hogben, one of the leaders of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, a “femtor” to me and a very dear friend. Known for her brilliant work to empower Muslim women, Alia Hogben was a trailblazing feminist. Born to Indian parents in Myanmar, Alia lived in several countries before immigrating to Canada more than 50 years ago.

She has a strong track record of defending the rights of Muslim women, both within and outside of faith communities, promoting progressive values and advocating for religious tolerance, diversity and interfaith dialogue. Alia was one of the founders of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women in 1982, a non-profit women-run organization still operating today, dedicated to empowering Muslim women and their families, and acknowledging and respecting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I first came to work with Alia when I was called to provide strategic counsel on a pro bono basis when the Arbitration Act in Ontario had declared that arbitration panels could circumvent courts in Ontario, which would allow imams to apply Sharia law. Alia was one of the few Muslim voices who said, “No, this is Canada; we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms with sections 15 and 28, and Muslim women deserve the same equality as all other women in Canada.” That was a fight that was predicted to fail, but I worked with Alia and other Muslim women and saw what happened when conversations were held face to face with legislators. In fact, that act was not successful.

In closing, let me say — in a very unscripted way — that every now and again, we see leaders in this country who go far beyond how they are defined by religion, sex or culture, and those are the leaders who unite people; those are the leaders who listen to people. Alia Hogben, through her beauty — in every sense of that word — her kindness and her courage was exactly that kind of leader. Please join me in grieving this loss. Thank you.