Honourable senators, I too want to begin with a land acknowledgment: We are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe People, and I am grateful to make my home where Chief Whitecap advised John Lake on settlement options in 1882, now the city of Saskatoon, which is located on Treaty 6 territory and is the traditional homeland of the Métis.

I am humbled in this chamber and grateful to former prime minister Justin Trudeau and Governor General Mary Simon for my appointment just a year ago. I look forward to serving our country with all of you.

Colleagues, each of us was appointed to represent a region. For me, that place is Saskatchewan. I was born in Humboldt and raised on a grain farm between Muenster and St. Gregor. While I didn’t always appreciate farm life, it taught me the value of hard work, problem solving and perseverance, and it instilled the belief that when one of us struggles, the rest of us must step up. This community ethic raised me and continues to ground me.

After leaving the farm and before coming to the Senate, I spent 36 years as a social worker in both front-line practice and administration. Most recently, I served as the executive director of St. Paul’s Hospital, where I led our pandemic response and, concurrently, reconciliACTION efforts. Prior to that, I was the director of Mental Health and Addiction Services for the Saskatoon Health Region and the Saskatchewan Health Authority — work that deepened my understanding that health is shaped by income, environment, inclusion and belonging. I saw how systemic inequalities like classism, racism, homophobia, ableism and sexism intersect and impact the most vulnerable. For me, this has repeatedly underscored the importance of active listening, acknowledging dignity in every person and deploying my privilege in service of equity.

As I begin my journey in the Senate, I remain committed to those principles.

Reviewing and debating legislation is not an abstract exercise; it’s about understanding how our decisions affect all people. I think it is important to see the full spectrum of humanity, ensuring the experiences of First Peoples, women, gender-diverse people and those of all ages and abilities are heard and taken seriously.

As a result of these inequities, we know that across Canada, many are struggling with mental health and substance use disorders. In Saskatchewan, I worked closely with those experiencing such challenges through my community outreach work right through to in-patient care. I saw how gaps in coordination and political will often hinder recovery.

Young people are particularly affected. A 2024 report from the Province of Saskatchewan’s Advocate for Children and Youth highlighted a fivefold increase in reported mental health and addiction concerns since 2020, reflecting how root causes such as poverty, trauma, and systemic inequities shape mental well-being. I know I sit among colleagues who share these concerns and are motivated toward finding solutions.

First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples must be prioritized in solutions-focused care, as they remain disproportionately affected due to long-standing systemic inequalities.

This is a reality that was laid bare to me early in my career as a child welfare worker in 1988. At age 22, as a new — and White — social worker, one of my earliest calls was initiated by a six-year-old boy reporting to his school principal that there was a need to attend to his three siblings. The responsible adults were intoxicated and unresponsive, and the children were living in conditions no child should endure: All had impetigo and lice, the baby had failure to thrive and all three girls were soaked in urine. The baby was lying silent on a bed, the two-and-a-half-year-old was found via her whimpering from a closet and the five-year-old was found in a van in the driveway. When I opened the door, the mother fell to the ground.

I transported the children to foster care, helped all day to clean, feed and care for them, then drove home, weeping most of the way. I knew in my heart and soul that no mother would ever want these conditions for her children. What had happened to her that led to these circumstances?

Of course, after forming a relationship with her, I learned of the many traumas she had experienced and how deeply she loved her children. That was 36 years ago. What have we learned, and what have we done to change such circumstances? Not enough.

In 2023 alone, 48 youth in provincial care in Saskatchewan attempted suicide — that we know of. Canada needs better support for children who require protective care, more effective interventions and reliable access to comprehensive, timely and culturally responsive mental health services.

Mental health and substance use are inevitably interconnected, and the toxic drug crisis continues to devastate communities. Between January 2016 and September 2022, more than 34,000 people in Canada died from opioid toxicity. In Saskatchewan, escalating overdoses and increased street drug toxicity continue to kill.

In my former role at St. Paul’s Hospital, I personally watched emergency staff revive and treat hundreds of overdoses in the space of weeks. Staff are burnt out; they leave in tears; many need stress leave to cope. This is a national reality. This crisis demands a compassionate and comprehensive public health approach rooted in the pillars of law enforcement, harm reduction, prevention, treatment and recovery-based measures supported by evidence and sustained by investment and culturally responsive policies.

Let me say this now for the first time as a senator but certainly not the last: In a country like Canada, access to quality care must never depend on race, income, sexual orientation, ability or geography. Also, we cannot achieve equity without true reconciliation. That means co-creating systems and the creation of Indigenous-led solutions in health care, education and economic development that respect Indigenous sovereignty and leadership.

The unanimous Senate passage of Bill C-51 in 2023, which enacted the governance treaty between the Government of Canada and the Whitecap Dakota First Nation, recognized Whitecap as a self-governing nation through establishing a new government-to-government relationship. Whitecap Dakota First Nation has generated real success stories we can point to, such as their recent announcement of the Indigenous-led Virtual Health Hub, which is being developed on Whitecap Dakota First Nation and has been supported in a recent federal funding announcement. This is the first initiative of its kind in Canada, and it will use remote presence technology to bring health care directly to rural and Indigenous communities.

The vision is to train a new generation of health workers — many of them Indigenous — to deliver care in their own communities and beyond, improving access and reducing the need for costly and disruptive travel. Led by Chief Darcy Bear and Dr. Ivar Mendez, the project is already under way and will be fully operational by 2026.

This is an incredible innovation, one that shows the country how Indigenous-led solutions can deliver lasting benefits for everyone. The treaty is a model for Indigenous self-determination, and I am anxious for this government to act on Bill C-51 and turn that framework into long-lasting action.

I want to turn now to Saskatchewan and the economic promise of my home province. Paying homage to my own upbringing on a farm, I’ll begin with agriculture.

In 2024 Saskatchewan international agricultural export sales totalled more than $18 billion. Agricultural exports have increased more than 32% since 2014, accounting for 41% of total provincial exports in 2024.

We are the world’s top exporter of key crops like lentils, dry peas, canola oil and durum wheat, sending produce to over 160 countries while also expanding value-added agriculture, with over 300 processing companies employing 6,000 people, a sector expected to account for $10 billion in revenue by 2030. Saskatchewan is also a global leader in sustainable farming practices like no-till and minimum-till farming, which means that our canola has a carbon footprint that is 67% below the global average.

I am proud to say that my dad and his brothers were among the first farmers in the Muenster area some 45 years ago to acquire an air seeder and avoid excessive land tillage.

Institutions like the Crop Development Centre and the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan help drive further innovation by advancing sustainable crop and livestock practices.

Another Saskatchewan success story is the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, or PAMI, based in my hometown area of Humboldt, which has been a cornerstone of innovation and advancement in Canada’s agricultural landscape since its establishment in 1975. Happy fiftieth anniversary, PAMI.

For over nearly five decades, they have served Saskatchewan by providing expertise in agriculture, mining, transportation and defence sectors, with a broad range of engineering solutions and testing services that have driven innovation and economic growth. Science on the Prairies is driving innovation in Canada’s agricultural sector and playing a key role in promoting food security, animal welfare and environmental sustainability at both national and global levels.

However, research and innovation in Saskatchewan extend far beyond agriculture.

The Canadian Light Source, or CLS, Canada’s only synchrotron facility, is also located in Saskatoon. This incredible structure produces intensely bright light to analyze materials at the molecular and atomic levels. At CLS, they examine everything from cancer cells to EV batteries and even ancient artifacts. Those utilizing CLS technology have over 4,600 peer-reviewed publications to their credit, placing Canada at the forefront of global scientific research while creating local opportunities and innovation on the Prairies.

You’ve heard me speak before about the Global Water Futures Observatories, or GWFO, which was launched in 2023 as Canada’s premier national freshwater research network. With 64 observation sites across diverse ecosystems, it supports adaptive strategies for water security, flood and drought management and long-term planning to safeguard our freshwater for future generations.

The work at GWFO underpins Bill C-241, introduced yesterday in the other place, which will establish a coordinated national approach to flood and drought forecasting. This is a cause I believe in strongly and intend to champion in the Senate.

Colleagues, as I close, let me say a few words about the Senate and my place within it. I come to this chamber with humility and a deep belief in collaboration, the role of this institution and our mandate to speak for marginalized Canadians. I’ve already had the honour of being elected chair of the Progressive Senate Group, or PSG, and intend to quickly sharpen my understanding of our practices and procedures. I will look to many of you as mentors.

I’m grateful to Senator Boyer, who stood beside me in support of my oath to this place, and to my colleagues in the PSG — talented, insightful legislators who know how to have a little fun along the way. I look forward to working across all groups to uplift the communities we represent. The Senate is evolving. To quote Senator Harder once again — I wish he were here — and I might be paraphrasing. He said:

Independence and non-partisanship are not ends in themselves. They bestow upon senators a sense of responsibility, accountability and a commitment to meaningful scrutiny of legislation. We are not here to rival the House of Commons but to complement it; not to deliver political sound bites but to provide thoughtful oversight. That means ensuring our debates are timely, our decisions transparent and our collaboration across groups is genuine so that good ideas are not sidelined by outdated partisan habits, and that bad ideas without merit or an evidence base don’t progress.

I take my place here as a senator from Saskatchewan: a senator who has been witness, through 36 years of social work practice, to the horrors of domestic violence, a racist child welfare system, the devastating impact of substance use and mental health disorders and the intergenerational impact of colonization and its subsequent traumas. I am also a senator who has witnessed the deep compassion of people and the true meaning of community when I co-led the mental health response throughout the Humboldt Broncos tragedy, and the extraordinary compassion practised through end-of-life care, which I supported in leadership roles at St. Paul’s Hospital and its community-based hospice. I have also witnessed genuine motivation and meaningful outcomes through co-led work resulting in reconciliACTION.

I am a senator committed to advancing legislation that supports wellness for all, equity and Indigenous self-determination, and policies that foster economic growth and scientific excellence.

Colleagues, I am filled with hope. I look forward to continued work with all of you to build a Canada where every person in every region and treaty territory has a genuine opportunity to succeed.

Thank you, merci, meegwetch, marsee.