Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to a person who has been an inspiration to me since the 1990s: my sponsor here in the Senate, my friend and fellow New Brunswicker Nancy Hartling.

Senator Hartling is a strong advocate for women’s rights and safety. She has had a stellar career that has spanned 50 years. She’s a dedicated proponent of social justice and human rights, as you have just heard. As a registered social worker, she was the founder and Executive Director of Support to Single Parents Inc. for its entire 34 years, tirelessly serving families within the Greater Moncton area.

While working for another non-profit organization, Nancy Hartling recognized that there were no real supports in place for single parents. In 1982, she founded the organization to offer relevant life-changing programs to single parents. Her organization was the first to include single parent men as clients. She also helped create St. James Court Inc., an apartment complex for single parents in Moncton.

I will echo the words that Nancy spoke about another New Brunswick senator, Erminie Cohen, that apply equally to Senator Hartling. As a lifelong advocate for women and social justice, she is one of my “sheroes” — not heroes, “sheroes” — and mentors.

Nancy first met Senator Cohen here in Ottawa during the World March of Women 2000 in October that year. Thirty thousand women marched on Parliament Hill to end gender-based violence and poverty, including women from New Brunswick, mobilized by Nancy Hartling. As a result of her advocacy, she was asked to chair the New Brunswick Minister’s Working Group on Violence Against Women. She also co‑chaired the December 6 Committee from 1995 to 2001 and served on the board of the Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research.

Senator Hartling spearheaded a community development project using an anti-poverty approach to empower low-income women to gain skills to develop and operate co-operative small business enterprises or create other employment opportunities to become financially independent.

She has also been recognized with the Leadership Award of the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health and the YWCA Moncton’s Women of Distinction Award. In 2011, she received the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case for her community service. She received the Order of New Brunswick in 2016 for her leadership role in advancing social and economic rights and opportunities for women in her community and across the province.

Nancy, your kind and compassionate leadership has left its mark on this place. All the best to you and your family as you begin your next chapter!

Honourable senators, November 15, 2016, was a wonderful day for me, as I entered this chamber. It was also a special day because I met a remarkable woman, the Honourable Nancy Hartling.

Over the last eight years, she has become my sister from a different mother. Nancy brought to the chamber her exceptional professional experience as a leader, an advocate for women living in poverty, as a mother of two wonderful children and a grandmother of her two great joys, Anouk and Max.

Nancy is a lifelong learner, earning her master’s degree while raising her two children, but what I got to experience is the friendship with a beautiful and gifted human being. I am so grateful for her.

Nancy, as we all know, has a gracious and kind nature. She is also principled and tough. She draws her lines very distinctly, always clear on where her principles lie. Her judgment is impeccable. She reached out to newcomers to the chamber and always guided them to make them comfortable with this new and strange environment. She also injected her best advice to them: “Suffering is optional.”

I believe women treasure friendships in a different way than men, and I will treasure this friendship for the rest of my life. Hanya Yanagihara, in her book A Little Life, wrote:

. . . the only trick of friendship, I think, is to find people who are better than you are — not smarter, not cooler, but kinder and more generous, and more forgiving — and then appreciate them for what they can teach you, and try to listen to them when they tell you something about yourself, no matter how bad — or good — it might be, and to trust them, which is the hardest thing of all. But the best, as well.

The Honourable Nancy Hartling is essentially that person. I will also concede that she is smarter and cooler as well.

My dearest friend, we have shared many things over the last eight years. We both lost our mothers, and we lost dear friends. We have experienced highs and lows, but there is no one, my friend, with whom I would have chosen to take this journey.

I will miss you every day in this place. Our adventures are not over. I wish you and Don all the joy in the world, but I know our friendship doesn’t end here, because you cannot get rid of me that easily, my friend. You are the best. I love you and I wish you all the best.

Honourable senators, on November 15, 2016, the day we were both sworn into this illustrious chamber, I did not personally know our dear colleague Senator Nancy Hartling. Of course, I had heard of her through mutual friends and, like many of you, no doubt, I had read the bio notes associated with her appointment. Above all, as a New Brunswicker, I was delighted to be able to count on this new colleague with her impressive professional career.

Coming from a family of social workers myself, I immediately recognized a certain affinity for this woman of Riverview who has worked all her life for women’s rights and in defence of the underprivileged and who bears a tremendous love for her community. **We began our duties on the same day and repeatedly discussed the meaning of this commitment, the role we could play here in this Red Chamber and the possible impact of our actions on the citizens of our province. Honesty has always been the guiding principle in our discussions, and when you talk to Senator Hartling, colleagues, you can be sure that she will answer with a frank and open heart.

It has been more than eight years since we first met, dear Nancy, and here we are, saying thank you and wishing you all the best as you pursue your life and your dreams.

Senator, during your tenure in the Senate, you served your community and your province with tremendous sensitivity and openness. I can assure you that your presence and contributions have enhanced New Brunswick’s voice in this chamber. You’ve devoted your entire career to promoting equity, dignity and social justice. Your commitment to women, minorities, Indigenous peoples and the most vulnerable is a source of immense inspiration to all Canadians.

With generosity and integrity, you have often put yourself at the service of your colleagues, supporting them in the causes they have chosen to defend. You have supported the quest of Indigenous peoples and pursued your commitment to ensure that women in our society are respected and duly recognized for their contributions.

Each of us brings to this chamber a unique contribution, marked by our professional and personal life’s path. Like some of our colleagues, dear friend, you certainly needed to have a great deal of courage and determination to face up to the difficult situations in your life. To your credit, you were able to transform these experiences into engines of action, which is why you are a source of inspiration to so many people.

On this international Human Rights Day, dear Nancy, you can retire from the Senate with pride and in peace.

Thank you for your wisdom.

One day you told me that you felt that you were an Acadian and that you were probably switched at birth. Nancy, I believed you then, and I still do. So, keep your sparkling eyes, your benevolent smile and your life force, which radiates to all those who have the privilege to know you and work with you.

Your friend forever, René.

Thank you.