While senators’ duties are mainly as legislators within Parliament, their work also takes them far beyond. Learn more about some of their activities.

Tuesday, November 21 — Senator Percy E. Downe meets with President of the Federation of PEI Municipalities Bruce MacDougall and Stratford Town Councillor Keith MacLean to discuss the priorities of PEI municipalities during the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Advocacy Day on Parliament Hill.

Wednesday, November 22 — Senator Leo Housakos hosts Jack Greenspon, his mother Donna and father Steven on a visit to the Red Chamber. Jack and his mother participated in the Autism Awareness Day on Parliament Hill last October.

Tuesday, November 28 — Senators Lillian Eva Dyck and Dennis Patterson co-host the screening of Fill My Hollow Bones, a documentary about Indigenous youth using the arts to ignite change.  

Wednesday, November 29 — Senator Percy E. Downe meets with University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) student union leaders Hammad Ahmed and Taya Nabuurns, as well as UPEI alumni and Canadian Alliance of Student Associations representative Jonathan Rix, to discuss challenges faced by university students today.

Monday, December 4 — Senator René Cormier chats with Senate Pages Sarah Boukhouali and Maxime Newbold about their experiences working on Parliament Hill.

Wednesday, December 6 — Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard takes part in the 2017 National Black Canadians Summit. 

Thursday, December 7 — Inuktitut carols echo through the halls of Parliament during a cultural performance organized by Senator Dennis Patterson and the Ottawa Inuit Children's Centre. Senators Larry W. Smith, Marie-Françoise Mégie and Nancy J. Hartling also took part.

Friday, December 8 — Senator Joseph A. Day takes part in a Canada-China Legislative Association event welcoming Mr. Danzenglangjie, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the People's Congress of the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China.

Saturday, December 9 — Senator Marc Gold takes part in La guignolée — a charitable food drive celebrated yearly in French Canada near the start of December — at a Metro grocery store in the Quebec City neighbourhood of Saint-Sauveur. The senator is joined by Saint-Vincent-de-Paul volunteer Lucie Desjardins and president of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Saint-Sauveur Lucie Morin.

Tuesday, December 12 — PEI Senators Mike Duffy, Diane Griffin and Percy E. Downe gather to celebrate the granting of Royal Assent to Bill S-236, which recognizes Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation. Senator Griffin was the Senate sponsor of the bill which has now become law. �

Other events that senators participated in:

• Tuesday, November 21 — Senator Paul E. McIntyre spoke at a University of Ottawa School of Political Studies graduate seminar about the passionate Senate debate on Bill C-14, the medically-assisted dying bill, which was passed in 2016.
• Tuesday, November 28 — Senator Percy E. Downe met with Acorn Press Publisher Terrilee Bulger and representatives from the Association of Canadian Publishers, Semareh Al-Hillal and Christen Thomas, to discuss Canadian publishing priorities.
• Friday, December 1 — Senator Marie-Françoise Mégie spoke to students enrolled in the course Ideologies and Political Regimes at Cégep Édouard-Montpetit in Longueil, Quebec. Her guest lecture about the role of the Senate and the work of senators was coordinated under Senate Communications’ SENgage
• Friday, December 1 — Senator Paul E. McIntyre travelled to Moncton, N.B., for a SENgage youth outreach initiative. He spoke to a class of roughly 100 students at the University of Moncton’s Faculty of Law about the Senate’s role in Parliament and how it is modernizing for the 21st century.