‘A huge privilege’: Senator Omidvar bids farewell to the Red Chamber
Whether she’s fighting for migrants’ rights, helping the charitable sector or supporting Canada’s relationship with Germany, Senator Ratna Omidvar has lived through most of the causes she has championed throughout her career.
Before her Red Chamber appointment, she led a charity focused on ending poverty, founded a “think-and-do tank” and co-authored a book about migrants’ experiences called Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada, among other accomplishments.
Senator Omidvar sat down with SenCAplus to share how she continued working towards diversity and inclusion in the Senate, and what she plans to do after her retirement on November 5, 2024.
You fled Iran with your family in 1981 and eventually landed in Canada. What was it like coming to Canada as a newcomer during a recession?
The top-line emotions were exhilaration and relief because we were safe. But then we were hit with reality. We realized that picking up the strands of our life to create a home and a livelihood for ourselves was far more challenging than we would have ever imagined, partly because of the recession. I remember mortgage rates were 18% and it was hard to find a job without Canadian work experience. The first few years for us were not easy.
My experience is shared with countless other newcomers who come to Canada with a great deal of expectations and hopes that are then tempered with reality as they hit the ground.
You served as executive director and president of the Maytree Foundation for 16 years. What initially attracted you to the charitable sector?
I had previously lived in India, Germany and Iran and in most of these places, charity is more religious in nature. I was not part of that. But in Canada, there’s a large sub-sector of society that is dedicated to the public good in a way that I had not previously experienced.
I found my way into it by accident. I was a volunteer in my daughter’s daycare centre, and I had organized a fundraiser with the goal of raising $800 for triple strollers. We surpassed our goal, and that was an empowering experience. Volunteering became a big part of my resettlement in this country.
Eventually St. Stephen’s Community House, a charitable settlement organization in Toronto, saw something in me and they hired me. It gave me a foothold in my career.
You have a special friendship with Senator Donna Dasko that started long before either of you stepped into the Red Chamber. Tell us the story of how you two met.
Oh my gosh, that is a story that takes me back to 1984. I was this young, slightly naive, wide-eyed volunteer, and Senator Dasko was the president of the board at St. Stephen’s Community House. She gave me my first job.
I was appointed to the Senate in 2016, and then Senator Dasko joined two years later. I was her sponsor, and it was like coming full circle.
You have also dedicated your career to the rights of refugees and migrants. How have you been able to advance this work as a senator?
I’m very proud of my legislative efforts for refugees and migrants, whether it’s government legislation to reform the Citizenship Act or public bills like my work with Senator Yonah Martin on her “lost Canadians” legislation.
I launched an inquiry on immigration and several of my colleagues stood up and spoke about their own experiences. It was one of the most moving threads in the Senate.
I’m also proud of the work I did on Bill C-41, which allows charities and not-for-profits to send aid to Afghanistan without fear of being listed as terrorist entities. And, as chair of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI), I oversaw the report on low wage temporary migrant workers. I’m still working hard on the Ukraine file and doing what I can for displaced Ukrainians. If adopted, my Bill S-278 would enable Canada to seize Russian state assets and repurpose them for Ukraine in their time of need.
There is a very strong link between my values, my experiences and the work I do. I’m really pleased with how I have been able to express those values and leave my fingerprints on the legislative narrative of this country. It has been a huge privilege.
Is there any other committee or legislative work that stands out to you?
As chair of SOCI, I’m very pleased with the quality of the work we have done on studies ranging from temporary foreign workers to gender-based analysis to suicide prevention. I have also been a very active member of the Senate Committee on Human Rights. We have done some fantastic work, including a groundbreaking report on Islamophobia, a deep dive into prison reform and a study on the disturbing phenomena of forced global displacement, which has yet to be completed.
You have strong ties to Germany, which you have maintained through your involvement with the Canada-Germany Interparliamentary Group. Tell us more about the work you have done to support the relationship between these two countries, and why it’s important to you.
I have a long-standing personal relationship with Germany. I went to school there, learned the language and became a German teacher. It is also where I met my husband.
Germany and Canada have a strong trading relationship and 10% of Canadians are of German descent. Germany is an incredibly important partner for us, especially as we look to issues of climate change and resource development.
The parliamentary friendship group — which is chaired by Senator Peter M. Boehm, and of which I was the vice-chair — has developed relationships with German parliamentarians. The relationship between Germany and Canada has primarily been focused on issues related to trade and the European Union and NATO. There is a commonality on migration that I think is an undiscovered opportunity to bring us closer.
What do you think the two countries have to learn from one another, with respect to migration? Germany’s situation is so different from Canada’s.
Our situations may be different, including our geography and our history, but both countries have similar challenges in meeting certain labour market needs and in recognizing foreign credentials to help people resettle. There are interesting pathways that we can share with them, and they can share with us.
I plan to continue these bilateral conversations in my retirement and work on building a community between civil society actors, legislators and policymakers in both countries.
What else do you plan to do in your retirement?
I have had requests for speaking engagements and I’ve accepted a public policy fellowship at the School of Public Policy at Toronto Metropolitan University. And who knows? Maybe there’s another book in me.
Learn more about Senator Ratna Omidvar in this article on SenCAplus.
Watch Senator Omidvar’s tributes and farewell speech in the Senate Chamber.
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‘A huge privilege’: Senator Omidvar bids farewell to the Red Chamber
Whether she’s fighting for migrants’ rights, helping the charitable sector or supporting Canada’s relationship with Germany, Senator Ratna Omidvar has lived through most of the causes she has championed throughout her career.
Before her Red Chamber appointment, she led a charity focused on ending poverty, founded a “think-and-do tank” and co-authored a book about migrants’ experiences called Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada, among other accomplishments.
Senator Omidvar sat down with SenCAplus to share how she continued working towards diversity and inclusion in the Senate, and what she plans to do after her retirement on November 5, 2024.
You fled Iran with your family in 1981 and eventually landed in Canada. What was it like coming to Canada as a newcomer during a recession?
The top-line emotions were exhilaration and relief because we were safe. But then we were hit with reality. We realized that picking up the strands of our life to create a home and a livelihood for ourselves was far more challenging than we would have ever imagined, partly because of the recession. I remember mortgage rates were 18% and it was hard to find a job without Canadian work experience. The first few years for us were not easy.
My experience is shared with countless other newcomers who come to Canada with a great deal of expectations and hopes that are then tempered with reality as they hit the ground.
You served as executive director and president of the Maytree Foundation for 16 years. What initially attracted you to the charitable sector?
I had previously lived in India, Germany and Iran and in most of these places, charity is more religious in nature. I was not part of that. But in Canada, there’s a large sub-sector of society that is dedicated to the public good in a way that I had not previously experienced.
I found my way into it by accident. I was a volunteer in my daughter’s daycare centre, and I had organized a fundraiser with the goal of raising $800 for triple strollers. We surpassed our goal, and that was an empowering experience. Volunteering became a big part of my resettlement in this country.
Eventually St. Stephen’s Community House, a charitable settlement organization in Toronto, saw something in me and they hired me. It gave me a foothold in my career.
You have a special friendship with Senator Donna Dasko that started long before either of you stepped into the Red Chamber. Tell us the story of how you two met.
Oh my gosh, that is a story that takes me back to 1984. I was this young, slightly naive, wide-eyed volunteer, and Senator Dasko was the president of the board at St. Stephen’s Community House. She gave me my first job.
I was appointed to the Senate in 2016, and then Senator Dasko joined two years later. I was her sponsor, and it was like coming full circle.
You have also dedicated your career to the rights of refugees and migrants. How have you been able to advance this work as a senator?
I’m very proud of my legislative efforts for refugees and migrants, whether it’s government legislation to reform the Citizenship Act or public bills like my work with Senator Yonah Martin on her “lost Canadians” legislation.
I launched an inquiry on immigration and several of my colleagues stood up and spoke about their own experiences. It was one of the most moving threads in the Senate.
I’m also proud of the work I did on Bill C-41, which allows charities and not-for-profits to send aid to Afghanistan without fear of being listed as terrorist entities. And, as chair of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (SOCI), I oversaw the report on low wage temporary migrant workers. I’m still working hard on the Ukraine file and doing what I can for displaced Ukrainians. If adopted, my Bill S-278 would enable Canada to seize Russian state assets and repurpose them for Ukraine in their time of need.
There is a very strong link between my values, my experiences and the work I do. I’m really pleased with how I have been able to express those values and leave my fingerprints on the legislative narrative of this country. It has been a huge privilege.
Is there any other committee or legislative work that stands out to you?
As chair of SOCI, I’m very pleased with the quality of the work we have done on studies ranging from temporary foreign workers to gender-based analysis to suicide prevention. I have also been a very active member of the Senate Committee on Human Rights. We have done some fantastic work, including a groundbreaking report on Islamophobia, a deep dive into prison reform and a study on the disturbing phenomena of forced global displacement, which has yet to be completed.
You have strong ties to Germany, which you have maintained through your involvement with the Canada-Germany Interparliamentary Group. Tell us more about the work you have done to support the relationship between these two countries, and why it’s important to you.
I have a long-standing personal relationship with Germany. I went to school there, learned the language and became a German teacher. It is also where I met my husband.
Germany and Canada have a strong trading relationship and 10% of Canadians are of German descent. Germany is an incredibly important partner for us, especially as we look to issues of climate change and resource development.
The parliamentary friendship group — which is chaired by Senator Peter M. Boehm, and of which I was the vice-chair — has developed relationships with German parliamentarians. The relationship between Germany and Canada has primarily been focused on issues related to trade and the European Union and NATO. There is a commonality on migration that I think is an undiscovered opportunity to bring us closer.
What do you think the two countries have to learn from one another, with respect to migration? Germany’s situation is so different from Canada’s.
Our situations may be different, including our geography and our history, but both countries have similar challenges in meeting certain labour market needs and in recognizing foreign credentials to help people resettle. There are interesting pathways that we can share with them, and they can share with us.
I plan to continue these bilateral conversations in my retirement and work on building a community between civil society actors, legislators and policymakers in both countries.
What else do you plan to do in your retirement?
I have had requests for speaking engagements and I’ve accepted a public policy fellowship at the School of Public Policy at Toronto Metropolitan University. And who knows? Maybe there’s another book in me.
Learn more about Senator Ratna Omidvar in this article on SenCAplus.
Watch Senator Omidvar’s tributes and farewell speech in the Senate Chamber.