A P.E.I. champion with a ‘down-home bill’: Senator Griffin retires
Prince Edward Island’s licence plate declares the province as the “Birthplace of Confederation” but Senator Diane Griffin officially made it so.
As one of P.E.I.’s representatives in the Upper Chamber, Senator Griffin got a bill through Parliament that officially recognized Charlottetown as the city that sparked a nation.
Apart from her ‘down-home bill,’ Senator Griffin is also known as an experienced conservationist and long-time town councillor who championed literacy and Canada’s agricultural sector.
Before retiring on March 18, 2022, Senator Griffin reflected on her time in the Senate.
Senator Diane Griffin is pictured here monitoring the natural area at St. Peters Lake Run in Prince Edward Island during her time as the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s program manager for the province. A recipient of the Governor General’s Conservation Award and the Order of P.E.I., Senator Griffin is known across the country as an environmental activist with a long resume of conservation work. She served as the P.E.I. Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Environment, she worked with the Prince Edward Island Nature Trust and served on national boards and advisory groups such as Nature Canada. (Photo credit: John Sylvester)
Senators Colin Deacon, Diane Griffin and Stan Kutcher hosted a seminar at Halifax’s Dalhousie University on how to increase the economic value of agriculture on July 16, 2019.
Senator Griffin hands off Bill S-236, the Recognition of Charlottetown as the Birthplace of Confederation Act, to House of Commons sponsor and fellow Islander Wayne Easter in the Library of Parliament. (Photo credit: Office of former Malpeque MP Wayne Easter)
Senator Griffin with her little blue 2017 Mustang outside her Prince Edward Island home. She plans to spend more time driving around the Atlantic region, visiting friends and hitting up golf courses. (Photo credit: Office of Senator Diane Griffin)
Prior to joining the Senate, you served as a town councillor in Stratford, P.E.I. for 13 years. How did this experience prepare you for your role as a senator?
The thing about town councils in Prince Edward Island is they’re not party driven. Everybody is an individual and, therefore, collaboration is important. I found Stratford councillors worked together and tried to do what was best for the town. We might not have always 100% agreed on exactly what or how, but everybody was in there with an altruistic objective.
And then you were appointed to the Senate in 2016. What was it like to get that phone call from the prime minister?
The Privy Council Office contacted me at noon to see if I was going to be available for a phone call later that evening. I figured that this was going to be the call. That evening, I was at a town hall committee meeting and I kept checking my cell phone to make sure the battery was good. It rang just as the meeting had ended. I picked up and heard, “Hello, this is Justin Trudeau.” Wow!
You proposed Bill S-236, the Recognition of Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation Act. What did it mean to you to see Charlottetown officially recognized in this way?
We always knew Charlottetown was the birthplace of Confederation — it’s even on our licence plate — but now everybody else knows it. I worked with Wayne Easter, the MP for Malpeque at the time, and Philip Brown, who later became the mayor of Charlottetown, to heavily promote this legislation. That collaborative effort was fun and exciting. It was a down-home bill. But there were challenges, even in something so simple as recognizing Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation. It certainly taught me a lot about the whole process of how bills get passed through Parliament.
You have championed literacy. Why is this cause so important to you?
It was important to other recent Island senators too, like Libbe Hubley and Catherine Callbeck. We’ve all been concerned about the fact that there’s such a high rate of functional illiteracy. It’s up to 40% for functional illiteracy and that’s not just here in Prince Edward Island — it’s throughout Canada.
As part of your literacy advocacy work, you helped to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Program to P.E.I. She thanked you in a personal video shoutout!
I first saw the video at the end of The National news program. I didn’t know this was going to happen! I was really pleased. I so admire her as an entertainer and individual, but I really admire what she has done for literacy.
As an experienced conservationist, you have said municipalities can play a key role in reducing Canada’s carbon footprint. How so?
Municipalities have a lot of control over land, tree policies, waste management and taxation. For example, they can use taxation credits, grants and other economic incentives to encourage people to build homes that use more solar and wind energy. Municipalities can also incorporate more hybrid or electric vehicles into their fleets and use more wood in construction projects.
I can go on and on! It’s not just one or two things. A municipal government can have a major impact, if it chose to do so, and a lot of them are getting to be very progressive. It’s a level of government about which I’ve always been excited.
What is your advice for future P.E.I. senators?
I have four pieces of advice. The number one thing: They’re appointed to speak up for Prince Edward Island first, but also the Maritimes as a whole. Often what is of interest to Prince Edward Island is equally of interest to the region. Second: They should hire good, experienced staff. Third: Be collaborative. Don’t go in with a combative attitude. Fourth: Pick one or two things to champion. You can’t be tilting at every windmill, so pick one or two things and see what can be done to move those causes forward.
What will be the first thing you do in your retirement?
I’m going to spend more time driving my little blue 2017 Mustang. It only has 24,000 km on the odometer — partly due to COVID and partly because I’ve spent so much time in Ottawa — so that’s going to change soon. I’m going to spend more time visiting the other Atlantic provinces, driving around to various golf courses and visiting friends and my former Senate colleagues. Senator Jane Cordy and I, for the last five years, have said we are going to get out golfing together some day. It has not happened. It will happen!
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A P.E.I. champion with a ‘down-home bill’: Senator Griffin retires
Prince Edward Island’s licence plate declares the province as the “Birthplace of Confederation” but Senator Diane Griffin officially made it so.
As one of P.E.I.’s representatives in the Upper Chamber, Senator Griffin got a bill through Parliament that officially recognized Charlottetown as the city that sparked a nation.
Apart from her ‘down-home bill,’ Senator Griffin is also known as an experienced conservationist and long-time town councillor who championed literacy and Canada’s agricultural sector.
Before retiring on March 18, 2022, Senator Griffin reflected on her time in the Senate.
Senator Diane Griffin is pictured here monitoring the natural area at St. Peters Lake Run in Prince Edward Island during her time as the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s program manager for the province. A recipient of the Governor General’s Conservation Award and the Order of P.E.I., Senator Griffin is known across the country as an environmental activist with a long resume of conservation work. She served as the P.E.I. Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Environment, she worked with the Prince Edward Island Nature Trust and served on national boards and advisory groups such as Nature Canada. (Photo credit: John Sylvester)
Senators Colin Deacon, Diane Griffin and Stan Kutcher hosted a seminar at Halifax’s Dalhousie University on how to increase the economic value of agriculture on July 16, 2019.
Senator Griffin hands off Bill S-236, the Recognition of Charlottetown as the Birthplace of Confederation Act, to House of Commons sponsor and fellow Islander Wayne Easter in the Library of Parliament. (Photo credit: Office of former Malpeque MP Wayne Easter)
Senator Griffin with her little blue 2017 Mustang outside her Prince Edward Island home. She plans to spend more time driving around the Atlantic region, visiting friends and hitting up golf courses. (Photo credit: Office of Senator Diane Griffin)
Prior to joining the Senate, you served as a town councillor in Stratford, P.E.I. for 13 years. How did this experience prepare you for your role as a senator?
The thing about town councils in Prince Edward Island is they’re not party driven. Everybody is an individual and, therefore, collaboration is important. I found Stratford councillors worked together and tried to do what was best for the town. We might not have always 100% agreed on exactly what or how, but everybody was in there with an altruistic objective.
And then you were appointed to the Senate in 2016. What was it like to get that phone call from the prime minister?
The Privy Council Office contacted me at noon to see if I was going to be available for a phone call later that evening. I figured that this was going to be the call. That evening, I was at a town hall committee meeting and I kept checking my cell phone to make sure the battery was good. It rang just as the meeting had ended. I picked up and heard, “Hello, this is Justin Trudeau.” Wow!
You proposed Bill S-236, the Recognition of Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation Act. What did it mean to you to see Charlottetown officially recognized in this way?
We always knew Charlottetown was the birthplace of Confederation — it’s even on our licence plate — but now everybody else knows it. I worked with Wayne Easter, the MP for Malpeque at the time, and Philip Brown, who later became the mayor of Charlottetown, to heavily promote this legislation. That collaborative effort was fun and exciting. It was a down-home bill. But there were challenges, even in something so simple as recognizing Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation. It certainly taught me a lot about the whole process of how bills get passed through Parliament.
You have championed literacy. Why is this cause so important to you?
It was important to other recent Island senators too, like Libbe Hubley and Catherine Callbeck. We’ve all been concerned about the fact that there’s such a high rate of functional illiteracy. It’s up to 40% for functional illiteracy and that’s not just here in Prince Edward Island — it’s throughout Canada.
As part of your literacy advocacy work, you helped to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library Program to P.E.I. She thanked you in a personal video shoutout!
I first saw the video at the end of The National news program. I didn’t know this was going to happen! I was really pleased. I so admire her as an entertainer and individual, but I really admire what she has done for literacy.
As an experienced conservationist, you have said municipalities can play a key role in reducing Canada’s carbon footprint. How so?
Municipalities have a lot of control over land, tree policies, waste management and taxation. For example, they can use taxation credits, grants and other economic incentives to encourage people to build homes that use more solar and wind energy. Municipalities can also incorporate more hybrid or electric vehicles into their fleets and use more wood in construction projects.
I can go on and on! It’s not just one or two things. A municipal government can have a major impact, if it chose to do so, and a lot of them are getting to be very progressive. It’s a level of government about which I’ve always been excited.
What is your advice for future P.E.I. senators?
I have four pieces of advice. The number one thing: They’re appointed to speak up for Prince Edward Island first, but also the Maritimes as a whole. Often what is of interest to Prince Edward Island is equally of interest to the region. Second: They should hire good, experienced staff. Third: Be collaborative. Don’t go in with a combative attitude. Fourth: Pick one or two things to champion. You can’t be tilting at every windmill, so pick one or two things and see what can be done to move those causes forward.
What will be the first thing you do in your retirement?
I’m going to spend more time driving my little blue 2017 Mustang. It only has 24,000 km on the odometer — partly due to COVID and partly because I’ve spent so much time in Ottawa — so that’s going to change soon. I’m going to spend more time visiting the other Atlantic provinces, driving around to various golf courses and visiting friends and my former Senate colleagues. Senator Jane Cordy and I, for the last five years, have said we are going to get out golfing together some day. It has not happened. It will happen!