Growing up the oldest of eight children in Cape Breton, Senator Jane Cordy only saw two women in her home province appointed to the Senate — and one of them was her high school principal. In June 2000, she became the third, launching a 24-year tenure that spanned nine parliaments, the historic events of 9/11 and the dawn of broadcasting in the Senate Chamber.

Throughout it all, Senator Cordy served on many Senate committees, including as deputy chair of the Senate Committee on Human Rights, the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration. She was also chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and leader of the Progressive Senate Group.

In their farewell tributes in the Red Chamber, senators described her as a headstrong, yet compassionate leader who stayed true to her values and beliefs.

Ahead of her retirement on November 18, 2024, Senator Cordy reflected on her career and post-Senate plans.

You are leaving the Senate almost eight months shy of your mandatory retirement date. What made you decide to retire early?

My daughters were university age when I was appointed and now, they’re mothers. We’ve got grandchildren who are 12, 11, 10 and seven years old and I want to spend more time with them. They play hockey and basketball, but I can’t go to their games during the week, so I feel like I am missing out. I also want to spend more time with my friends and travel with my husband.

You were a teacher for 30 years, and then you were appointed to the Red Chamber in 2000. How did then-prime minister Jean Chrétien come to know you?  

I had done a lot of work politically in my home province, including as president of the Nova Scotia Women’s Liberal Commission. When Mr. Chrétien ran for the leadership, my husband and I were involved in his leadership team.

Then one day Senator Percy E. Downe, who was Mr. Chrétien’s appointment secretary at the time, called to tell me that I had been shortlisted for a Senate appointment and he arranged to meet with me for a coffee in Halifax. A week later, the prime minister phoned me at the elementary school where I was teaching to officially invite me to serve in the Red Chamber. I came to Ottawa the following Monday, and I was sworn in the next day.

Senator Jane Cordy, second row, centre left, and participants of the Leaders 4 Life program tour the Senate Chamber during a SENgage event in May 2024.

What initially attracted you to politics?

I think it’s important to get involved. It’s hard work, but a lot of fun and it helps you gain a deeper understanding of our political system. Before you get involved with a candidate or a political party, you must consider whether their beliefs and viewpoints reflect yours, while also recognizing that they may not fit perfectly. 

As a member of the Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, you helped produce the famous Kirby report on mental health in 2006, which led to the creation of the Mental Health Commission of Canada. How has mental health care changed since then?

For that study, we travelled across the country to meet with people who struggled with mental illness or addictions, and we heard from family members of those who had mental health issues. People didn’t talk about mental health and mental illness very much back then, and the stories we heard were heartbreaking.

I still remember the young woman from Newfoundland and Labrador who broke down crying when she told the committee that she would rather have cancer because then people would pay attention to her illness. I remember the doctor who struggled with postpartum depression. I remember the woman who was hospitalized for a physical illness while her husband was hospitalized for a mental health illness, and his employer sent flowers to her, but not him. And I remember the family whose son, a star athlete and academic in high school, suffered from mental illness and nobody phoned to check in.

Who knows how often this happens, but I think today people are less afraid to speak up about their mental health challenges.

You were deputy chair of the subcommittee on communications that overhauled the Senate’s communications directorate in 2015. Tell us more about your work on this subcommittee.

I worked with Senator Leo Housakos, who was the chair of that subcommittee, to make the Senate communications team more professional. We revamped the system and hired more people with backgrounds and education related to communications. We’ve seen a big difference. Whether it’s greater awareness around events happening at the Senate or more outreach activities with school groups through SENgage, the comms team helps us to get the message out about the Senate’s work.

Senators Leo Housakos and Jane Cordy, the chair and deputy chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, address a crowd during a 2017 event to announce the Senate’s partnership with the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

You have served on several other committees throughout your 24 years in the Red Chamber. What are the highlights from your committee work?

When I was deputy chair of the Senate Committee on Human Rights, we invited Bob Rae, who was the Special Envoy of the Prime Minister to Myanmar, to talk about the Rohingya crisis. He had been there, and he gave an emotional account of the encampments full of masses of impoverished people. Although it was one meeting that produced a short report, it was very powerful.

From left, senators Nancy J. Hartling, Wanda Thomas Bernard, Kim Pate and Jane Cordy walk through a men’s maximum-security facility in New Brunswick during a Senate Committee on Human Rights fact-finding mission on the human rights of prisoners in 2018.

We also travelled across the country to visit prisons in every region for a study on the human rights of prisoners. I had never been inside a prison before, and I have to say that when that door locks behind you, it’s an eerie feeling. I can remember the descriptions of the food, specifically cold spaghetti with a banana on the side. One prisoner told me that he was on the streets with a gun when he was 10 years old — the same age as my grandson at the time. Some kids don’t have a chance unless somebody gives them a break.

One of your hallmark bills was Bill S-211, which designated June 19 as National Sickle Cell Awareness Day. How did you come to learn about the disease and why did you want to create this special day of awareness? 

MP Kirsty Duncan, who was minister of science at the time, was hosting a group of people who wanted to talk to parliamentarians about sickle cell disease and their experiences with this painful, yet little-known disease. I met Lanre Tunji-Ajayi, who was president of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada. We ended up working on the bill together and I introduced it in the Senate, but then an election was called so we had to start over again. It ultimately passed, thanks to support from the bill critics in the House of Commons.

Since then, awareness around this disease has grown. People with sickle cell disease have met with MPs and senators on the Hill, and Niagara Falls and the CN Tower have both been lit up in honour of Sickle Cell Awareness Day. Now in Nova Scotia, and many of the provinces, sickle cell disease is part of newborn screening.

Among her accomplishments in the Red Chamber, Senator Cordy helped designate June 19 as National Sickle Cell Awareness Day. She’s pictured here marking the first annual event on Parliament Hill in 2018.

What’s your advice to future senators?  

You must always keep in mind that you are representing the province that you are from. And you should stay active in your community, whether that’s attending events, talking to neighbours or speaking at schools. Seek out places that are home to minority groups or that may be underserved in parliament. If you get invited to a tiny community, then go. I have found people in small-town Nova Scotia to be appreciative of my efforts to drive out and meet with them. 

What are your retirement plans?

For the next few months, I want to spend time with my family. I want to go to the hockey rink and the basketball court to watch my grandkids play because I don’t get to do that very often. I want to spend more time with my friends because they have been so kind over the years, always changing plans to fit with my busy Senate schedule. And I want to get involved in my community, not as the chair or head of anything, but just as somebody who volunteers weekly.

Learn more about Senator Jane Cordy in this article on SenCAplus.