In the short time she served in the Senate of Canada, the late Senator Judith Keating made significant contributions to the Upper Chamber’s work and had an enormously positive impact on her colleagues who will miss her deeply, senators said.

“We’ve lost one of our best legislators, just as she was getting started in the job she seemed to have trained for her whole life,” Senator Colin Deacon said.

“Given how quickly and powerfully Judith connected with so many of us, I cannot begin to imagine how tough her loss is for her family. This is a massive loss for them, but also for Canada.”

The Honourable Senator Keating joined the Senate in early 2020 and represented the province of New Brunswick for the next year and a half. She was a valued member of the Independent Senators Group (ISG), an accomplished legal and constitutional expert and a tireless advocate for both the residents of her province and Canadians at large, according to her Senate colleagues.

She died on July 15, 2021 in Fredericton, after a period of failing health. She was 64.

A longtime lawyer who served in a variety of roles within the Government of New Brunswick, Senator Keating came into the Senate armed with a powerful intellect, a wealth of experience and a tenacious determination to improving all Canadians’ quality of life, according to her fellow senators.

Senator Keating poses outside her Senate office, which was flanked by the flags of Canada and New Brunswick, the province she represented in the Upper Chamber. (Photo credit: Office of the late Senator Keating)

Senator Judith Keating, was appointed to the Senate of Canada on January 31, 2020. The accomplished constitutional lawyer represented the province of New Brunswick in the Red Chamber.

Senator Keating’s swearing-in ceremony took place at the Senate of Canada Building on February 4, 2020. She was led into the Red Chamber by her sponsor, New Brunswick Senator Percy Mockler (left) and Senator Marc Gold (right), the government’s representative in the Senate.

Standing from left to right, Senator Marc Gold, Speaker of the Senate George J. Furey, Senator Percy Mockler, former Clerk of the Senate Richard Denis and Usher of the Black Rod J. Greg Peters celebrate Senator Keating’s swearing-in on February 4, 2020.

As a public servant, Senator Keating served as chief legislative counsel and chief legal advisor to the premier of New Brunswick — and became the first woman to serve as the deputy minister of justice and deputy attorney general in the province. She also cared deeply about advancing Indigenous issues and was formerly a provincial chair of the Working Group on Truth and Reconciliation.

Upon her appointment to the Senate, Senator Keating was sponsored by Senator Percy Mockler, who had worked with her previously as a New Brunswick member of the legislative assembly and provincial minister. She was always a fair and knowledgeable sounding board, he recalled.

“In giving advice to government, to policy makers and to politicians of all stripes, she would always treat people — it didn’t matter what title you had — on the same, level playing field,” Senator Mockler said.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the country early into her tenure, Senator Keating did much of her Senate work virtually — but despite the lockdowns, she “hit the ground running,” according to Senator Paula Simons.

Senator Keating took her work on the Senate Committee on Transport and Communications “really seriously,” said Senator Simons, a fellow committee member.

“A real point of passion for her was to make sure that New Brunswick wasn’t going to be cut off from bus, train and air service,” Senator Simons added.

Sworn into the Upper Chamber on the same day as Senator Keating, Senator Brent Cotter said the two quickly became friends and members of the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. They worked closely together as the committee scrutinized Bill C-7, which sought to amend Canada’s medical assistance in dying laws, and joined forces as the ISG’s legislative leads for debate on the bill.

“She was relentless in her care and consideration of the way in which laws and policies of governments impacted individual people,” Senator Cotter said.

In addition to mourning a life cut short, Senators Simons and Cotter said they remain “heartbroken” thinking about what more their colleague could have accomplished for the Upper Chamber — and for Canadians — if she’d been given the time.

“The Senate of Canada has been robbed of a woman of extraordinary talent and insight who was going to make the Senate a better place and who managed to do that in a very short time,” Senator Simons said.

“I’m sad that my friend didn’t get to do all that she had hoped to do,” Senator Cotter said.

“We need more people like Judith serving in the Senate.”

Senator Keating embraces her family during an Easter celebration. From left to right: grandson Oliver, son-in-law Davie, grandson Wallace, daughter Stephanie, Senator Keating, granddaughter Grace, son Mathieu and grandson Harrison. (Photo credit: Office of the late Senator Keating)

Senator Keating loved birds — and animals, in general — according to her daughter Stephanie. (Photo credit: Office of the late Senator Keating)

Senator Keating with her family at a restaurant in Moncton, New Brunswick. (Photo credit: Office of the late Senator Keating)

Tributes in the Senate - November 24, 2021

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