‘Nothing I had ever imagined’: Senator Hartling retires from the Red Chamber
An award-winning advocate for single parents and women, Senator Nancy J. Hartling brought 30-plus years of experience as a social worker to the Senate in 2016.
Among her accomplishments in the Red Chamber, she worked on several committee reports and successfully sponsored a bill that strengthened anti-harassment policies in Canadian workplaces. Throughout it all, she earned a reputation as a calm, compassionate and collaborative colleague.
Senator Hartling reflects on her eight years in the Senate ahead of her retirement on February 1, 2025.
You founded and led the Moncton-based not-for-profit Support to Single Parents Inc. in the 1980s. What made you decide to create this organization?
I had previously worked in other organizations related to family service, including the Boys and Girls Club, and I started noticing that our community lacked supports for single parents. I travelled to Edmonton, Alberta, with a friend to visit the Terra Centre, an organization that provides various services for teen parents, from helping them through high school to obtaining a driver’s licence. I cashed in my life insurance policy for this trip, and it was the best money I ever spent. It gave me a vision to launch something similar in Moncton.
What motivated you to dedicate your life to serving others, and how did the Senate give you a platform to amplify that mission?
My career as a social worker started when I was five years old. My aunt was a social worker in rural Nova Scotia, and she used to take me with her when she visited different homes. I would stay behind in the car, watch her through the window while she went to each door, and I would wonder what all the people were like. I developed an early interest in people, and I always knew my career would have that focus.
I completed a social work program, and then I did my masters in adult education while raising my children as a single parent.
After my children grew up and I retired, I applied to be a senator in August 2016. That October, I got the call from the Prime Minister’s Office. I was shocked and honoured. It was a lot of change, but I could see the opportunities to develop some of the platforms that I had already been working on in a different way.
You have served on several Senate committees, including the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, the Senate Committee on Human Rights and the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples. What committee or legislative work stands out to you?
I loved serving on the Indigenous Peoples committee because it allowed me to learn about Indigenous communities, not just in my province but across the country.
I also appreciated meeting and hearing from the young Indigenous people who came to the Senate through the Voices of Youth Indigenous Leaders program. We don’t always see positive stories about Indigenous communities in the media, but these youth showed us how they are thriving and doing incredible work.
Another thing that stood out to me was the report Missing Records, Missing Children, which highlighted the challenges around accessing residential school records. It was tough to listen to the witness testimonies during this study, but on the other hand, it was a good thing that our committee could help amplify those voices and push the federal government to make changes.
Fact-finding missions take senators into the heart of communities and issues. What did these experiences teach you about Canada that you might not have learned otherwise?
I went on a fact-finding mission to prisons across the country for the human rights committee’s study on the human rights of federally sentenced persons. It was eye-opening to learn about the experiences of our prison populations and to see so many Indigenous people, women, seniors and people with mental health issues there.
I met a young man who told me his mother was involved with drugs and he didn’t have a father, so he got involved with the wrong crowd and ended up in prison. I couldn’t help but think that he was not unlike someone I would have worked with in an early childhood intervention program during my years as a social worker. Some people who end up in prison never had the chance to get that kind of support.
When I was on the fisheries committee, we went to Iqaluit to study search and rescue operations up North. It allowed me to see how the locals survive in isolation and severe weather, and how climate change is affecting their ways of living. They are very resourceful. I got a sense of how they live, and I could picture what it would be like to live in isolation. I appreciated that opportunity, and it’s one of my favourite memories.
You also worked in Centre Block before it closed for rehabilitation in 2019. Do you have any fond memories from your time working in the building?
I really liked how you could go upstairs to the cafeteria or the dining room and bump into MPs and other people. I remember seeing former prime minister Joe Clark there one day. It was easier to meet with New Brunswick MPs and there was a kind of cohesiveness in Centre Block that we don’t have in the new Senate of Canada Building. But the new building is phenomenal, so I’m pleased to have had both experiences.
What will you miss most about the Senate?
The people that I’ve met and befriended, including my Senate colleagues and staff. I want to thank all the people in the Senate family who make our lives run smoothly, from the bus drivers to the people who work in the Parliamentary Protective Service. Without them, we would not be able to do our jobs.
I will also miss the teamwork, geniality and collaboration. You build a lot of that in eight years.
What is your advice to the next senator for New Brunswick?
Make sure you stay connected to the community. I had always been visible in my community, and one of my biggest concerns when joining the Senate was staying connected to the people of New Brunswick. So, I started a newsletter, which I distributed to my mailing list in New Brunswick to let them know what was happening in the Senate.
What are your retirement plans?
My first goal is to get fit because I haven’t had much time for that. I have started exercise classes and I’m back to my line dancing and hiking.
During my time in the Senate, I was co-chair of the All-Party Juvenile Diabetes Caucus and I am going to keep working on this issue because my grandson has Type 1 diabetes.
I want to stay involved in the community, but I need to take time to reflect on my eight years in the Senate. It felt like I went to university; I learned so much and I have to digest that. It feels a little sad, but on the other hand, I will have time to visit my children and grandchildren in British Columbia. I’m going to embrace it.
It has been a great honour to serve in the Senate. It’s nothing I had ever imagined, but it’s been a privilege.
Senator Hartling attends a fundraiser for Breakthrough T1D, a national juvenile diabetes advocacy and research group, with her grandson Maxwell Leblanc in 2024. (Photo credit: Office of Senator Nancy J. Hartling)
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‘Nothing I had ever imagined’: Senator Hartling retires from the Red Chamber
An award-winning advocate for single parents and women, Senator Nancy J. Hartling brought 30-plus years of experience as a social worker to the Senate in 2016.
Among her accomplishments in the Red Chamber, she worked on several committee reports and successfully sponsored a bill that strengthened anti-harassment policies in Canadian workplaces. Throughout it all, she earned a reputation as a calm, compassionate and collaborative colleague.
Senator Hartling reflects on her eight years in the Senate ahead of her retirement on February 1, 2025.
You founded and led the Moncton-based not-for-profit Support to Single Parents Inc. in the 1980s. What made you decide to create this organization?
I had previously worked in other organizations related to family service, including the Boys and Girls Club, and I started noticing that our community lacked supports for single parents. I travelled to Edmonton, Alberta, with a friend to visit the Terra Centre, an organization that provides various services for teen parents, from helping them through high school to obtaining a driver’s licence. I cashed in my life insurance policy for this trip, and it was the best money I ever spent. It gave me a vision to launch something similar in Moncton.
What motivated you to dedicate your life to serving others, and how did the Senate give you a platform to amplify that mission?
My career as a social worker started when I was five years old. My aunt was a social worker in rural Nova Scotia, and she used to take me with her when she visited different homes. I would stay behind in the car, watch her through the window while she went to each door, and I would wonder what all the people were like. I developed an early interest in people, and I always knew my career would have that focus.
I completed a social work program, and then I did my masters in adult education while raising my children as a single parent.
After my children grew up and I retired, I applied to be a senator in August 2016. That October, I got the call from the Prime Minister’s Office. I was shocked and honoured. It was a lot of change, but I could see the opportunities to develop some of the platforms that I had already been working on in a different way.
You have served on several Senate committees, including the Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, the Senate Committee on Human Rights and the Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples. What committee or legislative work stands out to you?
I loved serving on the Indigenous Peoples committee because it allowed me to learn about Indigenous communities, not just in my province but across the country.
I also appreciated meeting and hearing from the young Indigenous people who came to the Senate through the Voices of Youth Indigenous Leaders program. We don’t always see positive stories about Indigenous communities in the media, but these youth showed us how they are thriving and doing incredible work.
Another thing that stood out to me was the report Missing Records, Missing Children, which highlighted the challenges around accessing residential school records. It was tough to listen to the witness testimonies during this study, but on the other hand, it was a good thing that our committee could help amplify those voices and push the federal government to make changes.
Fact-finding missions take senators into the heart of communities and issues. What did these experiences teach you about Canada that you might not have learned otherwise?
I went on a fact-finding mission to prisons across the country for the human rights committee’s study on the human rights of federally sentenced persons. It was eye-opening to learn about the experiences of our prison populations and to see so many Indigenous people, women, seniors and people with mental health issues there.
I met a young man who told me his mother was involved with drugs and he didn’t have a father, so he got involved with the wrong crowd and ended up in prison. I couldn’t help but think that he was not unlike someone I would have worked with in an early childhood intervention program during my years as a social worker. Some people who end up in prison never had the chance to get that kind of support.
When I was on the fisheries committee, we went to Iqaluit to study search and rescue operations up North. It allowed me to see how the locals survive in isolation and severe weather, and how climate change is affecting their ways of living. They are very resourceful. I got a sense of how they live, and I could picture what it would be like to live in isolation. I appreciated that opportunity, and it’s one of my favourite memories.
You also worked in Centre Block before it closed for rehabilitation in 2019. Do you have any fond memories from your time working in the building?
I really liked how you could go upstairs to the cafeteria or the dining room and bump into MPs and other people. I remember seeing former prime minister Joe Clark there one day. It was easier to meet with New Brunswick MPs and there was a kind of cohesiveness in Centre Block that we don’t have in the new Senate of Canada Building. But the new building is phenomenal, so I’m pleased to have had both experiences.
What will you miss most about the Senate?
The people that I’ve met and befriended, including my Senate colleagues and staff. I want to thank all the people in the Senate family who make our lives run smoothly, from the bus drivers to the people who work in the Parliamentary Protective Service. Without them, we would not be able to do our jobs.
I will also miss the teamwork, geniality and collaboration. You build a lot of that in eight years.
What is your advice to the next senator for New Brunswick?
Make sure you stay connected to the community. I had always been visible in my community, and one of my biggest concerns when joining the Senate was staying connected to the people of New Brunswick. So, I started a newsletter, which I distributed to my mailing list in New Brunswick to let them know what was happening in the Senate.
What are your retirement plans?
My first goal is to get fit because I haven’t had much time for that. I have started exercise classes and I’m back to my line dancing and hiking.
During my time in the Senate, I was co-chair of the All-Party Juvenile Diabetes Caucus and I am going to keep working on this issue because my grandson has Type 1 diabetes.
I want to stay involved in the community, but I need to take time to reflect on my eight years in the Senate. It felt like I went to university; I learned so much and I have to digest that. It feels a little sad, but on the other hand, I will have time to visit my children and grandchildren in British Columbia. I’m going to embrace it.
It has been a great honour to serve in the Senate. It’s nothing I had ever imagined, but it’s been a privilege.
Senator Hartling attends a fundraiser for Breakthrough T1D, a national juvenile diabetes advocacy and research group, with her grandson Maxwell Leblanc in 2024. (Photo credit: Office of Senator Nancy J. Hartling)