Hon. Pierre J. Dalphond: Thank you, Your Honour.

Honourable senators, I’m pleased to rise on behalf of the independent senators of the Progressive Senate Group to pay tribute to our colleague, Ratna Omidvar.

Our colleague is a defender of human rights around the world, and a leader on Canadian immigration, multiculturalism and charitable sector policies. Senator Omidvar was one of the first seven senators appointed in 2016 as independent under the new arm’s-length process.

Early on, she sponsored government Bill C-6 that brought changes to the Citizenship Act, which repealed some of the previous government’s barriers to citizenship. This was the bill famous for the principle that “A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian.”

With Bill C-6, Senator Omidvar supported a major amendment to provide an appeal mechanism to a person facing citizenship revocation on the grounds of fraud or false representation. The amendment was adopted by this chamber and accepted by the House of Commons. The change became one of the more independent Senate’s first major policy achievements.

Personally, I was honoured to collaborate with Senator Omidvar on Parliament’s award of honorary citizenship to the recently freed Russian opposition leader Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as the Senate’s call for the release from prison of Jimmy Lai, a hero for democracy in Hong Kong.

Senator Omidvar has also sponsored several Senate public bills. Two of these prompted the government’s improvements in 2022 to our laws for the charitable sector and for freezing assets around foreign human rights abusers. As well, Senator Omidvar has served as chair of our very important Social Affairs Committee with great leadership.

She has rightly received many honours, which the previous senators have referred to, for her contributions to Canada and Ontario. Recently, she received the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, but what impressed me the most is what I saw when I was lining up at my RBC branch in 2018.

I was waiting in line and I saw her photograph on the screen. I said, “I know that person. It is my colleague in the Senate. I’ve been there for a year.” I started watching, and then came the chyron saying that she had been named one of RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants of 2018, so congratulations. Even in my local branch, you are there.

With Senator Omidvar’s retirement, we lose a leader on many issues, but her legacy — and, we hope, her advice — will continue to guide us. Ratna, we will miss you, and we wish you all the best in your next chapter.

Thank you. Meegwetch.