Hon. Jane Cordy: Honourable senators, thank you very much. This is the tough part. I think it was more fun listening.
Thank you all so much. It makes my heart sing today to listen to everybody. I wanted to talk about some things. Before I start my actual speech, I’ll say this.
Pierre, you said that you don’t ever stop teaching when you’re a teacher. When I first joined the Senate, everybody used to ask me, “What’s the difference between teaching and being in the Senate?” My answer always used to be, “The kids are just bigger.” I think you hit it right on the button, Pierre. I think you knew what it was.
Marc, I had forgotten about the Special Senate Committee on Aging chaired by Sharon Carstairs. We did great work. I feel like I was just looking out for my future interests when I joined that group because we came up with some great recommendations.
There is one thing that Don said in, perhaps, different words than I’m going to say, but it is really important for everybody: Yes, we did; Bob and I and Don and Betty used to golf. We had places in the villages, and we used to golf frequently. We were this far and this far — Don on the right and me on the left — but we used to have great times golfing, and then we would either go out to dinner at a restaurant or go to one of our houses. I’m not a Scotch drinker, but when we went to one of our houses, I think we went through quite a bit of Scotch at our house when you would be there. We had a lot of fun.
I think it’s important what Don said. We can be on the far right or the far left, or most of us are somewhere in between. Please stick with your political beliefs, but remember that we can still be friends at the end of the day, or we can have golf games or a drink after a golf game. I think that’s really important because sometimes we become so intense about what our beliefs are that we forget that it is just a political belief. What makes Canada best is when we come together and we compromise and do what is best for our country.
Raymonde, I have to say that you spoke a lot about me being the other woman whom you worked with. Our offices were side by side, so we would often sit down early in the morning for coffee or late in the day. This is nothing against the men — this is not a criticism — but it was really nice to have another female leader when we went into our meetings.
Scott, you would have made a great teacher with all those comments. It’s interesting when you talked about travelling too far for too long. The thought of spending another winter flying back and forth from Nova Scotia — after spending more time with my family in Nova Scotia — is another great reason for me to retire early.
Now I will actually speak to my prepared remarks. It’s not an hour and a half long, as you will all be very glad to know.
Honourable senators, I would like to acknowledge that I’m speaking to you today on the traditional unceded land of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people.
Senators, I want to thank you so much for your kind words. I will read them over and over again, and I will probably send them to people to read because they have really touched my heart. Thank you for your best wishes since I gave notice that I would be taking early retirement, although I think very few places would consider the age of 74 to be an early retirement.
I was the eight hundred and forty-eighth senator to be appointed to this chamber. Thank you, Senator Varone, for that bit of trivia. If you want to know your number, just check with him. He has all of us down on his list. That number since Confederation — which is only slightly over a thousand senators appointed since Confederation — should make us all understand just how fortunate we are to have been chosen by our respective prime ministers to serve in this chamber.
I want to begin by paying tribute and saying a huge thank you to so many who have made our jobs easier. Our Parliamentary Protective Service personnel always work to keep us safe. They are professionals, and they always remain calm. I much appreciated their calmness and efficiency a few weeks ago. For those of us who were on Parliament Hill when shots were fired, you understand the bravery and dedication of our protective staff in a whole different way.
Our administrators and support team are led by our Clerk, Shaila Anwar, and they provide support to senators in so many ways, along with the Chamber Operations and Procedure Office, translators and technicians whose jobs increased significantly during COVID. To the Usher of the Black Rod, who always has a friendly “hello” and a smile, I thank you.
To our Senate pages — our brilliant young people from across our country — you make such a positive difference here in the chamber. The Senate has the Finance employees, Communications employees and Human Resources employees, many of whom work behind the scenes. We know you by name but not always by face. A thank you to all of you. Thanks to all who work behind the scenes to make our Senate function. You keep our buildings safe and clean, and you are appreciated.
Thank you to our bus drivers who drive us from the early morning until after midnight. You are so friendly no matter what time of the day it is — morning, noon or night. You get us to where we are going, and we always have a little chat. Finally, to our Speaker, Senator Raymonde Gagné, and our Speaker pro tempore, Senator Pierrette Ringuette, thank you for your leadership.
When I was sworn into the Senate in June 2000, the Speaker, Senator Gildas Molgat from Manitoba, was not present so the Speaker pro tempore, Senator Rose-Marie Losier-Cool from New Brunswick, presided. It is ironic that our Speaker from Manitoba is not able to be with us today and that it is another Speaker pro tempore from New Brunswick presiding as I prepare for my retirement.
Senators, my first staffer was Colette Favreau, who came out of retirement to help me set up my office. Matt Ryan from Cape Breton joined us shortly after, and he has been with me for over 20 years. Susanna Doherty from Newfoundland came to work with me after her graduation from the University of Ottawa 14 years ago. If you pass by her office, you might hear Susanna humming or singing. Her degree is in music, and she is an opera singer. Matt and Susanna have been an incredible team, working long hours when needed and offering suggestions when asked — and sometimes when they were not asked. We worked really hard in our office, but we laughed hard as well. I will miss you both, and I thank you for being great members of the dream team.
To the staff with whom I had the privilege of working as Leader of the Progressive Senate Group — Melanie, Heather, Caitlin, David and, for a short while, Jeremy — thank you for your advice, your attention to detail and for knowing that while we need to work hard in the world of politics, we need fun times as well. Thank you all.
To Bob, the love of my life: We celebrated our fifty-first wedding anniversary in August. You are my rock and my strongest advocate. Our life has been and continues to be an incredible adventure.
To our daughters, Alison and Michelle, who are here today: When I was appointed, Alison had just graduated in May from Mount Allison University, and Michelle had just finished her second year at St. Francis Xavier University. Here you are today, strong and independent women. To our wonderful sons-in-law, Matt Ripley and Will Brown, who are in Dartmouth with our grandsons, Caleb and Cohen Brown and Luke and Liam Ripley, we love you all. Life has been great, but I am looking forward to being a full-time nana.
My sister Pat and her husband, Dennis Hearn, are here today, as they were back in 2000. Time has passed very quickly.
Honourable senators, there were about 33 women in the Senate in 2000. When I look around the chamber today, it makes me smile and it makes my heart sing.
Appointments were made differently in those days. I got a call from Prime Minister Chrétien’s Director of Appointments Percy Downe who told me that I had been shortlisted for a Senate appointment. I met with Senator Downe the following week in Nova Scotia, and I was appointed on June 9, 2000. June is pretty hectic when you are a senator and when you are a teacher.
When I finished teaching on June 8, I couldn’t tell anyone other than my husband and daughters and, of course, the school principal because he had to find a substitute teacher for the rest of June. On Friday afternoon, June 9, the principal announced to all the students that Mrs. Cordy was going to Ottawa to be a senator. One of the grade 1 students put up his hand and said to his teacher, “I didn’t even know she played hockey.” By the way, hockey was a pretty big deal in our school because there was a grade 5 student by the name of Sidney Crosby at Colby Village Elementary.
Another “by the way” is that I went home after that first week in the Senate and wrote report cards all weekend.
Honourable senators, I was only the third woman from Nova Scotia to ever be appointed to the Senate. The first was Margaret Norrie from Truro. You may know her daughter Margaret Norrie McCain, who followed in her mother’s footsteps by making things better in our country, particularly in the field of early childhood education. She has been a great supporter of my alma mater Mount Saint Vincent University.
The second woman was Sister Peggy Butts, my high school principal, a brilliant woman and activist known as a “Rebel with a Cross.” She couldn’t take her seat right away because as a sister she couldn’t own property. She did have land transferred to her before she was sworn in.
Today we have three women from Nova Scotia: Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, Senator Mary Coyle and me. I hope the Prime Minister appoints at least one woman since there will be two vacancies in Nova Scotia after Senator Greene and I retire.
Honourable senators, I will be forever grateful to former Prime Minister Chrétien for appointing me to the Senate. As a girl growing up in Cape Breton and the oldest of eight children, it was not something I had ever dreamed of or even imagined. Mr. Chrétien appointed many strong women to the Senate during his years as Prime Minister, women like Landon Pearson, Catherine Callbeck, Sister Peggy Butts and Sheila Finestone, among others. It was an honour to attend his ninetieth birthday party this past January.
Honourable senators, I believe we do incredible work at the committee level here in the Senate. I have been fortunate to have been part of many excellent studies. In my few years on the Fisheries Committee, we examined the Aboriginal fishery relating to the Marshall decision. The seal fishery was an eye-opener to me, and if you haven’t read the report you should. We studied the Great Lakes fishery. Committee members are very pleased that the Great Lakes will now come under Global Affairs Canada instead of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, since the Great Lakes are international waters.
Some of the reports of the Social Affairs Committee over the years were on migrant workers, cities, higher education and mental health. One result of the mental health report was the establishment of the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which was one of our recommendations.
I do believe, though, that the mandates of committees should be examined. Work was done by the Rules Committee, and it should be considered by the Senate as a whole. The mandate of the Social Affairs Committee, for example, is very broad, meaning that we are dealing with a huge number of bills, both government bills and private members’ bills, leaving us with little time to carry out studies and certainly not long-term studies. I believe that is unfortunate.
Senator Housakos, we had quite a bit of excitement as Chair and Deputy Chair of the Internal Economy Committee. It was certainly not dull, as we were dealing with what the media referred to as the Senate expenses scandal. To say it drew public attention is a huge understatement. It was a good thing that we worked well together, because our days and evenings were very long between all of our meetings and all of the media calls.
Honourable senators, one of my favourite things to do as a senator is to speak to people around the country and tell them about the great work the Senate of Canada does — once a teacher always a teacher. I have spoken to elementary, junior high, high school and university students, sometimes here in Ottawa but most often in Nova Scotia. They are very aware of the issues our country is facing, and they are not afraid of voicing their concerns. I believe our future is in good hands.
One evening a few months ago, I was speaking to students from the Ottawa area here in our Senate Chamber. We were talking about what the Senate does, what senators do and how you become a senator. One young student raised his hand after we had been doing this for a while and pointed to the crow’s nest up there, to Pierro Ros the console operator, and said excitedly, “But I want to know how I can get his job.” Mr. Ros kindly agreed to answer many questions.
It is a good lesson for us to perhaps include other career opportunities available in the Senate when we are speaking to students. I want to publicly thank Mr. Ros for being so kind and generous with his time that evening.
Honourable senators, I’ve gotten to meet incredible Canadians during my time in the Senate, such as Lanre Tunji-Ajayi from the Sickle Cell Awareness Group of Ontario; Rugi Jalloh, President of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Atlantic Canada; and Biba Tinga, the President of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada. They are making a huge difference for those with sickle cell disease.
We have come a long way since I introduced a bill calling June 19 National Sickle Cell Awareness Day. Very few people at that time had even heard of it. Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen was the friendly critic, and she knew about sickle cell disease because she had been a nurse in her other life. The bill passed, thanks to Carolyn and my MP, Darren Fisher, who sponsored the bill in the other place. Senator Mégie has introduced a bill on sickle cell disease in the Senate. Last week, I introduced a bill on blood disorders, which includes not only sickle cell disease but many rare blood disorders.
Of course, being a Nova Scotia senator meant looking at legislation and policies and how they would affect my province. Because of my years as an elementary schoolteacher, I have always had a strong interest in issues related to children and young people.
Being from Atlantic Canada, I find issues related to the military to be important to me and to so many people from my province. I was fortunate to become an international Vice-President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Because of that, I travelled to Defence headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan, with other executive members from the NATO countries. My brother was stationed at NATO headquarters in Kabul because he was the logistics person charged with setting up the base in Kandahar. It was an incredible experience to think that two Cape Bretoners — a brother and a sister — were in Kabul, Afghanistan, both on Government of Canada business.
I also had the pleasure of serving on the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group, and I served with Vance Badawey as Co-Chair of the Great Lakes subcommittee. The United States has been our greatest ally, and I believe it is important that we maintain a strong and healthy dialogue between our leaders and our Senate and House colleagues. The Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group helps to make these meetings possible.
To all senators, our parliamentary associations provide great learning experiences.
As leader of the Progressive Senate Group, I had the chance to work closely with other leaders.
Senator Gold, it wouldn’t be worth any amount of money to have your job, but you continue to be a strong leader and a strong advocate for us all. Thank you.
To Senator Saint-Germain — and Senator Woo for a short while — to Senator Tannas and to Senator Plett, it was a pleasure working with each of you — or on most days it was. We didn’t always want to move in the same direction, and we fought each other for what we believed was best for our group and for the Senate. That is what leaders should do. We sometimes looked at things differently, but I learned a lot from that experience — good things.
To Peter Harder, the first Leader of the Government in the Senate after the election in 2015, you deserve the very best things in life because of your ability to stay calm and soldier on as the Senate moved in a new direction.
Lastly but most importantly, I want to speak to my group, the Progressive Senate Group. You are an incredible, amazing team. It has been a pleasure working with each of you. We don’t always agree with one another, and that is a positive thing. You supported me when I was the leader, and the nice thing about a smaller group is that no one’s voice gets lost. I have tremendous respect for all of you because each of you brings different perspectives to our discussions. But more importantly, I will miss all of you. You are, without a doubt, the dream team — the Senate Olympic team. Thank you for your friendship and for our many serious discussions and our seriously laugh-out-loud laughter.
Honourable senators, thank you for the friendship you have shown me during my time in the Senate. We have all been blessed to have been chosen as senators to represent our provinces and territories. Every region in this great country is different, and it is our job to fight for the people we represent. The Senate does exceptional work, and I have learned so much over the years.
But I am also excited to spend more time in Nova Scotia with my family and friends. My friends have been very generous when I am unable to attend events or to entertain as often as I would wish. So I am looking forward to the next few months of reconnecting.
To my family, you are my everything. To my Senate family, I will miss you all. Thank you.
Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.