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Sharon Carstairs
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Liberal Party of Canada
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Place of Birth: Halifax, N.S.
Education:
Bachelor of Arts, Political Science and History, Dalhousie University, 1962
Masters of Arts in Teaching of History, Smith College, Northamptom, Massachusetts, 1963
Georgetown University, Foreign Service School, Washington, D.C, 1964
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, 1968
Profession: Teacher.
Work Experience:
Sessional Lecturer, University of Manitoba, "Emerging Role of Women in Politics", 1994-1995
Member, Manitoba Legislative Assembly for River Heights, March 1986 - September 1994
Leader, Liberal Party in Manitoba, March 1984 - June 1993
Leader of the Official Opposition in Manitoba Legislative Assembly, April 1988 - 1990
Teacher, St. Norbert Collegiate, St. Norbert, Manitoba, 1982-1984
Teacher, St. John's Ravenscourt School, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1978-1981
Chairperson, Board of Referees, Unemployment and Insurance Commission, 1973-1977
Teacher, Calgary Separate School Board, Calgary, Alberta, 1965-1971
Scriptwriter and narrator, Calgary and Region Educational Television, 1967-1969
Teacher, Dana Hall School for Girls, Wellesley, Massachusetts, 1963-1965
Political Experience:
Elected Leader, Liberal Party in Manitoba, March 4, 1984. Resigned June 4, 1993.
Elected Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for River Heights, 1986. Re-elected in 1988 and 1990. Served as MLA for River Heights until September 15, 1994.
Elected Leader of the Official Opposition in Manitoba Legislative Assembly, April 26, 1988 and served until 1990 as the first woman in Canada to be elected Leader of the Official Opposition.
Appointed to the Senate of Canada, September 15, 1994.
Appointed as Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, September 23, 1997 - the first woman in Canada to hold the position. Resigned October 4, 1999.
Appointed as Leader of the Government in the Senate, January 9, 2001
Volunteer Activities:
Honourary Director, Prairieaction Foundation
Advisory Board Member to the Victorian Order of Nurses, 2005 -
Member of the Advisors to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, 1999 - 2001
President of the Board, Prairieaction Foundation, 1999 - 2000
Founding Member of Prairieaction Foundation, 1997
Honourary Board Member, Laurel Centre, 1997 - 2001
Member of the Advisory Council, Winnipeg Library Foundation, 1996 - 2001
Member of the National Council, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, 1995 - 1997
Honourary Patron, Canadian Council for Refugees, 1995 - 2001
Member of the Board of Directors, The Parliamentary Centre, 1995 - 2001
Honourary Advisory Board Member, Knowles Centre, 1994 - 2001
Deficit Reduction Committee, West-end Cultural Centre, 1994 - 1996
Honorary Board Member, Kids Swim, Friends of Sherbrooke Pool, 1994 - 1996
Honourary Chair, Kinsmen Heart of Gold Campaign, 1992
Honourary Chair, UNICEF Manitoba, 1991
Member, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce , 1984 - 1994
Fund-raiser, Manitoba Heart Foundation, 1977 - 1980
Volunteer, Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, 1977 - 1978
President, Liberal Party in Alberta & Member of National Executive Liberal Party of Canada, 1976 - 1977
Member, Parks and Recreation Board, City of Calgary, 1975 - 1977
Canvasser, Canadian Cancer Society, Alberta and Manitoba, 1975, 1978 - 1980
Canvasser, Alberta Society for the Mentally Handicapped, 1974
Brownie Leader, Halifax and Winnipeg, 1960 - 1962, 1978 - 1979
Senate Experience:
Leader of the Government in the Senate, The Senate of Canada, January 2001 - December 12, 2003
Minister with Special Responsibility for Palliative Care, March 2001 - December 12, 2003
Senator, The Senate of Canada, September 1994 - present
Member (substitute), Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Inter-Parliamentary Union, 2004
Led the Canadian Delegation to the United Nations’ Second World Assembly on Ageing in Madrid, Spain, May 2002
Senate Representative, Parliamentary Buildings Advisory Committee, 1997-2001
Chair, Sub-Committee of Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs Science and Technology on End of Life Care the Right of Every Canadian, 2000
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, September 1997 - October 1999
Chair, Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, 1996- 1997
Honors:
The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation, 1992
The Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2002
Leadership Award 2003, Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
Degree of Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa), Brandon University, May 2003
Decoration, Member of Merit, The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, 2003
Muriel McQueen Ferguson Foundation Award, 2004
Publications:
Co-Author, Dancing Backwards: A Social History of Women in Canadian Politics, October 2004
Contributing Author, Dropped Threads, 2001
Co-Author with Harvey Max Chochinov, M.D., “Politics, Palliation, and Canadian Progress in End-of-Life Care” Journal of Palliative Medicine, 2001, Pages 396- 399
Author, “Some Reflections on the Role of Caucus” Canadian Parliamentary Review, Spring 1998, Volume 21, No. 1, Pages 2-3
Author, Not One of the Boys, 1993
A Woman of Firsts
First woman Chairperson, National Federation of Canadian University Students, Dalhousie University, 1961
First woman President, Liberal Party in Alberta, 1976
First woman Leader of a Major Political Party, Liberal Party, Manitoba, 1984
First woman elected Leader of the Official Opposition in both Manitoba and Canada, 1988
First woman Deputy Leader of the Government, Senate of Canada, 1997
First woman Federal Cabinet Minister, Province of Manitoba, 2001
Interests:
Palliative care.
Family Violence Prevention.
Education.
Human Rights.
Gender Equality.
Drug Policy.
Marital Status:
Married to John Carstairs
Senator's Web Site: http://sen.parl.gc.ca/scarstairs ( N.B. This site is not part of the Parliamentary Internet Site)
E-mail Address: carsts@sen.parl.gc.ca
