Red Chamber Renaissance (Page 2)

Sheila Finestone, BSc'47, may have reached the Senate by the more traditional route of a career in politics, but she has always pushed the status quo. Following years of voluntary community service, she served a number of Quebec politicians as an advisor on public policy, and then in 1984 was elected a Member of Parliament for the Liberals in Pierre Trudeau's old riding of Mount Royal. She was made Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and the Status of Women) in 1993 and has served on Parliamentary committees whose portfolios have included Official Languages, Justice and Human Rights, and Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

"I've been an activist and volunteer all my life as a result of my parents and grandparents being role models. I was involved in community-based work when I was a student at McGill -- in Hillel and the radio station. Later, what led me into public policy was the women's movement. I was vice-president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women, and one reason I got into politics was my involvement in the issues of pension reform for women and child care. I always felt that in the field of public service probably the most honourable undertaking for one's society was to serve as a Member of Parliament."

Finestone originally studied science at McGill with an eye to a career in medicine "but got married instead, as was the wont of women in my day." She has no regrets about any of the choices she made. "Being a volunteer as a young mother showed me a lot about the role of women in society. I think the broad scope of my interests arises from both my volunteer service and my education. I was always very curious about scientific matters, and it has an impact when I'm dealing with new technologies and globalization, or the human genome, for example."

During her three years in the Senate, Finestone has built on some of the experience she gained in the House of Commons, for example on privacy rights, especially related to new technologies like sophisticated medical testing and the Internet. She has prepared a private member's bill because of her concern about excessive oversight in the daily life of citizens.

"The surveillance is there; the examination of your email, what sites you're surfing on the Internet, how drug testing and medical information can affect insurance or your right to promotion. It's a very serious matter and we must start to be more aware of the information that we give and what we allow to be disseminated."

She says the punishing schedule of an MP has stood her in good stead, despite the image of the Senate as being "a very comfortable retirement home," in the words of journalist and political commentator Claire Hoy.

"I bought into that stereotype a little bit," Finestone admits, "but when you sit in that seat you realize the extent of the responsibility. Because of the constitutional mechanism of our federation, Senate is required to be very diligent. To do a good job requires lots of reading, lots of studying. Even when the House is not in session, I'm here doing preparation and so are a lot of my colleagues."

Not long before the appointments of the three alumnae, a howl arose over the case of Senator Andrew Thompson, who claimed that illness kept him from appearing for work more than once every two years. He spent the winters in Mexico and when Senate colleagues, under media pressure, ordered him to appear in Ottawa, a group of Reform Party MPs donned sombreros and hired a mariachi band to greet him. He never showed up, was suspended and finally resigned his seat. What outraged Canadians so much was that Thompson had violated no Senate rules. The angry reaction to his case served as a wake-up call: Senate rules were tightened, fines for missed sessions were increased, and attendance improved immediately.

In fact, Fraser says that when Prime Minister Chrétien called to confirm her appointment, he set only one condition: that she be there to do the work. "That was obviously a result of the damage to the public image of Senate by the Andrew Thompson affair. Normally your new boss doesn't actually have to say, 'I expect you to show up on the job.'"

Whatever went on before, Fraser say she's been "very impressed" by the dedication of the people in the Senate and the calibre of debate. "That why it's infuriating to see the usual commentary about Senate being the land of nods, full of old men snoozing, that kind of thing. When you're there you see that senators work very hard -- harder, I may say, than most journalists I have known, and I hold journalists in high regard. There's never been an institution in the history of humanity, I suppose, that didn't have some slackers. Attendance numbers are now very high -- the last I heard was over 90% for new senators and 80% for the rest."

Poy, who has served on the Senate's legal and constitutional affairs and national finance committees, agrees with Fraser that the media's depiction of the Senate can be irritating. "They seem to like knocking it. If they consistently talk about the ones who are not doing their job, then it gives the whole group a bad image. If you're really interested in your work, then you get into it."

And Poy does get into it, even when she's not in Ottawa. "I go to a lot of functions, and when people see how hard I work the remark I always hear is 'You're not the typical senator. We didn't know senators did all these things; we thought they're not interested.' They say I'm giving them a totally different image of a senator. It depends on each one of us to show the country what we're doing and to get the message out."