A distinguished former Parliamentarian, she has worked to improve the human condition in Canada and around the world. To this end, she has travelled the globe, witnessing first hand the devastating results of land degradation and the decimating effects of communicable diseases upon the poorest of the poor. As an active member of many humanitarian bodies including the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, Doctors Without Borders and the International Centre for Human Rights, she has become a leading figure in the movement to alleviate human suffering worldwide. This is a promotion within the Order.
Officer of the Order of Canada
Awarded on: 1992-10-21
Invested on: 1993-04-21
Following many years of distinguished leadership in federal politics, she has concentrated her efforts on humanitarian endeavours, touring the developing world as a human rights observer. Former advisor to the president of the Commonwealth of Learning, she is now the host of a television series on Third World development and chairperson of the International Development Research Centre.