Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Honourable senators, I am also pleased to rise today to welcome two new colleagues, the Honourable Senator Sharon Burey and the Honourable Senator Rebecca Patterson.

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Honourable Senator Sharon Burey, today in the Senate you are officially opening a new chapter of your life, and as this chapter is beginning, I wish to express how eager all members of the Independent Senators Group are to work with you.

Colleagues, Senator Burey has demonstrated tremendous leadership and earned so much respect in the field of children’s health. Her work as a health advocate has been recognized with numerous honours. She has been bestowed with the Ontario Chapter Excellence Award and a Special Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as an Excellence in Health Care Award from the North American Black Historical Museum & Cultural Centre. She was notably recognized for her outstanding service to the Council For The Prevention Of Child Abuse in Windsor-Essex County, where she was the co-chairperson of the medical issues committee. Despite all those experiences and awards, Senator Burey has proven her continuous pursuit of professional development, and she has recently completed a Physician Business Leadership Program at York University.

Honourable Senator Burey, even though you were appointed 23 days ago, you have been dedicated to improving the well‑being of Canadians from a very young age when you decided to pursue your medical studies and became a renowned, engaged and seasoned pediatrician.

At one of the conferences of the Ontario Medical Association related to the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, which took place in August 2021 and at which you presided, you stated, “Children and adolescents make up roughly 20% of our population, but they are really 100% of our future.” As we all face the challenge of leaving future generations with a world worth living in, your credentials give me high hopes that we will do a much better job with the contributions and leadership of colleagues like you.

Colleagues, we are privileged to have with us here the first woman of colour to ever hold the position of President of the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario. Senator Burey, it is now no secret that you know how to break a glass ceiling, and today we are pleased to have among us another senator to inspire future generations to dream big.

We wish you every success.

Senator Saint-Germain Respect: That is what I feel when I think about the career of our new colleague Senator Rebecca Patterson. Her career culminated in her rise to the high office of Rear-Admiral of the Canadian Armed Forces — an office that, you will agree, is grounded in excellence.

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Your military career, Senator Patterson, is nothing short of remarkable. I won’t enumerate the long list of your important leadership positions with the military, but I will note that you devoted your life to the service and protection of others, and for that, we are very grateful.

A nursing practitioner by training, you have risen through the ranks in the Armed Forces by your talent, hard work and natural leadership. You were deployed in key areas at crucial moments for Canada. In 1991, you served at a Canadian field hospital in Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf conflict. You also supported the efforts of the Canadian Airborne Regiment in 1993 in Somalia. More recently, you assisted the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police with re-establishing their medical education and training system — an impressive list of achievements, to say the least.

For your outstanding service, you were inducted as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit and received the Governor General’s Meritorious Service medal, just two of the many awards you have earned. Your strong military experience guarantees an added value as well as a unique perspective for our work here at the Senate. It will be highly useful when tackling contemporary issues and forming public policy.

Immediately before your appointment, you served as Director General, Culture Change, Chief Professional Conduct and Culture. In this role, you led and supported efforts to change the culture in the Canadian Armed Forces and bring it closer to a future where it is free of sexual harassment and other harmful behaviours that largely target women and vulnerable people. The Canadian Armed Forces trusted you — and rightly so — with this vital role for their credibility. I am glad that, from now on, such a trusted figure as yours will be associated with the Senate of Canada in the minds of Canadians.

As you may know, in the Senate of Canada, we have also taken steps toward instilling a culture of excellence. We know that you will contribute to keeping us on the right path. Senator Patterson, in my name as well as in the name of every single senator in the Independent Senators Group, I congratulate you on your merit and wish you every success during your tenure in the Senate of Canada.