Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Honourable senators, on behalf of the Government Representative Office, I am pleased to rise today to welcome to the Senate of Canada Senators Krista Ross, Joan Kingston, John McNair and Réjean Aucoin.

Senator Krista Ross has been a well-known business figure in Fredericton and is a celebrated community and business leader. She was a private business owner as well as Chief Executive Officer of the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce for 12 years and its general manager for 8 years. She was a vocal representative and advocate for the Fredericton business community for more than two decades.

As a community advocate, Senator Ross is a board member of the Fredericton Community Foundation, the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Business advisory board and the Ignite Fredericton Seed Board. She has also served as a commissioner with the Electoral Boundaries and Representation Commission for New Brunswick.

Senator Ross was recently named to the Council of Excellence of the Chamber of Commerce Executives of Canada, was twice named Chamber Executive of the Year in Canada and named a Top 50 CEO for Atlantic Canada. She is also a recipient of the Advocacy in Action Silver Award from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

Senator Joan Kingston is a registered nurse and a consultant with the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick. She was previously a lecturer and clinical instructor in that department. Senator Kingston is also a former provincial parliamentarian and held the posts of Minister of Labour and Minister of the Environment as well as Principal Secretary of Government Affairs for the Office of the Premier of New Brunswick.

Senator Kingston is an active community member and health advocate. She is the Chairperson of the Community Action Group on Homelessness and has worked with the Specific Patient Oriented Research, or SPOR, Network in Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations as well as with the Fredericton Non-Profit Housing Corporation. She is the former president of the Nurses Association of New Brunswick and, in 2021, was inducted as Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing.

Senator John McNair, who will also be representing New Brunswick, holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees from the University of New Brunswick. For the past 14 years, Senator McNair has been General Counsel and Corporate Secretary to Service New Brunswick. He also served as Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Minister of Justice for the Province of New Brunswick from 1998-99.

Senator McNair has been actively involved in his community and has served on the boards of many non-profits, including Housing Alternatives, Rehabitat, the YMCA of Greater Saint John, Literacy New Brunswick, Symphony New Brunswick and the Exhibition Association of the City and County of Saint John, to name a few. I know that we will benefit from his legal and political experience as well as his broad knowledge of the not-for-profit sector.

[Translation]

Lastly, I am pleased to welcome Senator Réjean Aucoin from Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. Senator Aucoin is a passionate Acadian and a staunch supporter of the Acadian community, who practised law for over 30 years. During that time, he noticed the lack of French legal services for Acadians and francophones, which led him to found the Association des juristes d’expression française de la Nouvelle-Écosse. He is also the founder and president of the Conseil économique de Chéticamp.

Before becoming a lawyer, Senator Aucoin worked as a journalist, radio producer, writer and community development officer. He has received many awards and distinctions for his unwavering commitment to the Acadian community, including the 2017 lawyer’s award from the Association des juristes d’expression française de la Nouvelle-Écosse, the community development award from the Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Bar Association, and the community partner award from the Alliance des radios communautaires du Canada.

It is a great privilege to welcome Senators Ross, Kingston, McNair and Aucoin to the Senate of Canada today.

[English]

I look forward to working with you, colleagues, and know that we will benefit from your experience and your insight. Welcome to the Senate.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) introduced Bill S-15, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and lnterprovincial Trade Act.

(Bill read first time.)