Paula Simons
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Paula Simons (born September 7, 1964) is a Canadian senator. She previously worked as a journalist and was a columnist for the '' Edmonton Journal'' in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
,
Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
. She sits as a senator representing Alberta in the Senate of Canada, and is part of the Independent Senators Group caucus.


Early life and career

Simons was born and raised in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta, one of two children born to Norman Wolfe and Oli (née Dyck) Simons. Her father, a lawyer, was of Jewish descent; her paternal grandparents had immigrated from Russia and settled in Round Hill, Alberta where he was raised. She earned a B.A. Honours degree in English Literature and minor in French and Comparative Literature from the
University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...
in 1986, and a master's degree in Journalism from Stanford University, before spending time as a fellow at the
Poynter Institute for Media Studies The Poynter Institute for Media Studies is a non-profit journalism school and research organization in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. The school is the owner of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' newspaper and the International Fact-Checking Netw ...
. She returned to Canada in the winter of 1988 and secured a position as
part-time weekend copy editor
at the
Alberta Report The ''Alberta Report'' was a conservative weekly newsmagazine based in Edmonton. It was founded and edited by Ted Byfield, and later run by his son, Link Byfield. It ceased publication in 2003. Promoting his own successor publication in 2004, ...
, then as a producer for
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
in Toronto and Edmonton from 1989 to 1995. ''Edmonton Journal''Joining in 1995, Simons is best known for her work as a journalist with the '' Edmonton Journal'' newspaper, where her work as a political columnist and investigative journalist earned her a faithful following. She became a columnist on city affairs in 2001. Over the course of her 23 years with the Journal, Simons earned two
National Newspaper Awards The National Newspaper Awards (french: link=no, Concours canadien de journalisme) are prizes awarded annually for the best work in Canadian newspapers. Synopsis The awards were first given in 1949 by the Toronto Press Club, which ran the awards u ...
for her investigations and analysis of Alberta's troubled child welfare system. Her investigative work on Indigenous child welfare and government cover-ups of the deaths of children in foster care also earned her recognition from the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
Canadian Committee for World Press Freedom, and from Journalists for Human Rights. Simons was part of two ''Edmonton Journal'' “breaking news” teams that won National Newspaper Awards for their coverage of the
Fort McMurray wildfire A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
and for their stories on the murder of four RCMP officers at Rochfort Bridge, Alberta. She earned a six further National Newspaper Award citations of merit for her columns and editorials on Alberta politics. She has also received recognition from the Alberta Centre for Civil Liberties Research for her work championing LGBQT rights, from the
Canadian Bar Association The Canadian Bar Association (CBA), or Association du barreau canadien (ABC) in French, represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers and law students from across Canada. History The Association's first Annual Meeting was he ...
for her writing on legal affairs, from the
Canadian Mental Health Association The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is a Canadian non-profit mental health organization that focusing on resources, programs and advocacy. It was founded on April 22, 1918, by Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers. Originally nam ...
for her columns on mental health care, and from the Edmonton Historical Board for her work as a popular historian and champion of heritage preservation.


2015 Alberta general election

Simons disclosed in the final days of the run-up to the 2015 Alberta Provincial Election that the editorial board of the ''Edmonton Journal'' had been under pressure from the paper's parent company Post Media, and namely its CEO Paul Godfrey, to endorse the incumbent
Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta The Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta (often referred to colloquially as Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta) was a provincial centre-right party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta that e ...
and its leader
Jim Prentice Peter Eric James Prentice (July 20, 1956 – October 13, 2016) was a Canadian politician who served as the 16th premier of Alberta from 2014 to 2015. In the 2004 federal election he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidat ...
. While their Alberta coverage was deemed to have "reported quite fairly during the election", Post Media was strongly criticized by Simons and many of her fellow journalists (and some of the public) for presenting the ''Journal'' as a neutral, local source without partisan bias when in fact they were facing pressure to advocate for one specific candidate. Traditionally, newspapers are expected to disclose their bias through an endorsement, as The ''Journal'' did in the 2019 Alberta election when they endorsed the UCP candidate Jason Kenney.


Senate of Canada

Paula Simons was appointed to the Senate of Canada (upper chamber) on October 3, 2018 by her Excellency the Rt. Hon.
Julie Payette Julie Payette (; born October 20, 1963) is a Canadian engineer, scientist and former astronaut who served from 2017 to 2021 as Governor General of Canada, the 29th since Canadian Confederation. Payette holds engineering degrees from McGill U ...
, Gov-Gen. of Canada on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada,
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, on the recommendation of Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
. In a column Simons wrote about the Senate published August 13, 2013, she discussed how and why Senators get appointed, their entitlement, and some of her current colleagues "allegedly bending the rules" in the Senate. "These days, the Senate is failing on almost every front. Instead of being appointed on merit, all too often senators get the gig because they're political cronies or party loyalists, bagmen (and women) who have primarily distinguished themselves as rabid partisans or backroom boys, not deep thinkers." Referring to her reinstated colleagues she said, "Small wonder many Canadians are wondering why we bother at all with an unelected upper house, full of entitled toffs who can't be turfed even if they break the law, even if they're not medically competent to hold office," she wrote. "Yes, there are earnest, hardworking, intelligent, thoughtful senators serving on committees, scrutinizing legislation, meeting with school kids, speaking to service clubs. But they've been so overshadowed in the public mind by the antics of the reprobates that it's hard for any senator to maintain public credibility."https://www.pressreader.com/canada/edmonton-journal/20130813


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Paula 1964 births Living people Canadian women journalists Canadian senators from Alberta Independent Canadian senators Journalists from Alberta Politicians from Edmonton Women members of the Senate of Canada Women in Alberta politics Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian investigative journalists Canadian columnists Canadian women columnists