Ratna Omidvar (born November 5, 1949) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician and academic, who was named to the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the B ...

to represent

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

on March 18, 2016."Trudeau to appoint seven new senators"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', March 18, 2016.

Early life and academic career

Originally from

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

,. Retrieved 2020-10-04. she was educated at the

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. Although she was born in Amritsar, the

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

holy city, she is not a Sikh. She met her Iranian husband while studying in Germany and went to live with him in Iran in 1975. In 1981 they fled the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

and immigrated to Canada. She became executive director of the Maytree Foundation, a charitable organization to combat

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

in Canada, before departing in 2014 to found the Global Diversity Exchange at the Ted Rogers School of Management,

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

where she was a distinguished visiting professor. Omidvar is the current co-chair of the Global Future Council on Migration hosted by the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. She is also a director at the Environics Institute, and Samara Canada. She is the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s chair emerita and was formerly the chair of Lifeline Syria. Omidvar is co-author of ''Flight and Freedom: Stories of Escape to Canada'' (2015), an Open Book Toronto best book of 2015 and one of the Toronto Star's top five good reads from Word on the Street. She is also a contributor to ''The Harper Factor'' (2016) and co-editor of ''Five Good Ideas: Practical Strategies for Non-Profit Success'' (2011).

Senate Career

Omidvar was named to the

by 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 ...

to represent Ontario on March 18, 2016, joining the

Independent Senators Group The Independent Senators Group (ISG; french: Groupe des sénateurs indépendants) is a parliamentary group in the Senate of Canada. Established on March 10, 2016, the Independent Senators Group (ISG) is committed to a non-partisan Senate and the ...

. In 2016, Omidvar's exchange with psychologist

Jordan Peterson Jordan Bernt Peterson (born 12 June 1962) is a Canadian media personality, clinical psychologist, author, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. He began to receive widespread attention as a public intellectual in the late 2010s ...

during a Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs hearing on Bill C-16 received significant attention, where Peterson defended his position against the bill's provisions requiring the use of pronouns for persons based on their identified gender if different from their biological sex. In October 2018, Omidvar introduced a motion to strip

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

of her

honorary Canadian citizenship Honorary Canadian citizenship ( French: ''citoyenneté canadienne honoraire'') is an honour bestowed on foreigners of exceptional merit following a joint resolution by both Houses of the Parliament of Canada. Honorary Canadian citizenship is pu ...

over her government's actions in the

Rohingya conflict The Rohingya conflict is an ongoing conflict in the northern part of Myanmar's Rakhine State (formerly known as Arakan), characterised by sectarian violence between the Rohingya Muslim and Rakhine Buddhist communities, a military crackdown ...

. Passed unanimously, the measure stripped Suu Kyi of the honour, since the House of Commons had passed a similar measure earlier in the month. Omidvar notably interacted with Laird Hunter on October 22, 2018, in a Senate Committee dealing with charities and non-profits.

Honours

Omidvar was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

in 2005 and became a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

in 2011,"Ratna Omidvar, Toronto expert on diversity, to sit as independent senator"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, March 18, 2016. with both honours recognizing her advocacy work on behalf of immigrants and devotion to reducing inequality in Canada. She also received an honorary doctorate in laws

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

in 2012. In 2014, Omidvar received the Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

in recognition of her contribution to the advancement of German-Canadian relations. Omidvar has also been recognized by Canada's national newspaper, ''

'', by being named as its Nation Builder of the Decade for Citizenship in 2010. In 2016,

CivicAction The Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance (formerly the Toronto City Summit Alliance), commonly known as CivicAction, is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Toronto that attempts to boost civic engagement and address urban challenges i ...

awarded her with their Lifetime Achievement Award for Civic Leadership in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

. In 2018, Omidvar was one of the recipients of the 2018

Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards The Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards is an annual campaign by ''Canadian Immigrant'' magazine that recognizes outstanding work by immigrants who "have come to Canada and have made a positive difference living in the country." Overview First ...

presented by

Canadian Immigrant Magazine ''Canadian Immigrant'' is a free monthly magazine and daily website for recent arrivals to Canada. The properties are owned by Torstar, and are currently published by Metroland Media Group, with print distribution throughout British Columbia, Alber ...

References

External links

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Ratna Omidvar Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omidvar, Ratna 1949 births Canadian senators from Ontario Women members of the Senate of Canada Independent Canadian senators Indian emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Politicians from Amritsar Toronto Metropolitan University faculty Delhi University alumni Independent Senators Group Women in Ontario politics 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Canadian politicians of Indian descent