Sheila Abbey Finestone, (January 28, 1927 – June 8, 2009) was 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 ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and Senator.

Early life

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, the daughter of Minnie Cummings Abbey and Monroe Abbey. Her father was a president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. Finestone received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

in 1947. The same year, she married Alan Finestone (1923–1997). They had four sons: David (born 1950), Peter (born 1951), Maxwell (born 1954) and Stephen (born 1956).

Career

From 1977 to 1980, she was president of the Fédération des femmes du Québec. In

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

she was elected as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

for the Montreal riding of Mount Royal. She was re-elected in the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

and 1997 elections. Finestone was sworn to the Privy Council in November 1993 as Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Status of Women). Finestone was appointed to the Senate of Canada in August 1999. She completed her term in the Senate in 2002 when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 75. She was a member of the board of the

Canadian Landmine Foundation The Canadian Landmine Foundation (French: ''La Fondation des Mines Terrestres du Canada'') is a Canadian charity that seeks to "raise awareness and funds to end the human and economic suffering caused by anti-personnel landmines". The organisation ...

. In 2008, Finestone was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians, "presented annually to a former parliamentarian who has made an outstanding contribution to the country and its democratic institutions." The award was accepted on her behalf by her son Peter, due to Finestone's inability to attend, following health challenges.

Death

Finestone died of cancer on June 8, 2009 in Ottawa.

References

External links

*
Jewish Women's Archive entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finestone, Sheila 1927 births 2009 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Canadian senators from Quebec Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Women members of the Senate of Canada Deaths from cancer in Ontario Jewish Canadian politicians Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators McGill University alumni Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Montreal Women in Quebec politics 21st-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Jewish women politicians