Debates of the Senate (Hansard)

3rd Session, 40th Parliament,
Volume 147, Issue 89

Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker

Tributes

The Late Honourable Marian L. Maloney

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to Senator Maloney. I knew her for over 30 years. She was a very dynamic woman. Her second family was the Liberal Party — more specifically, her commitment to the Liberal Party of Canada and the advancement of women in the Liberal Party — and the Judy LaMarsh Fund was her life’s work.

As Jean Augustine, who served as a minister and was the Member of Parliament for Etobicoke—Lakeshore from 1993 to 2005, said, Marian Maloney was a friend and mentor to many women candidates. She worked tirelessly for the Judy LaMarsh Fund, which provides money and encouragement to women running for public office.

To quote Jean Augustine:

She was the mother of that fund. No event happened that she wasn’t a part of.

Ms. Augustine recalled an incident from her 1993 campaign, when Senator Maloney demonstrated her take-charge attitude. She said:

I had a very small campaign office with one very rickety table and she walked into the tiny office, placed the lone table in a strategic location and said, “This is my desk.” We all laughed because the office was so small that no corner of it could be exclusive to one person. She just came in and took charge.

That was Marian. She took charge of any situation.

In 1998, Senator Maloney was recognized for her tireless efforts when Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed her to the Senate. Upon her retirement in 1999, Senator Pépin called Maloney a leader and a role model for the generation of women who followed her. Many of us agree.

For me, Marian exemplified what it means to be a loyal, passionate and hard-working Liberal. I want to convey to her sons Patrick, Michael and Jamie — and especially to her grandchildren — that many women are active in politics because of your grandmother’s and mother’s hard work. Thank you for sharing your grandmother and mother with many other Liberal women.