1st Session, 42nd Parliament,
Volume 150, Issue 101

Thursday, March 2, 2017
The Honourable George J. Furey, Speaker

Senate Social

Hon. Mobina S. B. Jaffer: Honourable senators, yesterday evening I had the pleasure of joining several of my esteemed colleagues at the first-ever Senate Social.

The Senate Social, which represented a partnership between the Senate of Canada and Twitter Canada, was a fun-filled event that featured Twitter mirrors — people still keep e-mailing how they can wave back at me —SenCA bingo, the unveiling of the new Senate website and a virtual tour of the Senate developed by Dr. Stephen Fai and his team from Carleton University’s Immersive Media Studio.

The Senate Social also included a panel entitled “Politics via Social Media,” which featured several journalists who offered tips and tricks on how to navigate social media.

I was especially proud of my honourable colleagues, Speaker Fury, Senator Housakos, Senator Cordy and Senator Petitclerc for doing such a great job representing this chamber. They made us all look very hip and social media savvy, which is no small feat.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Mélisa Leclerc and her team at Senate Communications for organizing such a successful and innovative event. Their hard work does not go unnoticed and we are all grateful for their support and patience.

Honourable senators, the Senate of Canada is 150 years old, but we would not have known it last night. We are modernizing the way we communicate and embracing new technology. I am sure you will agree that we do much meaningful work on behalf of all Canadians in this chamber. I truly believe we can utilize social media platforms to expand our outreach and engage the Canadians we so proudly represent.

Senators, I would be remiss if I did not again thank Senator Housakos and Senator Cordy, their staff, Jacqui Delaney, Matthew Ryan, Mélisa Leclerc and her team for the superb job they continue to do. They stand up for us, they fight for us, and they make sure that Canadians know the many different issues senators work on.

Honourable senators, Senator Housakos and Senator Cordy, help us to explain the work we do for Canadians. We thank you for your efforts.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear!