#senateofcanada — Public Fediverse posts

Next up - Bill C-12. Thursday night, I rose in the Senate to call out the so-called “reforms” to our immigration & refugee systems, which have been condemned by civil society groups across Canada. I was the only Senator to give a speech in opposition to the bill - perhaps because, as an Albertans, I have already witnessed the dangers of demonizing new Canadians and asylum seekers. https://youtu.be/U1QAtaBy-sM?si=np2nmi9xbGJs1Jdk #C12 #BillC12 #cdnpoli #SenateofCanada #SenCa #Alberta #ableg #abpoli #DanielleSmith #immigration #ICE

I’m so sorry - I’m a bit behind on my Mastodon posting. Last week was crazy busy. So let me give you a recap of all the trouble I’ve been making in the Senate. First up - my exchange with Justice Minister Sean Fraser about Premier Danielle Smith’s threat to stop funding new superior court judges in Alberta. https://youtu.be/4qW6MudvW7M?si=mM_Sk-vk7xUl9THv #cdnpoli #abpoli #LCJC #Alberta #SenateOfCanada #DanielleSmith #SenCa #ableg

Alberta Unbound fans can also stream my conversation with Thomas Lukaszuk directly from my Senate webpage. We talk about his love for the country that offered his refugee family asylum, the dangers of anti immigrant agitprop, and why he believes - with wild optimism - that his petition can succeed. https://senatorpaulasimons.ca/en/media/alberta-unbound/ #SenateofCanada #SenCa #ElbowsUp

Just boarded my flight to Calgary, after a whirlwind week at the United Nations Staff College in Bonn, to attend the Global Changemaker Academy, a sort of land restoration boot camp for global parliamentarians. 29 MPs and Senators, from 29 countries. What an inspiring week, what a privilege to have been in the company of such remarkable lecturers and classmates! #GCAP2025 #UnitedNations #Bonn #SenateofCanada #cdnpoli #United4Land

Guten Morgan from Germany! I have real “back to school” vibes as I begin my week of classes at the Global Changemaker Academy, hosted at the United Nations System Staff College in Bonn. 32 parliamentarians from all over the world, from Azerbaijan to Zambia, are gathered to learn about soil health, land reclamation and environmental advocacy. #GCAP2025 #United4Land #LearningForLand #SenateofCanada

Tomorrow morning, I am flying off to Bonn, Germany, to attend the Global Changemaker Academy for Parliamentarians. I’m joining delegates from parliaments all around the globe for a week of seminars and master classes in soil health, land reclamation, land use planning and environmental advocacy. I am so honoured to have been invited by the United Nations to be part of this workshop. #United4Land #SenateOfCanada #cdnpoli #SoilHealthIsHumanHealth #GCAP #Bonn #GCAP2025

My Senate colleague Peter Boehm has just returned from the Munich Security Conference, with these cautionary words about the Trump regime’s threat, not just to Ukraine, not just to Canada, but to the whole rules based international order. https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/video/9.6653645 #MSC #MunichSecurityConference #Ukraine #Europe #cdnpoli #G7 #JDVance #Kananaskis #Canada #SenateofCanada #ISG #SenCa

With the success of @thenarwhal, Emma Gilchrist has redefined environmental journalism for the digital age. In this new episode of #AlbertaUnbound, Emma talks about her childhood in the oil and gas country of Valleyview Alberta, and how her Alberta roots shape her environmental identity. It’s a fascinating conversation. Have a listen. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/alberta-unbound/id1511810939?i=1000676830918 #Alberta #SenateofCanada #SenCa @[email protected]

Don’t believe the Chicken Little rhetoric. The sky is not falling. The independent Senate experiment has been a true success. And if/when the government changes, we will continue to do our non partisan duty. Here’s my oped from today’s National Post. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/paula-simons-the-senate-has-no-authority-to-block-legislation-it-merely-dislikes #SenateofCanada #cdnpoli #Canada #SenCa #NationalPost

For those of you tooting in real time -- you can, if you are keen, use this link to watch the live stream of the special Senate Committee of the Whole on Bill C-62, the bill which would delay the inclusion of mental illness as a grounds to receive MAID. Senators will be questioning the ministers of health and justice on this difficult issue. https://senparlvu.parl.gc.ca/Harmony #SenCa #SenateofCanada #cdnpoli #Canada #MAID

(You can also watch the same speech here - complete with dripping derision.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC8L8pPoDTI&t=144s #SenateofCanada #TransRightsAreHumanRights #SenCa #cdnpoli #Alberta #ableg #abpoli

Finally - here is the text of a speech I gave in the Senate on the subject of transphobia and the political weaponization of hate in October of 2023: https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/simons-paula/interventions/617138/32#hID #SenateofCanada #TransRightsAreHumanRights #ableg #abpoli #Canada #Alberta #SenCa #cdnpoli

Let me note. As I understand it, government will have to come back to the Senate for its blessing for this new extension. We'll have to see then what my colleagues decide to do. The Senate was certainly divided on this issue back in 2021. Three years later, we'll need to see where people stand, in light of all the intervening debate. #SenateofCanada #MAID #cdnpoli #SenCa #Canada

Here, if you prefer, is the text of my speech from February 9, 2021, outlined my support for extending the right to MAID to people whose primarily cause of suffering is mental illness. This is a difficult question for many, I know. And we absolutely need to be sure we have more medical, social, and economic supports available for those suffering from intractable psychiatric conditions. But read on (or watch the video above) as I make my case. https://sencanada.ca/en/senators/simons-paula/interventions/553870/14#hID #SenCa #SenateofCanada #MAID

Thank you to everyone who has been sharing my job posting for a policy analyst in my Ottawa Senate office. Here is the LinkedIn ad you can also share, if that’s easier. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paula-simons-b87145203_activity-7156484545934946305-Yh1x?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_ios #SenateofCanada #SenCa #Ottawa #yow #cdnpoli #Alberta

If you might be interested in joining my Senate office - or know someone you think might fit, you can send me a message here, or if you'd prefer, you can send a resume my director of parliamentary affairs, at [email protected] We might be hiring for either a parliamentary research assistant or a parliamentary affairs advisor - title, responsibility and pay commensurate with skills and experience. #SenateofCanada #yow #Ottawa #SenCa #cdnpoli #Alberta #Canada

Delighted to see two smart, dedicated Alberta community leaders, Linda Hughes and Sheila Risbud, named to fill two long-vacant seats on the independent committee that will select candidates for Alberta’s two long-vacant Senate seats. https://www.canada.ca/en/democratic-institutions/news/2024/01/government-of-canada-announces-appointments-to-the-independent-advisory-board-for-senate-appointments.html #Alberta #Canada #SenateofCanada #SenCa #cdnpoli #ableg #abpoli #Edmonton #yeg #Calgary #yyc

If you are still on Facebook, I hope you’ll enjoy my little video tour of Deep Freeze, featuring cameos by (among others) Randy Boissonault, Blake Desjarlais, Janis Irwin, Amarjeet Sohi and a lot of gnomes. https://www.facebook.com/share/r/ZHbS67yA5Z5sSKyw/?mibextid=WaXdOe #cdnpoli #ableg #abpoli #yeg #yegcc #Edmonton #Alberta #Canada #DeepFreeze #SenateofCanada #SenCa

@DanFox Happy to oblige. There are four officially recognized "groups" in the Senate. The Conservatives have 15 members, and still caucus with the the CPC in the House. They have their own Senate leader, Senator Don Plett - but they look to Pierre Poilievre as their party leader. They are still fiercely and proudly partisan, and take their role as opposition seriously. #SenateofCanada #cpc #SenCa #ConservativePartyofCanada #Canada #cdnpoli

The Senate Christmas tree went up this morning! #SenateofCanada #cdnpoli #Christmas #Ottawa #yow #SenCa

Trans rights are human rights. My speech (Rant? Cri de coeur?) on the moral panic behind our current wave of transphobia, on the misuse of the notwithstanding clause to bully literal children, and on the disturbing ties between transphobia and antisemitism. https://youtu.be/EJBzs-iY-hI?si=u9LAYVQo-wSUkdM4 #SenateofCanada #Canada #cdnpoli #transphobia #transrights #notwithstandingclause #SenCa #abpoli

The newest episode of Alberta Unbound! Listen up as I delve into Friday’s explosive Supreme Court of Canada ruling which deemed the Impact Assessment Act largely unconstitutional with Eric Adams, professor of constitutional law, and Andrew Leach, professor of energy and environmental economics. https://www.podbean.com/ei/pb-eucmm-14d1dab?wlapp=1 #IAA #C69 #BillC69 #ImpactAssessmentAct #SupremeCourtOfCanada #AlbertaUnbound #cdnpoli #Alberta #Canada #SCOC #UAlberta #SenateofCanada #SenCA

Thanks to the amazing Grade 9 students of Edmonton’s Vernon Barford Jr. High for hosting me yesterday. A delight to speak to 7 classes of bright and sparky young teens about the work of Canada’s Senate. #Edmonton #yeg #SenateofCanada #SenCa #EPSB #VernonBarford #cdnpoli #Alberta

Today in the Senate, I asked the government to commit to making Canada's Holocaust records public. Here is my exchange with the government representative, Senator Marc Gold, on this sensitive subject. https://youtu.be/FalooonCYmE?si=-vNBijknOucBOeP3 #SenateofCanada #Canada #cdnpoli #Holocaust #Jewish #mitzvahdon #SenCa #history #AccesstoInformation

With wildfires blazing through the NWT, my colleague, Senator Dawn Anderson, is raising serious concerns about Meta's new blocking and how much harder it makes it for people in the North, particularly Indigenous communities who are huge Facebook users, to find real time news about evacuations. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/ottawa-playbook #C18 #NWT #NWTfires #SenateofCanada #Facebook #Meta #cdnpoli #TRCM #BillC18

Happy to share this recent column I wrote - originally for The Hill Times - about the need for us to address Canada's transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities, in the face of climate change. https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/canadas-transport-infrastructure-unready-for-stormy-future-senator-simons/ #VIA #CPR #CN #AirCanada #WestJet #climatechange #supplychain #TRCM #AGFO #SenateofCanada #SenCA #Canada #infrastructure #BCFloods #BCFlooding2021

Happy to share this recent column I wrote - originally for The Hill Times - about the need for us to address Canada's transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities, in the face of climate change. https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/canadas-transport-infrastructure-unready-for-stormy-future-senator-simons/ #VIA #CPR #CN #AirCanada #WestJet #climatechange #supplychain #TRCM #AGFO #SenateofCanada #SenCA #Canada #infrastructure #BCFloods #BCFlooding2021

Happy to share this recent column I wrote - originally for The Hill Times - about the need for us to address Canada's transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities, in the face of climate change. https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/canadas-transport-infrastructure-unready-for-stormy-future-senator-simons/ #VIA #CPR #CN #AirCanada #WestJet #climatechange #supplychain #TRCM #AGFO #SenateofCanada #SenCA #Canada #infrastructure #BCFloods #BCFlooding2021

Happy to share this recent column I wrote - originally for The Hill Times - about the need for us to address Canada's transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities, in the face of climate change. https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/canadas-transport-infrastructure-unready-for-stormy-future-senator-simons/ #VIA #CPR #CN #AirCanada #WestJet #climatechange #supplychain #TRCM #AGFO #SenateofCanada #SenCA #Canada #infrastructure #BCFloods #BCFlooding2021

Happy to share this recent column I wrote - originally for The Hill Times - about the need for us to address Canada's transportation infrastructure vulnerabilities, in the face of climate change. https://sencanada.ca/en/sencaplus/opinion/canadas-transport-infrastructure-unready-for-stormy-future-senator-simons/ #VIA #CPR #CN #AirCanada #WestJet #climatechange #supplychain #TRCM #AGFO #SenateofCanada #SenCA #Canada #infrastructure #BCFloods #BCFlooding2021