Jean B. Forest Appointed to Senate

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced today that His Excellency the Governor General has agreed to summon Jean B. Forest of Alberta to the Senate of Canada.

The appointment is effective immediately.

A biography is attached.

PMO Press Office: (613) 957-5555

Currently the Chancellor Emeritus of the University of Alberta, Jean B. Forest has an outstanding record of community service. She was named to the Order of Canada in 1987.

Born in Manitoba on July 24, 1926, she has lived in Alberta for almost 50 years. She served for 13 years as President and Managing Director of Jas-Day Investments Ltd., a private hotel company operating under the trade name Mountain Park Lodges.

As a former teacher and the mother of a large family, her interest in education led her to seek election to the Edmonton Catholic School Board on which she served for nine years as a Trustee (1968 to 1977), and for three of those years as Chairperson. In 1972 she was elected to the Senate of the University of Alberta and shortly thereafter was elected Senate representative on the Board of Governors. After six years in these positions, she was elected Chancellor of the University and served a four-year term from 1978 to 1982.

She was appointed to Alberta's first Human Rights Commission in 1974 and to the Minister's Advisory Committee on the Constitution in 1978. She served as President of the Edmonton Community Foundation from 1992 to 1994, and was then named Honourary Chairperson. She has been actively involved in the life of her church, as a former President of the Edmonton Archdiocesan Council for Women, and as the current Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors of Newman Theological College.

Mrs. Forest has received many awards in recognition of her community service, including the Alberta Achievement Award for Outstanding Service in the Community in 1979. She received an honourary degree from the University of Alberta in 1983, and will receive another honourary degree later this month from the University of Waterloo.


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