Events

Honourable Maryam Monsef

The Honourable Maryam Monsef is Canada’s Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, and the Member of Parliament for Peterborough—Kawartha. She is the first woman to be elected in the federal riding of Peterborough—Kawartha, the first Afghan-Canadian Member of Parliament in Canada’s history, and the first Muslim to serve as a federal Cabinet Minister.

As Minister for Women and Gender Equality, she has been a part of a transformative period for gender equality in Canada. She led Status of Women Canada’s transition from an agency to the new Department for Women and Gender Equality, and has secured precedent-setting investments in Canada’s equality-seeking movement, including over $200 million to support Canada’s first-ever federal strategy to prevent and address gender-based violence. Minister Monsef was also instrumental in launching a historic fund of $100 million specifically to support the sustainability of the women’s movement by investing in capacity-building for women’s organizations across Canada.

Recognized by Apolitical as one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in Gender Policy for two consecutive years, Minister Monsef has helped to shape the conversation about gender equality on the national and global stage.

Minister Monsef is equally committed to bringing the voice of rural Canada to the Cabinet table, where she is working on important rural economic development priorities including expanding access to broadband connectivity.

She has always been committed to giving back to her community and her country. In her home community of Peterborough, Ontario, she co-founded the Red Pashmina Campaign, which raised money to support education for women and girls in Afghanistan. She is an alumna of Trent University, and speaks English, Farsi and Dari.

Soraya Martinez Ferrada

Soraya Martinez Ferrada was first elected Member of Parliament for Hochelaga on October 21, 2019 and appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. A citizen of East Montreal since her arrival in Canada in 1980, Ms. Martinez Ferrada has deep roots in her community.

For more than 20 years, she has acquired experience in communications and project development through her involvement in community, cultural and political circles. In particular, she set up La TOHU's first cultural and socio-professional integration program, a reference in sustainable development in Montreal.

In municipal politics for more than 10 years, Ms. Martinez Ferrada was elected Saint-Michel City Councillor and appointed Associate Councillor for Culture to the Executive Committee in 2005. Between 2015 and 2018, she served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

RECAA

Ressources ethnoculturelles contre l’abus envers les aînéEs, “Respecting Elders, Communities Against Abuse”, is an organization established in 2003 by seniors from Montreal’s ethnic communities. RECAA’s mission is to break the silence on elder abuse in our communities and to work towards a culture of respect for all seniors. Our elders should be able to live in dignity, safety, and free of physical, financial, or mental abuse.

Anne (facilitator) will be accompanied by RECAA members Marguerite Kephart, Aruna Mahajan and Judy Wong.

Anne Caines is a community worker whose career has brought her into contact with teenagers in youth clubs, citizens concerned with environmental issues, women in prison, and immigrant women in urban community centres. A naturalized Canadian citizen of Irish, Portuguese and Japanese decent, she is proud to be among the founding members of RECAA and is its present coordinator.

Judith Ernestina Wong Rangel from Navojoa, Sonora Mexico of Chinese-Mexican heritage has been a citizen since 1968. Judy has worked as a business administrator in the accounting department for over 30 years.

Born and raised in France, Marguerite Kephart moved to Canada in 1973 and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. Most of her professional life, she was a management consultant specialized in international development and held several positions as project manager. Since her retirement in 2010, she has been a volunteer activist in several non-profit organizations, one of which works against elder abuse, RECAA.

Aruna Mahajan comes from Shimla, India. She has pursued interests in the arts: Painting, knitting, Crocheting, Tatting, Stitching, Photography and Embroidery. Working with RECAA has given her insight into the lives of different communities in Montreal. World events and the pandemic have inspired her to write poetry.