Jane Cordy

Last updated
The Honourable
Jane Cordy
Jane Cordy - 2024.jpg
Leader of the
Progressive Senate Group
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 12, 2019

Jane Marie Cordy (born July 2, 1950) is a Canadian Senator representing Nova Scotia and former teacher and administrator. As of 2024, she is the longest-serving member of the Senate.

Contents

Early life

Born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, she received a teaching certificate from the Nova Scotia Teachers College and a Bachelor of Education from Mount Saint Vincent University. A teacher, she taught for the Sydney School Board, the Halifax County School Board, the New Glasgow School Board, and the Halifax Regional School Board. [1]

Appointment to the Senate

Cordy was appointed to the Senate by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on June 9, 2000. She has also served as Vice-Chair of the Halifax-Dartmouth Port Development Commission and as Chair of the Board of Referees for the Halifax Region of Human Resources Development Canada.

She sat in the Senate as a Liberal representing the senatorial division of Nova Scotia.

On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Cordy, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as independents. [2] The Senators referred to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus even though they were no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus. [3]

With the Senate Liberal Caucus facing losing official parliamentary caucus status in 2020 with a third of its caucus facing mandatory retirements on their turning age 75, Senator Joseph Day announced that the Senate Liberal Caucus had been dissolved and a new Progressive Senate Group (PSG) formed in its wake, [4] [5] with the entire membership joining the new group, including this senator. [4]

With Day's mandatory retirement in January 2020, on December 12, 2019, Cordy tweeted [6] that her colleagues in the PSG had selected her as the new leader, ostensibly effective that same date. [6] Additionally, she subsequently announced [7] later that day Senator Terry Mercer would be moving into the Whip/Caucus Chair role, that Senator Dennis Dawson would become the new Deputy Leader, and that the interim monikers were being removed at the same time. [7]

Following the retirement of George Furey on May 12, 2023, she became the longest-serving member of the Senate.

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References

  1. ↑ "Jane Cordy - Liberal Party of Canada". Archived from the original on 2007-03-25. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  2. ↑ "Justin Trudeau removes senators from Liberal caucus | CBC News".
  3. ↑ "Trudeau's expulsion catches Liberal senators by surprise". Globe and Mail. January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Tasker, John Paul (14 November 2019). "There's another new faction in the Senate: the Progressive Senate Group". CBC News Online. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "One-time Liberal senators rename themselves as Progressive Senate Group". CTV News. The Canadian Press. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  6. 1 2 Cordy, Jane (12 December 2019). "Thank you to @SenDayNB for his strong leadership during a time of change in the Senate. I wish him well in retirement. I am honoured that my colleagues in the Progressive Senate Group have elected me to represent them as their leader". Twitter. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  7. 1 2 Cordy, Jane (12 December 2019). "I am very pleased to be working with our new Deputy Leader @dennis_dawson and our Whip/Caucus Chair @SenTMM. We look forward to working collaboratively with all senators to promote progressive policies for all Canadians". Twitter. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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