The Honourable Kim Pate, Senator
Kim Pate was appointed to the Senate of Canada on November 10, 2016. First and foremost, the mother of Michael and Madison, she is also a nationally renowned advocate who has spent the last 45+ years working in and around the legal and penal systems of Canada, with and on behalf of some of the most marginalized, victimized, criminalized and institutionalized — particularly imprisoned youth, men and women. Her work in the Senate is focused on the development of robust, social, economic, and health systems that leave no Canadians behind.
Dr. Melanie Doucet, PhD Social Work, Executive Director & Project Lead, National Council of Youth in Care Advocates (NCYICA)
Dr. Doucet has been working to improve the lives of youth in care for nearly 20 years. She is a former youth in care originally from New Brunswick, and is now based in the unceded traditional territory of the Kanyenʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) Nation in Montreal, Quebec. She holds a PhD in Social Work, is an expert consultant, an Adjunct Professor at the McGill University School of Social Work, a member of the McGill Centre for Research on Children and Families (CRCF) and the Executive Director of the newly established lived experience-led organization, the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates (NCYICA). Dr. Doucet is a renowned public and keynote speaker on the importance of equitably supporting youth in and from care from a rights-based and humane perspective, and is an award-winning researcher. She continues to work as part of provincial, territorial and national youth in care advocacy communities on child protection policy and practice reform initiatives, and is currently leading the Equitable Transitions to Adulthood for Youth in Care project alongside the members of the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates.