Civil society as a bastion for the practice of freedom

Join the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce and the Fredericton North Rotary Club for a Luncheon... 

Civil society as a bastion for the practice of freedom

Presenter: The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate of Canada, Senator for New Brunswick

The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella will speak about the essential role of civil societies in protecting and promoting a healthy democracy and the practice of freedom.
 
His presentation will identify and examine the three major institutions in Canada for safeguarding human rights and supporting a widespread and robust engagement in public affairs: the judiciary; the legislative institutions; and non-governmental and civil organizations.
 
Especial attention will be given to this third leg of the democratic tripod, with the Speaker making his case for the fundamental importance of community, public service and civic groups to Canada’s leading status and future as a free and prosperous country.

THE HONOURABLE NOËL A. KINSELLA:
 
The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella was appointed the Speaker of the Senate of Canada in 2006 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. He has also served his home province of New Brunswick as a Senator since 1990.
 
Speaker Kinsella spent 41 years as a faculty member at St. Thomas University, Fredericton, N.B. where he has taught psychology, philosophy and human rights, and is currently a member of the Board of Governors.
 
He holds a Bachelor of Arts in psycholo­­gy from University College in Dublin, Ireland, a Ph.L. and Ph.D. from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas Angelicum in Rome, an S.T.L. and S.T.D. degree from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, and he has been awarded three honourary doctoral degrees from other universities.
 
Throughout his career and personal life, has been deeply involved in organisations and initiatives relating to human rights and public service. He is a Knight of the Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta, a Knight of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and an Honorary Captain (Navy) in the Canadian Forces.

Speaker Kinsealla has served as the Chairperson of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission for 22 years, as President of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, and is well-known nationally and internationally as a human rights advocate and academic including such cases as Malcolm Ross, and Lovelace v. Canada at the United Nations Human Rights Committee.