SI are posting a special series of blog posts introducing some
of brilliant key note and plenary speakers who will be appearing at
Convention. In the past few days, the final two speakers have been announced. Today we feature the Honourable Senator Mobina Jaffer,Senator for British Columbia.
Mobina Jaffer was born in Uganda and educated in both
England and Canada. She holds a bachelor of laws degree from
London University in England and completed the Executive Development
Program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C. She was the first
East Indian woman to practice law in British Columbia.
Ms. Jaffer’s record of achievement is extensive and she
has been noted for her work in the areas of equality and justice for
women of colour, and the struggle to end violence against all women.
Her appointment to the Senate in 2001 represented many
changes on Parliament Hill: she became the first Muslim to sit in the
Canadian Senate. She is also the first African born Senator, and the
first Senator of South-Asian descent. She wears these honours with
pride, and her time in the Senate has focused on issues involving
immigrant communities and minority women, as well as human and language
rights. She has also worked extensively on anti-terrorism and social
cohesion issues Canada has faced since September 11th.
Human Trafficking
Senator Jaffer’s involvement in human
trafficking goes back to 2005 when she sponsored the first legislation
in Canada dealing with human trafficking. The legislation amended the
Criminal Code to prohibit the trafficking of persons and provided
essential tools for the RCMP to combat human trafficking in Canada.
Recent focus on human trafficking has been about ensuring
that Canada is properly prepared to cope with conditions of human
trafficking associated with Vancouver hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Senator has expressed concerns about issues
of forced labour occurring in the construction industry leading up to
the Games.
Senator Jaffer brings her background in Immigration Law to
issues of forced labour and the exploitation of temporary foreign
workers in Canada, an issue our SI UN Reps have been also been involved in at the UN Centre in Geneva.
At SIHQ we are very much looking forward to hearing the Honourable Senator Mobina Jaffar speak at Convention!