Appointed to the Senate by the Rt. Honourable Jean Chrétien, Senator Lucie Pépin represents the province of Quebec and the Senatorial Division of Shawinigan. She has served in the Senate of Canada since April 8, 1997.

She is currently a Member of the Senate Committee Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament. The Minister of National Defence has also delegated her to work on an action plan prepared by the militaries to address the problem of family violence in the Canadian Armed Forces. In the Senate, she has served as Assistant Whip (1998 to 2000), and been involved with Parliamentary groups including the Francophone Parliamentary Assembly. Her areas of interest and specialization include health, women’s issues, and social justice.

Senator Pépin’s career includes experience in both the private and public sectors. A nurse and pioneer in birth planning in Canada, she helped to establish Quebec’s first outpatient birth planning clinic in 1966, subsequently assisting in the creation of a Canada-wide network of hospital-based clinics. Over the years she has also been responsible for coordinating lobbying efforts, at both the national and provincial levels, and securing legislation, to guarantee the rights of women to contraception and medical authorization for themselves and their children.

In her public career outside the Senate, she has served many different roles. She was a Member of the Appeal Division of the National Parole Board (1993-97). She has also served as: a Member of the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing (1989-92); a Member of the House of Commons for the riding of Outremont (1984-88), during which time she also served as a Member of the Special House Committee on Child Care (1986-87); as Vice-President (1979-81) and subsequently President (1981-84) of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women; as Commissioner of the Badgley Commission on Violence Against Children and Youth (1980-83); as National Coordinator of the Badgley Commission on the Application of the Abortion Law (1975-77); as National Coordinator, Canadian Committee for Fertility Research (1972-79); and, as Adviser to the World Health Organization, the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, as well as the Population Council (1972-79).

Senator Pépin is the recipient of several awards of distinction for her efforts, including the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Québec (1999), and an LL.D. (honoris causa) from McMaster University (1994).

She holds a Diploma in Nursing Sciences (1959), and a Post-graduate diploma in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1960) from the University of Montreal.

She was born on September 7, 1936, in St. Jean-sur-Richelieu.

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