Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced the appointment of a new senator, Margo Greenwood, who will represent British Columbia.
Greenwood is a decorated scholar of Cree ancestry who has expertise in Indigenous children’s health and education.
She comes to the Red Chamber after serving as a professor of education at the University of Northern British Columbia.
Greenwood was appointed in June to a three-year term as interim scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s Indigenous health institute, which is hosted by the university.
Since 2004, she has also served as the academic leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health.
Her appointment comes on the advice of an independent advisory board that assesses applications for Senate vacancies and provides recommendations to the prime minister.
Greenwood is the 63rd senator to join the upper house through the process, which Trudeau introduced early in his tenure.
In a statement, Trudeau said that her academic expertise and dedication to the well-being of Indigenous communities would “make her a strong voice for British Columbians.”
The Canadian Press