Senator Kim Pate, Friend and Advocate for the Marginalized

Inducted September 20, 2025

Senator Pate attended school in the Comox Valley as a military “brat” when her father served at the Comox Airforce base.

She earned a BA at the University of Victoria before acquiring a law degree at Dalhousie University with honours in the Clinical Law Programme. She continued with post graduate work in the area of forensic mental health. Upon graduation she served as the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) from January 1992 until her appointment to the Senate in November 2016. 

Pate has been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women’s, anti-racism, anti-poverty and human rights groups and organizations; and, in this capacity, has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, other professionals, front-line advocates and activists. She is particularly involved with Indigenous communities their transition houses and rape crisis centres.

She is a holder of the Order of Canada, a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, the Canadian Bar Association’s Bertha Wilson Touchstone Award, and six honorary doctorates (Law Society of Upper Canada, University of Ottawa, Carleton University, St. Thomas University, Nipissing University and Wilfrid Laurier University) among other awards. Her extensive list of publications, national and international speaking engagements and her strategic intervention and advocacy testify to her commitment to broader social, economic and cultural change. 

She strongly believes that the contributions of women who have experienced marginalization, discrimination and oppression should be recognized and respected and she seeks to credit and empower women. She maintains contact with women in prison through her numerous visits to Canada’s federal prisons.

Senator Pate is a lesbian and a member of the Pride Caucus, a non-partisan committee of Canada's LGBTQ2 MPs and senators. She lives in Ottawa, with her partner Pam and her children Michael and Madison.