Senator Donald Oliver

When I first spoke in the Senate in 1991, I promised the people of Nova Scotia that I would work hard to promote their concerns and interests. But I made an equally important promise to the people of Canada: I vowed to maintain a strong voice for Canada's visible minorities. I want Canada to realize its full potential as expressed in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms and so I work to educate and inform Canadians about the importance of cultural diversity, racial equality and ethnic harmony. I invite you to visit my web page dedicated to a discussion of current and emerging issues related to visible minorities in Canada, and I look forward to hearing from you about the concerns I raise.

A second interest that occupies a great deal of my work as a senator involves human rights. Canadians have a long and enviable tradition of working to improve human rights around the world and our domestic laws and Charter provisions are just cause for pride-but not for complacency. Our country's demographics are changing very rapidly and this, coupled with unsettling world events, suggests that we need to be very vigilant in maintaining human rights. This is why, on several occasions, I asked the leader of the government in the Senate to establish a Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights. Persistence has paid off: we now have one!

Private Members Bills are legislative initiatives introduced upon a petition to Parliament by a senator, or a member of the public who is sponsored by a senator. Private Bills are valuable because they can point to weaknesses in existing general law, and because they can effectively address the needs of very specific interest groups. I am particularly proud of one of my draft bills concerning stalking. Eventually, the provisions of my proposed bill were incorporated into an Omnibus Bill and became the law of the land.

A second Private Members' bill I am working to bring into law concerns the internet and, more specifically, sanctions against individuals and groups engaged in the dissemination of SPAM. I urge you to visit my web page dedicated to Private Members' Bills and to take time to contact me if you have any suggestions or ideas to improve or enhance the proposed Bills.

Many of my constituents and colleagues know of my interests in banking, finance, and corporate governance. I am a frequent speaker at business and entrepreneurial meetings and congresses and I work tirelessly to promote business ethics. The corporate scandals of the past few years-both here and in the United States-have shaken public confidence in the management of companies, stocks, and retirement funds. It is time to visit, review and revise some of the government's provisions for corporate auditing and management. I invite like-minded people in the business and professional worlds to read some of my speeches on these subjects and contact me if they have ideas or concerns about these issues.

Few things give me greater pleasure than speaking with the youth of our country. I have dedicated a web page to youth because there are some issues very close to my heart that I want to share with our young people-tomorrow's leaders.

As you can see, my interests are varied indeed. But the common thread throughout all these interests is an unassailable optimism: we are a young, dynamic country full of potential and, working together we can realize that potential.