Anne Clare Cools was born on August 12,1943 and is a Canadian retired senator and the longest serving member of the Senate of Canada.
22 Facts About Anne Cools
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Early in her career, Anne Cools worked as a student coordinator, responsible for supervising students and training them to be social workers.
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Anne Cools worked at Seneca College from 1977 to 1989.
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In 1974, Anne Cools moved to Toronto where she founded and served as the executive director for Women in Transition Inc.
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Anne Cools co-organized Canada's first domestic violence conference, Couples in Conflict.
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Anne Cools has presented evidence that men and women are equally capable of domestic violence and aggression, which is not a gendered characteristic, but a human pathology of intimacy.
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In January 2016, in a Canadaland audio podcast interview with Desmond Cole, Anne Cools supported and cited the work of the English domestic violence pioneer and expert Erin Pizzey, when she claimed that women are equally violent as men in domestic violence conflicts.
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Anne Cools is a strong advocate for children's rights, that they after divorce should have continuing relationships with both mothers and fathers, and the importance of fathers for the children's development.
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Anne Cools was candid in her criticism of the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chretien when proposed legislation to be introduced in the House of Commons was shelved after intense lobbying by women's groups.
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Anne Cools was a member of the Board of Directors of the Black Education Project, a volunteer-run organization created to address racial inequalities in Toronto's education system.
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Anne Cools served on the board of Black Theatre Canada, the Pauline McGibbon Cultural Centre, and the Social Planning Council of Metropolitan Toronto.
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From 1980 to 1984, Anne Cools served on the National Parole Board of Canada, which is the parole board for federal prisoners.
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Anne Cools twice sought election to the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada.
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Anne Cools lost the Liberal nomination in a highly contested race against John Evans for the 1978 by-election in Rosedale.
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Anne Cools ran again in 1979, and won the nomination but was defeated in both the 1979 and 1980 elections by Progressive Conservative candidate David Crombie.
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In 1984, Anne Cools was appointed to the Senate of Canada by governor general Edward Schreyer, on the recommendation of prime minister Pierre Trudeau, becoming the first black person in the Canadian senate.
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Anne Cools had designated herself as representing the Senate division of Toronto-Centre-York.
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Anne Cools became increasingly critical of the Liberal governments of Jean Chretien and Paul Martin, and of same-sex marriage.
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In 2007, Anne Cools was ousted from the Conservative party group after accusing two fellow senators of having grabbed and assaulted her.
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Anne Cools mentioned that she had witnessed a senator hitting a child.
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Anne Cools sat as a non-affiliated Senator from 2007 until 2017 when she joined the Independent Senators Group.
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Anne Cools is the first female black Senator in North America.