The Women's Freedom Network Newsletter January/February, Vol. 8, No.1. WFN HOSTS A RECEPTION FOR SENATOR ANNE C. COOLS On February 5, 2001, the Women's Freedom Network hosted a reception for the Honorable Anne Clare Cools, Senator from Toronto - York, Ontario. For those who could not attend the reception, we are including a brief description of the Senator's background and her work.

I n 1984, Anne Clare Cools was appointed to the Senate where she has continued her long career of community organization and social services in the field of family violence and family conflict.

Senator Cools has been an innovator and leader in the creation of social services to help battered women, families in crisis and families troubled by domestic violence. In 1974, she founded one of the first battered women's shelters in Canada, Women in Transition Inc., serving as its Executive Director. She negotiated W.I.T.'s membership as a United Way Member Agency and assisted many other battered women's shelters in Ontario to get started. As W.I.T.'s Special Projects Manager from 1984 through 1990, she successfully opened a second women's shelter in 1987.

Senator Cools' representation in the community and her involvement with the Liberal Party of Canada is long standing. She was the federal Liberal candidate in the Federal General Elections of 1979 and 1980 in Toronto's Rosedale Riding. She was also Vice-Chair of the Greater Toronto Liberal Caucus in 1993, 1994 and 1995. From 1980 to 1984, by Order-in-Council appointment, Senator Cools served as a Member (Temp.) on the National Parole Board of Canada, the federal tribunal and paroling authority for inmates in the federal correctional system.

Senator Cools is currently serving on the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and Senate Standing Committee on National Finance (former Deputy Chair). She was also a leading member of the Special Joint Senate-Commons Committee on Custody & Access. Senator Cools has also served on several other Senate Committees, which have included the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology, the Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, and the Task Force on Meech Lake Accord.

In addition to her work in the Senate and her many organizational memberships, Senator Cools has received many awards during her years of service. Recently she was given a Certificate of Recognition as Canada's first black senator by Howard University's Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center in Washington, D.C. She was named Real Women of Canada's 1999 Person of the Year in recognition of her outstanding contributions to promote and preserve family values in Canada. She was also named Spiritual Mother of the Year in June, 1997 by NA'AMAT, the international Jewish Women's Organization that supports battered women's shelters in Israel.