We in the Senate have lost a remarkable colleague and Canadian, the brilliant and beautiful Josée Forest-Niesing. Witty, graceful, a passionate champion of Franco-Ontario, and of human rights and social justice, she brought intellectual rigour and compassion to every debate. 
She was a gifted Senator and a wonderful human being. We were sworn in together as part of the same group of appointees, and our whole cohort was warmed by her charm, her humour and her fierce intelligence.
She was a natural diplomat, and the Senate deployed her, to great effect, to represent us around the world. (Here she is with Nancy Pelosi.)
Whether she was fighting for French-language post-secondary education in Ontario, for prison reform, or for the reform of the Senate, she had a moral centre that kept her grounded - and inspired all the rest of us, who looked to her as a model of what a Senator should be.
I’m sorry the rest of Canada didn’t get the opportunity to know her better. I am devastated Covid stole her from her family - and from a country that needed her wisdom & leadership. She was double vaccinated. She was prudent. She did everything right. But this virus isn’t fair.
To those who loved Josée - and there were many of you - know that we’re mourning with you. And to those who never met her - I’m sorry you never had the chance that I did to be warmed by her grace and joie de vivre. I’m glad to have been her friend, even if not for long enough.
May her memory forever be a blessing.
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