The Honourable Rona Ambrose is a dynamic national leader, a champion for the rights of women and girls, the former Leader of Canada’s Official Opposition in the House of Commons, and the former leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.
She successfully rose to lead the largest political party in Canada. After her tenure as leader, the Conservative Party now has the highest membership in its history and is viewed as competitive, more modern, and inclusive. Rona is proud to be the first leader of the Party to march in a gay pride parade.
As a key member of the federal cabinet for a decade, Rona solved problems as a minister of the crown across nine government departments, including serving as Vice Chair of the Treasury Board for several years, and as chair of the cabinet committee for public safety, justice, and aboriginal issues. Rona is personally responsible for the development of several federal policies, ranging from industrial strategies in military procurement to health innovation to improvements to sexual assault laws.
As a proud Westerner, Rona is keenly aware of the domestic political, geopolitical, and policy forces affecting the energy sector. As the former environment minister responsible for the GHG regulatory regime in place across several industrial sectors today, she understands the challenges facing the fossil fuel industry.
In addition to serving as an independent corporate director, Rona is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Centre Canada Institute in Washington DC, focusing on key Canada US bilateral trade and competitiveness issues. She also serves on the Canadian Government’s NAFTA Advisory Council, the board of Plan International Canada, the advisory board of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, and is co-chair of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill. Rona has received many meaningful awards for her advocacy and public policy over the last decade. Rona is a passionate advocate for women in Canada and around the world and led the global movement to create the “International Day of the Girl” at the United Nations. She has spent her life passionately fighting for disadvantaged women and girls, and she is responsible for ensuring that aboriginal women in Canada were finally granted equal matrimonial rights. Rona also successfully fought for the creation of a Canadian refugee program to bring Yazidi women and girls who have been sexually enslaved by ISIS to safety in Canada.
While still serving in Parliament, Rona brought forward Bill C-337, also known as The JUST Act, to ensure that federally appointed judges would be educated in sexual assault law. It has gained widespread support from experts and victims advocates groups from across the country, and pass unanimously in the House of Commons.
