Yahoo Finance Five Canadian women for the Forbes' power list next year
Last week, Forbes published its list of 100 most powerful women in the world including leaders in the field of politics, business, technology and entertainment.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and American philanthropist Melinda Gates came first, second and third, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10: U.S. Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, GM CEO Mary Barra, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, YouTube CEO SusanWojcicki and U.S. first lady Michelle Obama.
But surprisingly no Canadian women made the cut. Surely there are a few names that could rival the likes of Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren, who ranked No. 99.
Below are five notable names that Forbes might like to consider when it issues its annual rankings of powerful women next year.
1. Beverley McLachlin
Chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
Residence: Ottawa
Education: B.A. and master’s in philosophy, University of Alberta; L.L.B., University of Alberta
Beverley McLachlin is a powerful figure in this country as head of the judicial branch of government, one of three branches of the Canadian government.
In January 2000, she was nominated by then prime minister Jean Chrétien to the post of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the last court of appeal in this nation.
She is the first female and longest-serving chief justice, and her job as she explained in a recent speech is to settle questions about the law, including the Constitution, and how it should be applied.
She and the other Supreme Court judges have ruled on many important issues of law, including the unanimous decision in February to allow physician-assisted suicides that overturned a 1993 decision in which McLachlin was the only dissenting voice.
Even outside the courtroom, McLachlin’s words carry weight as she demonstrated during a speech last week in which she said Canada tried to commit “cultural genocide” against aboriginals. One law expert told the Globe and Mail the term carries symbolic importance coming from the chief justice.
Her court rules without fear or favour as last year’s decision blocking the prime minister’s nomination of Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court of Canada demonstrated. The court said Nadon was ineligible under the Supreme Court Act to sit on one of the three seats reserved for Quebec judges because he was a Federal Court judge. It also found that the government’s attempt to make him eligible by changing the act through a budget bill was unconstitutional.
McLachlin, 71, undoubtedly a role model for women and children, told the Globe in a 2013 interview that she loves her job and plans to serve the country until her mandatory retirement age of 75.
2. Kathleen Wynne
Premier of Ontario
Residence: Toronto
Education: Master’s in linguistics, University of Toronto; master’s in adult education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Kathleen Wynne is one of Canada’s two most powerful heads of government as premier of Ontario. The 62-year-old former mediator and school trustee made history last spring when she was elected as the first female gay premier of the country’s largest province.
After inheriting a sinking ship from her predecessor Dalton McGuinty, she convinced voters with her message of inclusiveness that the Liberals — despite the billion-dollar gas plant scandal — were a better choice than the Progressive Conservatives’ Tim Hudak, who promised to slash 100,000 public sector jobs, and returned her party to the Ontario legislature with a solid majority government.
There is probably no one in Canada who wouldn’t accept a meeting with Wynne except perhaps Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And even then the prime minister eventually relented and had a tête-à-tête with her in January in Toronto.
There have been criticisms lately about her government’s handling of the province’s new sex education curriculum, the teachers’ strike and the proposed partial selloff of Hydro One to name a few.
But with three years left in her mandate, there’s still plenty of time to steer her ship and achieve her promises of a new provincial pension plan, more transit spending and a balanced budget.
3. Naomi Klein
Social activist and author
Residence: Toronto
Education: studied at the University of Toronto
Naomi Klein is an international bestselling author and social activist known for her trilogy of award-winning books No Logo, The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything.
A recent New York Times review described her latest book, This Changes Everything, about how capitalism is at war with life on Earth as “the most momentous and contentious environmental book since Silent Spring.”
Her first bestseller, No Logo, chronicling the insidious branding culture became a bible for the anti-globalization movement, and made her an international figure in 2000, while The Shock Doctrine about disaster capitalism further cemented her status with the younger generation on the new left in 2007.
Not only is she a sought-after speaker and syndicated columnist, the 45-year-old has been the subject of many magazine profiles, including a New Yorker article that called her “the most visible and influential figure on the American left.”
She is the daughter of a documentary filmmaker and pediatrician father, and is married to filmmaker Avi Lewis, the son of journalist Michele Landsberg and former Ontario NDP leader and Canadian ambassador to the UN, Stephen Lewis.
4. Michaëlle Jean
Secretary general of the International Organization of the Francophonie
Residence: Paris
Education: B.A. in literature and modern languages; master’s degree in comparative literature
Michaëlle Jean won a diplomatic coup when she was chosen last November as the first woman to lead the International Organization of the Francophonie, whose 57 members are mostly former colonies of France and also include Canada, Quebec and New Brunswick.
Against the odds but with the full support of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, she mounted a big campaign complete with tours in Asia, Europe and Africa in the months leading up to the selection process to eventually beat four other candidates, including Burundi’s former president and Mauritius’s foreign minister, for the role of secretary general.
A former governor general fluent in five languages, Jean is the perfect choice for this prestigious post — a role that has traditionally gone to someone from an African nation and has historically been about promoting the French language and educational co-operation, says Paul Cohen, director of the Centre for the Study of France and the Francophone World at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.
Under her predecessor Abdou Diouf, the role changed significantly becoming a geopolitical role that addresses conflict and crises. But it’s too early to tell what kind of secretary general she’ll be. Cohen said, “her first order of business will be to heal the political wounds that came out of a bitter election.”
Prior to her Paris-based engagement, Jean was the UNESCO special envoy to Haiti and chancellor of Ottawa University.
5. Heather Munroe-Blum
Residence: Montreal
Education: B.A. and B.S.W. degrees from McMaster University; M.S.W. from Wilfrid Laurier University and Ph.D. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Heather Munroe-Blum, 64, carries a lot of clout in the academic and business world.
At the height of her academic career this epidemiology professor and public policy scholar served two terms (2003-2013) as principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University. She also served as vice-president of research and international relations at the University of Toronto.
She was a member of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council of Canada and has advised provincial and federal governments on policies concerning universities and research.
She currently chairs the board of directors at the CPP Investment Board, the investment arm of the Canada Pension Plan that manages one of the 10 largest retirement funds in the world with assets totalling $265 billion. She has been a board member since 2011.
In addition to her roles on the board of non-profit organizations, she has served on a number of private sector boards, including Alcan (2007-2010), Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (2002-2007) and Yellow Media Inc. (2006-2011), and has been a board member of the Royal Bank of Canada since 2011.
As head of the board of directors tasked with supervising management, her leadership comes at a time when CPPIB’s fiscal 2015 returns hit 18.3 per cent, while investment costs ballooned to their highest level at $2.3 billion since the fund launched in 1999.
