The Canadian Human Rights Commission was established in 1977. It is made up of two full-time members and up to six part-time members. The Chief Commissioner and Deputy Chief Commissioner are appointed for terms of up to seven years and the other Commissioners for terms of up to three years. The following are brief biographies of the members who served on the Commission in the course of 1996.

MAXWELL YALDEN

Mr. Yalden completed his latest term as Chief Commissioner in December. After joining the Public Service in 1956, he held a variety of positions in the Foreign Service and subsequently served as Assistant Under-Secretary of State and as Deputy Minister of Communications. In 1977, Mr. Yalden began a seven-year term as Commissioner of Official Languages. He was appointed Ambassador of Canada to Belgium and Luxemburg in 1984, and served in that capacity until joining the Human Rights Commission in November 1987. He was reappointed in 1994.

MICHELLE FALARDEAU-RAMSAY

Mme Falardeau-Ramsay, Q.C., was appointed Deputy Chief Commissioner in September 1988. She was previously a lawyer with the firm of Massicotte, Levac and Falardeau and later a senior partner with the firm of Levac and Falardeau. In 1975, Mme Falardeau-Ramsay joined the Public Service Staff Relations Board as its Deputy Chairman and in 1982 became Chairman of the Immigration Appeal Board. Her appointment as Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission takes effect in January 1997.

SIGMUND REISER

Mr. Reiser was appointed to the Commission in 1994. The sole survivor of a family of twenty-one whose other members perished in the Holocaust, he emigrated to Canada in 1949 and spent his working life with London Life Insurance Company, retiring in 1988 as its Regional Manager. He also served for a time as a Director of the Life Underwriters Association of Canada. He now lives in Willowdale, Ontario and has been involved with B'nai Brith Canada and Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue since 1968. He is also a member of the Community Relations Committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress. From 1988 to 1993 he was a Council Member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario and a member of its Discipline Committee. Recipient of a commemorative medal for service to Canadians in 1992, Mr. Reiser was Vice-President of the College of Medical Laboratory Technologists of Ontario in 1994 and 1995.

GEORGES CLICHE

M. Cliche of Val d'Or, Quebec was appointed to the Commission in October 1995. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1971 and later worked for four years as Crown Counsel in the Youth Court and the Court of Quebec. A member of the firm Cliche, Lortie and Ladouceur, his areas of expertise include litigation, negotiation of contracts and family and criminal law. He has also done arbitration work and helped to negotiate collective agreements, as well as appearing before various administrative tribunals.

ROBINSON KOILPILLAI

Mr. Koilpillai joined the Commission in October 1995. A resident of Edmonton, Alberta, he is a retired teacher and high school principal who has been involved in multiculturalism, race relations and human rights issues for more than thirty years. From 1978 to 1982, Mr. Koilpillai was President and Director of the Edmonton Race Relations Council. He also chaired the Human Rights Committee of the Alberta Cultural Heritage Council from 1981 to 1983, and from 1985 to 1988 he was Chairman of that Council. From 1987 to 1992 he was a member of the Canadian Multiculturalism Advisory Committee. In October 1995 he was elected President of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation. In 1996 he joined the National Executive Board of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. Mr. Koilpillai was named a member of the Order of Canada in July 1996.

MARY MAC LENNAN

Ms. Mac Lennan of Halifax, Nova Scotia became a member of the Commission in November 1995. She was called to the Bar of Nova Scotia in 1979 and pursued a career as a sole practitioner until 1990. In 1981-82, Ms. Mac Lennan was Provincial Coordinator for the Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities. She played a similar role for National Access Awareness Week in 1988 and served as the City of Halifax's Multicultural and Race Relations Coordinator from 1990 to 1992. A recipient of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Award in 1993, Ms. Mac Lennan served two terms as a member of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission and was appointed Chair of that Commission in 1996. She has also served on the editorial board of Just Cause, a law journal for people with disabilities and legal professionals.

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