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 1999.

Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay

Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay, Q.C., was appointed Chief Commissioner in January 1997. After receiving a law degree from the University of Montreal and being called to the Quebec Bar, she pursued a career in labour relations law. She worked as a lawyer with the firm of Massicotte, Levac and Falardeau and later became a senior partner with the firm of Levac and Falardeau. In 1975, she joined the Public Service Staff Relations Board as Deputy Chairman, and in 1982 became Chairman of the Immigration Appeal Board. She was appointed Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission in September 1988, and served in that capacity until taking up her present post.

Anne Adams

Anne Adams of Montreal joined the Commission in March 1999. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Montreal in 1967, and a master's degree in industrial relations from Queen's University in 1987. During her work with Human Resources Development Canada, she developed the national women's employment policy and managed the implementation of the Employment Equity Act and the federal contractors' program for the region of Quebec. In 1991, as Executive Director of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, Ms. Adams developed an international human rights training program, with particular focus on Eastern Europe and South Asia.

Over the years, Ms. Adams has served as a leader in many boards of trade and community organizations, including the Fédération des femmes du Québec. Since 1998, she has been President of the Femmes regroupées pour l'accessibilité au pouvoir politique et économique, or FRAPPE. In 1992, she received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in honour of her community work, and in 1996 she launched AEA Strategies and Development Inc., which specializes in employment equity and international development.

Phyllis Gordon

Phyllis Gordon of Toronto, Ontario was appointed a Commissioner in May 1998. She received her Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1967 and her teaching credentials in fine arts from the University of Quebec in Montreal. She graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1977 and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1979.

For several years Ms. Gordon practised labour law and family law in Hamilton and Kingston, Ontario. Over the course of her career, she has acquired extensive experience and expertise in various human rights areas, including pay equity and employment equity. After serving as the Director of Parkdale Community Legal Services in Toronto for five years, she became, in 1994, the Chair of the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal of Ontario. She currently has an arbitration and mediation practice, primarily in the area of labour relations.

Ms. Gordon has also served on the boards of directors of several community organizations involved with disadvantaged people and violence against women.

Yude M. Henteleff

Yude Henteleff, C.M., Q.C., of Winnipeg, Manitoba was appointed a Commissioner in November 1998. He had previously served as a Commissioner from 1980 to 1986. He is a senior partner with the law firm of Pitblado Buchwald Asper in Winnipeg. His areas of expertise include corporate and commercial law, mediation, and human rights. He has acted as an adjudicator of human rights complaints.

Mr. Henteleff serves on the boards of directors of a number of community organizations. Over the past thirty years, he has been an advocate for children with special needs. He has written and lectured extensively about them, and has been invited to speak on human rights issues affecting minority groups throughout Canada and abroad. He is the Honorary Solicitor for the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, a member of the National Council of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation, and a member of the Advisory Board of the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties. He is a Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In 1999, Mr. Henteleff received the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1998, he became a member of the Order of Canada. In 1994, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration awarded him the Citation for Citizenship. In 1992, he received the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of Confederation in recognition of his community efforts. In 1989, the Manitoba Association of Rights and Liberties awarded him the Certificate of Merit for his efforts on behalf of minority groups. In 1984, the Minister of National Health and Welfare awarded him the Certificate of Honour for his volunteer efforts.

Robinson Koilpillai

Robinson Koilpillai, C.M., has been a member of the Commission since 1995. An educator, school principal, and community volunteer, he has worked in the fields of education, human rights, multiculturalism, and international development. He has served as Chairman of the Alberta Heritage Council, President of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation, Executive Member of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, and President of the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation.

Over the course of his career, Mr. Koilpillai has introduced programs of study in multiculturalism and human rights for high schools, and developed proposals addressing the social, citizenship and human rights needs of new Canadians for governments at all levels. He has assisted the federal government in a review of foreign policy, and organized international development projects for disadvantaged communities. He has worked with non-governmental organizations dealing with human rights and international development to increase the effectiveness of their networking. He continues to organize public forums, seminars, workshops, and national and international conferences on public policy issues.

In 1980, Mr. Koilpillai received the federal Minister of Multiculturalism's Man of the Year Award, and in 1988, the Canada Council's National Award for Outstanding Educator. In 1998, Mr. Koilpillai was inducted into Edmonton's Hall of Fame and won the Alberta Achievement Award and the Lewis Perinbam Award in International Development. A 1992 Governor General's Commemorative Medal winner, he joined the Order of Canada in 1996.

Mary Mac Lennan

Mary 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. From 1981 to 1982, Ms. Mac Lennan was the Provincial Coordinator for the Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities. She played a similar role in National Access Awareness Week in 1988, and served as the Multicultural and Race Relations Coordinator for the City of Halifax from 1990 to 1992. A recipient of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Award in 1993, Ms. Mac Lennan was appointed Chair of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in 1996, after serving two terms as a member.

In 1999, Ms. Mac Lennan accepted the post of Equity Coordinator with St. Francis Xavier University, and is continuing her work on the human rights aspects of new reproductive and genetic technologies. She has also served on the editorial board of Just Cause, a law journal for people with disabilities and legal professionals.

Kelly Russ

Kelly Harvey Russ, a member of the Haida First Nation, was appointed a Commissioner in April 1998. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History in 1990, and the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1993, both from the University of Victoria, where he was also president of the Native Law Student Society. In 1994, he became a member of both the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association.

Now a sole practitioner, Mr. Russ's legal work centres on Aboriginal rights and issues arising from the Indian Act, and other federal, provincial and territorial legislation affecting Aboriginal peoples. In addition, Mr. Russ represents Aboriginal people in the fields of child protection and family law.

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