Senate appointment surprises store owner

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Unlike who was recently kicked out of the Canadian Senate for missing too many meetings, newly appointed senator Thelma Chalifoux plans on attending every meeting and hearing the Senate holds.

A grandmother to 45 (15 of them great-grandchildren) Chalifoux takes all of her responsibilities seriously. From a young age growing up, in what she describes as a traditional Metis family, Chalifoux was given the task of taking care of family Elders. That is where she began to live by her credo "just carry on". And that is what Chalifoux does everyday.

"I only work for each day and ask our Creator and our Lord to do the best I can."

A woman of many firsts, Chalifoux was the first Metis woman named to the University of Alberta Senate, the first Metis woman to win a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, and now the first Metis woman named to the Canadian Senate.

Chalifoux said she doesn't know how she was selected by the Prime Minister for the position.

"I was called to ask if my name could stand. They asked me to send a bio and a resume and I did," she said.

Toward the end of Nov., Chalifoux received a phone call from Prime Minister Jean Chretien telling her of his decision. She was surprised.

"He sounds like a very kind man," said Chalifoux, who met him briefly ten years ago.

Although she admits she isn't sure exactly what the Senate does, she guarantees that within six months she'll be able to tell anyone who asks exactly what her role within the Senate is and what the Senate does for this country.

"I know it's a very important job," said Chalifoux. "I don't know what difference I will be able to make but [my] good work ethics will make an influence on everyone."

Chalifoux should know about good work ethics. She owns two businesses: Chalifoux and Associates Educational and Economic Consulting and Secret Garden Originals, a craft store.

Two days before leaving for Ottawa for the swearing in ceremony, Chalifoux was working at the craft store, still granting requests for interviews, answering phone call after phone call and cleaning up last minute details.

Her two week trip to Ottawa is to secure a place to live while the Senate is in session.

"I'm not one to stay in hotels," laughed Chalifoux.

Finding accommodations is not new to Senator Chalifoux. She has worked with the Metis Housing Corporation and the Alberta Housing Corporation during the course of her diverse career.

Chalifoux hopes she can serve as a role model to young Aboriginal Canadians. She has a lot of advice to offer to all youth.

"We have to develop a good work ethic within our families so we can just carry on within the Canadian society."

Chalifoux was sworn into the Senate Dec. 2.