Who's the Rep?
Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond

What does she do?
Advocates for children and youth in B.C. who are in care or receiving services from government.

Where is she from?
She is a member of the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.
What did she do before she became the rep?
The Rep is a judge from Saskatchewan who came to B.C. to be the Rep because she wants all kids to do well in life.

A little more about the Rep

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond was born on February 15, 1963.

She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University in Political Studies in 1982, Bachelor of Law from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1985, Masters in Law from Cambridge University, England in 1987, and her Doctorate in Law from Harvard University in 1990. She also attended the University of Strasbourg for a Diploma in International Human Rights Law. She also taught at Dalhousie School of Law, University of Toronto, and the University of Saskatchewan. She is also an accomplished pianist.

Mary Ellen's greatest accomplishments are her son, daughter and her twins. The most valuable things to her are her family and extended family and keeping those relationships, and enjoying the company and achievements of all her family members.

The Rep's message for the next generation is to have a dream and don’t give it up. Ignore what other people tell you, especially if their advice is negative because they probably don’t know what they are talking about. If you get advice from people you respect and who love you, then take that advice to heart and make your own decisions. Mary Ellen has gotten many scholarships which helped her get through her schooling. She was also a medalist in her law school class for the highest grades and academic achievement in her B.A. studies. She was a Commonwealth Scholar which paid for her education at Cambridge and a Harvard Scholarship which helped pay for her education at Harvard. Mary Ellen was also recognized in Time magazine in 1993 and 1998 as part of a generation of young leaders for the new millennium. She was also recognized in the Chatelaine Magazine as a role model for women. She received the Women of the Dawn Award for Justice in 1999.

This biography was written as a school project by Kaila, when she was a Grade 9 student at the Saskatchewan Leask Community School, based on her interview with Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond. It has been updated with more recent information. Kaila is Mary Ellen’s niece, part of her large extended family that lives in many provinces across Canada.

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