This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

Skip to Content

Biography

Senator Pierrette Ringuette is an INDEPENDENT.

She was educated at the University of Moncton, Edmundston Campus, where she earned a BA in administration and social sciences. She went on to attend Laval University, where she completed the course work for a Master of Industrial Relations. In June 2000, she received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Ottawa.

Pierrette Ringuette worked as a supervisor and customer service relations officer for a number of businesses in Northern Quebec. She then worked as the manager of the Edmundston Chamber of Commerce. She was also an associate lecturer at the University of Quebec at Rivière-du-Loup and, later, a professor of continuing education at the University of Moncton, Edmundston Campus, teaching labour economics.

In her community, she was involved with numerous organizations. In 1986, she served as the first female president of La Foire Brayonne. In 1986–87, she was the honorary president of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Madawaska Inc. She also served as a director on the board of Cie des Jeunes Travailleurs du Nord-Ouest Inc. and a member of the board of Family Enrichment. She was a member of the Cercle de Presse Internationale de la République and the disciplinary committee of the New Brunswick Nurses Association.

In the course of her political career, Pierrette Ringuette had the distinction of being the first francophone woman in New Brunswick to be elected to the Legislative Assembly, representing the provincial constituency of Madawaska South from 1987 to 1993. She was also the first francophone woman from New Brunswick to be elected to Parliament. She was the member of Parliament representing the federal constituency of Madawaska–Victoria from 1993 to 1997.

During her career in the New Brunswick legislature, Pierrette Ringuette served as deputy speaker from March 1988 to October 1991, and she was a member of the Standing Committee on Crown Corporations, the Standing Committee on Privileges and the Special Committee on Economic Policy Development.  She was also vice-president of the International Association of French-Speaking Parliamentarians – New Brunswick Chapter, a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and an appointee to the New Brunswick Commission on Canadian Federalism.

During her term as a member of Parliament, Pierrette Ringuette was elected co-chair of the Joint Committee on Official Languages and chair of the subcommittee responsible for revising communications for various House of Commons committees. She was also appointed assistant deputy chair of Committees of the Whole. Finally, she was a member of the Liaison Committee and was appointed vice-chair of the Policy Development Committee for the Liberal Party of Canada.

In 1997, she joined Canada Post Corporation as manager of the international trade development unit, taking part in a number of trade missions promoting Canadian expertise among foreign postal administrations.

On December 12, 2002, Pierrette Ringuette was appointed to the Senate by the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien in the Senatorial Division of New Brunswick. As a senator, she has been or remains a member of the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, the Standing Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications, the Standing Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament, and the Standing Senate Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. She also served as vice-chair of the Prime Minister’s Task Force on Seasonal Work from 2003 to 2004.

On June 6, 2007, she was made an Officer of the Ordre de la Pléiade by the New Brunswick Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie in recognition of her contributions to the development of francophone and Acadian culture.

On February 2, 2016, Pierrette Ringuette advised the Speaker that she will sit as an Independent Senator for New Brunswick to continue the political independence of the Senate. She is currently a member of the Independent Senators Group.

On December 10, 2020, Pierrette Ringuette was elected Speaker pro tempore and re-elected in December 2021.

She was born in 1955 and has one daughter.