ETHEL BLONDIN-ANDREW OF CANADA ELECTED CHAIRPERSON OF MAIN COMMITTEE OF WORLD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH
Press Release
SOC/4465
ETHEL BLONDIN-ANDREW OF CANADA ELECTED CHAIRPERSON OF MAIN COMMITTEE OF WORLD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUTH
19980810 (Received from a United Nations Information Officer.)LISBON, 8 August -- Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Canadian Secretary of State for Children and Youth, has been elected as Chairperson of the Main Committee of the first World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth, which began in Lisbon this afternoon.
Ms. Blondin-Andrew has been serving as Secretary of State for Children and Youth since June 1997. First elected to Parliament in 1988, she became Secretary of State for Training and Youth in 1993. She played a formative role in creating Youth Service Canada and the Youth Employment Strategy -- national initiatives announced in February 1997.
She is a strong advocate for the rights of the northern communities and the Aboriginal peoples of Canada. As a member of the official Opposition from 1988 to 1993, she chaired the Northern and Western Caucus and the Caucus Committee on Aboriginal Affairs. She also served on the Special Joint Committee on a Renewed Canada and on the Standing Committees on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development and on Electoral Reform.
Ms. Blondin-Andrew has served as Acting Director of the Public Service Commission of Canada, National Manager of Indigenous Development Programs, and as Assistant Deputy Minister of Culture and Communications for the government of the Northwest Territories. She was one of the first northern-born teachers, teaching classes from grade school to college courses.
She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in education from the University of Alberta. Born in 1951 in Tulita, Northwest Territories, she is married and has three children.
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