(Ottawa) Ontario Senator Josée Forest-Niesing has died following a battle with COVID-19.
She was 56 years old.
Josée Forest-Niesing’s office said earlier this week that the Sudbury, Ontario senator returned home last Saturday after being admitted to hospital with the virus.
The statement said she was fully vaccinated against COVID-19, but was considered vulnerable due to an autoimmune disease that had affected her lungs for the past 15 years and reduced the vaccine’s effectiveness. .
Senate Speaker George J. Furey confirmed his death in a statement Saturday, in which he described Senator Forest-Niesing as “a staunch and passionate advocate for access to justice in both official languages.”
A lawyer by training, Josée Forest-Niesing is described on the Senate website as a proud Franco-Ontarian who had recently discovered her Métis heritage.
She represented Ontario in the Senate since October 2018.