Frances Lankin

Lankin was born in London, Ontario.[3] She started her career as the executive director of a childcare centre before attending the University of Toronto to study criminology. Due to a provincial government hiring freeze, Lankin was unable to get a position in her desired field working in probation and parole, so she accepted a position as a correctional officer.[3] Lankin was one of the first women correctional officers to work at the Don Jail, an all-male institution.[4] After four years, Lankin became a probation and parole officer before taking a position with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU).

Lankin was a very active member of OPSEU, where she focused on many issues of concern to women workers. She took a position as Equal Opportunity Coordinator with the union, working on such issues as paid maternity leave, pay equity and childcare.[5] While at OPSEU, Lankin helped found the Ontario Coalition for Better Childcare and was provincial spokesperson for the Equal Pay Coalition. She eventually became an economic researcher and finally a full-time negotiator for the union.[6] During her time at OPSEU, Lankin was appointed by the provincial government to the Workers' Compensation Appeals Tribunal for a 3-year term.[4]

Lankin was the president and CEO of United Way Toronto from 2001 to 2011, guiding the organization through its transformation from a trusted fundraiser to an organization dedicated to addressing underlying root causes of social problems. Under Lankin's leadership, United Way Toronto engaged in a number of strategic initiatives that aimed to improve the lives of individuals, families and neighbourhoods in Toronto, including:

• a five-year plan to develop social infrastructure and engage residents in priority neighbourhoods identified in conjunction with the City of Toronto
• partnerships with government, business and labour to focus attention and resources on United Way Toronto's key priority areas: neighbourhoods, youth and newcomers
• development of social research reports such as Losing Ground: The Persistent Growth of Family Poverty in Canada's Largest City, Decade of Decline: Poverty and Income Inequality in the City of Toronto in the 1990s and Poverty by Postal Code: The Geography of Neighbourhood Poverty to identify and highlight challenges faced by the most underserved inner-suburbs of Toronto
• building and strengthening United Way Toronto's network of health and social service agencies through funding and development of agency capacity and leadership
• mobilization of the community's volunteer and financial resources

Lankin retired from the United Way in 2011.[20]

In addition to her role at United Way, Lankin has served on several Crown, not-for-profit, charitable and corporate boards. Over the years, she has served on the boards of Equal Voice, The Canadian Club, The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE), Altruvest Charitable Services Seneca College, the Toronto City Summit Alliance, the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy Advisory Committee, the Board of the Ontario Hospital Association, the Board of the Literary Review of Canada, the Mowat Centre's Advisory Committee, the National NewsMedia Council, the Ontario Press Council, the Institute of Corporate Directors,  the TELUS Toronto Community Board, Metrolinx, Hydro One and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. She co-chaired the Toronto City Summit in June 2002 and 2003.

In 2006, she co-chaired a federal government Blue Ribbon Panel, which made recommendations for improving how the federal government distributes grants and contributions to charities and other organizations.

In 2009, Lankin was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council of Canada, appointed by prime minister Stephen Harper as a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which provides an external review of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

In 2010, the provincial government of Ontario announced the appointment of Lankin and Munir Sheikh to lead the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario, as part of the province's poverty reduction strategy. They released a report, Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario, in 2012 with their findings.

In 2012, Lankin was named a Trudeau mentor by the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, and in 2013, she became a fellow at the Broadbent Institute.

In 2014, Lankin was appointed to the Premier's Advisory Council on Government Assets, whose mandate was to review and identify opportunities to modernize government business enterprises.

On June 29, 2012, Lankin was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Her citation reads, "For her contributions to social justice as a politician and as a social service administrator, championing the rights of women and the disadvantaged."[21] She has received numerous awards including honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Queen's University, Ryerson University and the University of Windsor, as well as a Doctor of Education from Nipissing University.

Other awards Lankin has received include:

• 2002 – Elizabeth Fry Society of Toronto – Rebel for a Cause
• 2003 – Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal
• 2004 – United Way Canada's - Award of Excellence
• 2006 – Carlton University, Arthur Kroger Award for Policy
• 2007 – Canadian Public Relations Society - CEO Award of Excellence in Public Relations
• 2008 – GTA Consumer's Choice - Women of the Year Award
• 2008 – CA-Queen's Centre for Governance Voluntary Sector Reporting Award For Excellence in Financial Reporting
• 2008 – Equal Voice's - EVE Award
• 2008 – More Magazine's - Top 40 over 40 Women in Canada
• 2009 - CA-Queen's Centre for Governance Voluntary Sector Reporting Award For Excellence in Financial Reporting
• 2009 – Italian Canadian Chamber of Commerce’ Community Building Award
• 2010 – Community Service Award – Black Action Defence Committee
• 2010 – Tropicanna President's Award
• 2010 – Herb Carnegie Foundation – Future Aces Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2010 - CA-Queen's Centre for Governance Voluntary Sector Reporting Award For Excellence in Financial Reporting
• 2011 – Toronto Community Social Planning Committee – Community Leadership Award
• 2012 – Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal

Lankin was appointed to the Senate on March 18, 2016, on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She currently sits on the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Joint Parliamentarians. She previously served on the Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples, the Senate Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, the Senate Committee on Senate Modernization, the Senate Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament and the Senate Committee on National Security and Defence.

Lankin has sponsored four bills in the Senate:

• Bill S-3: An Act to amend the Indian Act in response to the Superior Court of Quebec decision in Descheneaux c. Canada, which amended the Indian Act in response to concerns of sex-based discrimination in the Act.
• Bill C-210: An Act to amend the National Anthem Act, which made Canada's national anthem gender neutral.
• Bill C-375: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (presentence report), which sought to include information on mental health in pre-sentence reports.
• Bill C-101: An Act to amend the Customs Tariff and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act, which provided greater flexibility to the federal government to address trade surges.

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history
• Frances Lankin – Parliament of Canada biography