The Right Honourable Kim Campbell is an extraordinary British Columbian who has served her province and her country with distinction. From the age of 16 – when she became her school’s first-ever female student-body president – to 30 years later – when she became Canada’s first female Prime Minister – Ms. Campbell has spent much of her life breaking barriers.

She was Canada’s first female Justice Minister and Attorney General, the first female Defence Minister – not only in Canada, but of any NATO country – the first Prime Minister born and raised in British Columbia and the first former Canadian Prime Minister to serve as a diplomat after leaving office.

Ms. Campbell has served at all three levels of government, starting with her election to the Vancouver School Board in 1980. She was elected to the British Columbia legislature in 1986 and then Canada’s House of Commons in 1988. She served in the federal War Cabinet during the first Gulf War, and as Justice Minister, she responded decisively to the “Montreal Massacre,” implementing tighter gun controls. She also introduced groundbreaking changes to strengthen women’s protection from sexual assault.

Ms. Campbell became leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1993, serving as Prime Minister until the federal election later that year.

Since leaving politics, Ms. Campbell has worked on global issues, serving as Canadian Consul General in Los Angeles and pursuing initiatives to better Canada and the world. She has been awarded nine honorary degrees.