Ontario MPP Catherine Fife Elected First Canadian Chair of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians

Toronto, October 8, 2025 - In a historic milestone, Waterloo MPP Catherine Fife has been elected Chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians Association -- becoming the first Canadian to hold the prestigious global position since the organization's founding in 1989.

"I want to congratulate MPP Fife who secured the leadership after a competitive election, beating out three other contenders from South Africa, Australia and Maldives," said Donna Skelly, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. "Her successful bid followed an impassioned speech which laid out her vision to advance women parliamentarians, anchored by access to quality education for all". 

MPP Fife will serve as Chair for a three-year term. She has represented Waterloo for 13 years. She says she is looking forward to forming strategic alliances that support Women Parliamentarians across the globe. 

The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) is the network of women Members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Parliaments and Legislatures. The CWP network provides a means of building the capacity of women elected to Parliament to be more effective in their roles, improving the awareness and ability of all Parliamentarians, male and female, and encouraging them to include a gender perspective in all aspects of their role - legislation, oversight and representation and helping Parliaments to become gender-sensitive institutions. 

The Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians represents over 3,000 Women Parliamentarians, in over 180 Commonwealth national and sub-national Parliaments, across all nine Regions of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s CPA. 

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