Patricia Doyle-Bedwell Reappointed to Council

Patricia Doyle-Bedwell, current chair of the Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women, was reappointed to the council today by the legislature's standing committee on human resources.

She has already served two terms on the advisory council, representing the Halifax area, and has been chair for more than two years.

"Ms. Doyle-Bedwell has done an excellent job for the advisory council," said Francene Cosman, Minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "She is well-qualified to continue as a member and she will provide a needed element of continuity for the council."

Ms. Doyle-Bedwell is a mother, a teacher and a student. In 1993, she was one of the first five Mi'kmaq women to graduate from Dalhousie Law School. She has worked in the areas of child welfare law and policy, land claims and the criminal justice system. She was an assistant professor of law at Dalhousie University and acting director of the Indigenous Black and Mi'kmaq Program. Main areas of interest are issues relating to aboriginal women.

She is currently director of the Transition Year Program at Dalhousie University. She is also a justice commissioner of the Mi'kmaq Justice Institute.

The human resources committee appointed seven new members to the advisory council last month, bringing the complement to 12.

The council was established in 1977 to advance equality, fairness and dignity for women in Nova Scotia by providing advice to the minister on women's issues and by bringing forward the concerns of women.

arc May 25 1999 1:18 p.m.