Ratna Omidvar and Justin Trudeau

Chantal Petitclerc: It the prime minister himself, according to CBC. I was stunned into silence for quite a little while," Ratna Omidvar, 66, told CBC News. She was in Ottawa for a holiday with her grandchildren when the phone rang. "It isn't the intermediary. Chantal Petitclerc, Murray Sinclair among 7 new Trudeau-appointed senators Trudeau told her he was going to recommend her for an appointment to the Senate and she would sit as an independent from Ontario. "It was an excellent conversation," she said. Ratna Omidvar, new senator named by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, says independent senators may show Canada "the way forward." As an expert in immigration, diversity and inclusion, she said she will continue the work she has been doing for decades. The call left her "overcome with joy." Omidvar said she is convinced she was chosen because of her length of service and her ability to work with people of different political affiliations. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.