Joan Neiman

Who is Joan Neiman?

Joan Bissett Neiman is a retired Canadian senator.

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the daughter of Edgar Douglas Richmond Bissett, she served in the Women's Royal Canadian Naval Service during World War II retiring as a lieutenant commander. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mount Allison University and was called to the Ontario Bar. A lawyer, she was summoned to the Senate of Canada for the Ontario senatorial division of Peel on the advice of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1972. A Liberal, she served until her mandatory retirement in 1995. She was chair of the Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs for eight years. She was chair of the Special Senate Committee on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Selected as Chair of Human Rights for Interparliamentary Union being 1st Canadian to be so honoured. Served as a Team Member of The Dalhousie Health Law Institute End of Life Project.

In 2006, she was appointed by Premier Dalton McGuinty to the Citizens Panel on Increasing Organ Donations.

She is the oldest living Canadian senator.