Kim Pate has been a tireless and courageous advocate on behalf of the most marginalized women in this country — Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, young women, visible minority and immigrant women, and women whose offences have isolated them from other potential sources of support. She has discharged her role with courage, determination and grace. Kim Pate is described by those who have had the opportunity to work with her as a person of the highest integrity and character, combining a generous and spirited sense of humour with a keen intelligence and “a heart of pure gold.”
Kim Pate graduated from Dalhousie Law School in 1984 with honours in the Clinical Law Program. She is a resident of Ottawa and is the mother of two children, aged four and 12. Since 1992 she has been the Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, a volunteer organisation devoted to supporting and advocating on behalf of women in prison. Prior to her work with the Elizabeth Fry Society she worked with young people in conflict with the law through The John Howard Society in Calgary. Her work and efforts have consistently recognized and respected the contributions of women who have experienced marginalization, discrimination and oppression and she seeks to credit and empower these women.
Not only has she devoted countless hours to responding to the needs and concerns of individual women and groups of women in prison; Kim Pate has also been instrumental in building coalitions across the country with other equality-seeking women's groups and progressive organizations. She has brought her insight and experience to bear on the importance of tackling systemic social problems through coalition work. In this capacity, she has worked with feminist legal scholars, lawyers, sociologists, and front-line transition house and rape crisis centre workers, to name only a few of the communities and individuals with which she engages daily.
Kim Pate is also an educator and law reformer. Her extensive list of publications, national and international speaking engagements, and her strategic intervention and lobbying for changes in the legal system and the law testify to her commitment to broader social change. She has made significant contributions to public education around the issues of women's imprisonment, parole, and criminal responsibility. A modest and principled person, Kim Pate consistently refuses to claim any credit for her many contributions to social justice. However, many are aware that she was a driving force behind the Inquiry into Certain Events at the Prison for Women in Kingston, headed by Justice Louise Arbour. During the Inquiry she supported women as they aired their experiences, as well being a critical resource and witness in the Inquiry itself. Kim was also the force that persuaded the Department of Justice to support the Self-Defense Review by Her Honour Judge Lynn Ratushny. She has worked tirelessly to secure implementation of the many positive reforms proposed by the Review.
Kim Pate’s commitment to advancing the cause of those who are dispossessed and marginalized, often through the operation of the law and the legal system, epitomize the tradition of public service and selflessness that is recognized by the Weldon Award.