Frances Lankin

In addition to her role at United Way, Lankin has served on several Crown, not-for-profit, charitable and corporate boards. Over the years, she has served on the boards of Equal Voice, The Canadian Club, The Canadian Foundation for Economic Education (CFEE), Altruvest Charitable Services Seneca College, the Toronto City Summit Alliance, the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy Advisory Committee, the Board of the Ontario Hospital Association, the Board of the Literary Review of Canada, the Mowat Centre’s Advisory Committee, the National NewsMedia Council, the Ontario Press Council, the Institute of Corporate Directors,  the TELUS Toronto Community Board, Metrolinx, Hydro One and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. She co-chaired the Toronto City Summit in June 2002 and 2003.

Lankin was appointed to the Senate on March 18, 2016 on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Lankin was appointed to the Senate on March 18, 2016 on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

In 2014, Lankin was appointed to the Premier's Advisory Council on Government Assets, whose mandate was to review and identify opportunities to modernize government business enterprises.

In 2012, Lankin was named a Trudeau mentor by the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, and in 2013, she became a fellow at the Broadbent Institute.

On June 29, 2012, Lankin was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Her citation reads, "For her contributions to social justice as a politician and as a social service administrator, championing the rights of women and the disadvantaged." She has received numerous awards including honorary Doctor of Laws degrees from Queen's University, Ryerson University and the University of Windsor, as well as a Doctor of Education from Nipissing University.

In 2010, the provincial government of Ontario announced the appointment of Lankin and Munir Sheikh to lead the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in Ontario, as part of the province’s poverty reduction strategy. They released a report, Brighter Prospects: Transforming Social Assistance in Ontario, in 2012 with their findings.

In 2009, Lankin was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council of Canada, appointed by prime minister Stephen Harper as a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, which provides an external review of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

In 2006, she co-chaired a federal government Blue Ribbon Panel, which made recommendations for improving how the federal government distributes grants and contributions to charities and other organizations.

Lankin was the president and CEO of United Way Toronto from 2001 to 2011, guiding the organization through its transformation from a trusted fundraiser to an organization dedicated to addressing underlying root causes of social problems. Under Lankin’s leadership, United Way Toronto engaged in a number of strategic initiatives that aimed to improve the lives of individuals, families and neighbourhoods in Toronto, including:

In the 1999 Ontario election, which reduced the NDP to only nine seats, Lankin scored a convincing re-election victory in the redistributed riding of Beaches—East York. Lankin resigned her seat in June 2001 to accept a position as president and CEO of United Way Toronto.

When Rae resigned as NDP leader in 1996, Lankin declared herself a candidate to succeed him. She was regarded as the frontrunner in this race, and was strongly supported by senior members of the Rae government and the party establishment. However, this identification actually damaged her popularity among party delegates who were disappointed by the rightward shifts of the Rae government. Rival candidate Peter Kormos accused her in the leadership debate of bearing responsibility for the "social contract" — which forced open collective bargaining agreements with public sector unions and was deeply unpopular with labour — and for the Rae government's abandonment of a promise to institute a publicly run auto insurance system.

The Rae government was defeated in the provincial election of 1995, although Lankin was re-elected in Beaches-Woodbine by about 3,000 votes over her nearest opponent. After the election she was named finance critic and party whip.

On February 3, 1993, Lankin was shifted to the position of Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Lankin was promoted to Minister of Health on April 22, 1991. She soon developed a reputation as one of the most proficient ministers in Rae's government, and won praise for her attention to administrative detail. She managed to bring the $17 billion health budget under control by reducing out-of-province charges to OHIP and reducing costs for the province's drug benefit plan. She also increased funding for AIDS initiatives and made it easier for Ontario residents to receive treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. She also became one of Rae's most trusted ministers, and a part of his "inner circle".

Lankin was elected Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the Toronto riding of Beaches—Woodbine in the 1990 provincial election, succeeding Marion Bryden who retired from politics. The NDP under Bob Rae won its first-ever majority government in this election, and Lankin, then thirty-six years old, was appointed to cabinet on October 1, 1990 as Minister of Government Services and Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet. She announced that same-sex spouses of civil servants would be eligible for insurance and medical benefits.

In 1985, Lankin tried to gain the nomination as the NDP candidate in the riding of Riverdale. She lost to David Reville who went on to win the seat.

Frances Lankin, PC CM (born April 16, 1954), is a Canadian senator, former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister in the NDP government of Bob Rae between 1990 and 1995. From 2010 to 2012, she co-chaired a government commission review of social assistance in Ontario. From 2009 to 2016, she was a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee.