Josée Forest-Niesing

Josée Forest-Niesing (December 18, 1964 – November 20, 2021) was a Canadian lawyer and politician, who was appointed to the Senate of Canada in October 2018.

Biography Forest-Niesing's grandmother, Agnès Lafond, was a member of the Abénakis de Wôlinak First Nation. She first attended Collège Notre-Dame before getting under undergraduate degree in law, justice, and political science at Laurentian University. She then studied law at the University of Ottawa. As a lawyer, she was a partner in the firm Lacroix Forest LLP where she specialized in family law, civil litigation, education law, and employment law. Prior to her appointment as senator, she was a judge for the Superior Court of Justice Small Claims Court.

She was an advocate for the use of the French language and helped get funding for Laurentian University's French-language programs after it was about to be cut. She was discharged on November 14, but died a few days later on November 20, 2021, at the age of 56.