Fellow of the University 2014

Elizabeth (Liz) McWeeny
Biography

For 35 years Elizabeth (Liz) McWeeny has been a passionate advocate for refugee rights and protection.

Her efforts began at the grassroots level in 1979 when she volunteered with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Thunder Bay and Citizenship and Immigration Canada to launch the Private Sponsorship of Refugees Program which resettled hundreds of refugees in Northwestern Ontario. She continued as diocesan coordinator for Refugee Sponsorship until 2009.

From 1985 to 2002, Liz was the chairperson of the Thunder Bay Friends of Refugees, a multi-denominational group assisting refugees from Latin America, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

She is a founding member of the D.O.O.R.S. to New Life Refugee Centre, established in 1991, and has held leadership positions with the national NGO-Government Committee on the Private Sponsorship of Refugees. Liz has been a member of the Canadian Council for Refugees since 1998, and has served in various executive roles including two terms as president.

Her expertise was recognized with her appointments as a consultant to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Geneva in 2001 and as a consultant to Citizenship and Immigration Canada in 2002.

More recently, Liz has directed her efforts to poverty reduction. In 2008, she and her husband, Richard Buset (BA’73), founded Compassionet Impact Development Canada to support home-building, micro-business loans, and education programs for the poor in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where she and Richard reside for part of the year.

Liz was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in November 2012 for her lifetime work on behalf of refugees in both Canada and abroad and for helping refugees who resettled in Thunder Bay. Other honours include the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association’s Frank Obljubek Award and the Province of Ontario’s Outstanding Achievement Award for Volunteerism.

Along with her husband, Liz McWeeny has been a strong supporter of Lakehead University initiatives such as the ATAC (Advanced Technology & Academic Centre) building campaign, the establishment of the William H. Buset Centre for Music and Visual Arts, and the creation of student bursaries. Liz has two children and three grandchildren.