historian and champion of heritage preservation. 2015 Alberta general election Simons disclosed in the final days of the run-up to the 2015 Alberta Provincial Election that the editorial board of the Edmonton Journal had been under pressure from the paper's parent company Post Media, and namely its CEO Paul Godfrey, to endorse the incumbent Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta and its leader Jim Prentice. While their Alberta coverage was deemed to have "reported quite fairly during the election", Post Media was strongly criticized by Simons and many of her fellow journalists (and some of the public) for presenting the Journal as a neutral, local source without partisan bias when in fact they were facing pressure to advocate for one specific candidate. Traditionally, newspapers are expected to disclose their bias through an endorsement, as The Journal did in the 2019 Alberta election when they endorsed the UCP candidate Jason Kenney. Senate of Canada Paula Simons was appointed to the Senate of Canada (upper chamber) on October 3, 2018 by her Excellency the Rt. Hon. Julie Payette, Gov-Gen. of Canada on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen of Canada, Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In a column Simons wrote about the Senate published August 13, 2013, she discussed how and why Senators get appointed, their entitlement, and some of her current colleagues "allegedly bending the rules" in the Senate. "These days, the Senate is failing on almost every front. Instead of being appointed on merit, all too often senators get the gig because they're political cronies or party loyalists, bagmen (and women) who have primarily distinguished themselves as rabid partisans or backroom boys, not deep thinkers." Referring to her reinstated colleagues she said, "Small wonder many Canadians are wondering why we bother at all with an unelected upper house, full of entitled toffs who can't be turfed even if they break the law, even if they're not medically competent to hold office," she wrote. "Yes, there are earnest, hardworking, intelligent, thoughtful senators serving on committees, scrutinizing legislation, meeting with school kids, speaking to service clubs. But they've been so overshadowed in the public mind by the antics of the reprobates that it's hard for any senator to maintain public credibility." References 1964 births Living people Canadian women journalists Canadian senators from Alberta Independent Canadian senators Journalists from Alberta Politicians from Edmonton Women members of the Senate of