Still grieving after her son's sudden death, Paulette Senior is returning to the Canadian Senate

September 1, 2024

In the next few weeks, Paulette Senior will return to the Canadian Senate after an extended leave of absence.

It is a place she hardly knows.

Just getting to become familiar with Parliament’s Upper House, Senior was jolted after her only child – Jay Williams – died suddenly 23 days after she was sworn in on February 6.

There have been times in the last six months that she considered not returning.

However, Senior knows her son would not want that.

A proud Jay Williams was by his mother’s side when she was sworn in as a Canadian Senator last February (Photo contributed)

“There was no prouder peacock in the room than him when I was sworn in,” said the former Canadian Women’s Foundation President & Chief Executive Officer. “He expressed his pride and love for me in such a way that I knew he would want me to continue. I will do that for him and to be that person who stands up for justice and equality always. That would not change and he would not want that to change as that was his life as well.”

Going back to the Senate will not be easy for Senior who served as a member of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments.

“I am someone who does not shy away from the forefront,” she pointed out. “But I do not have that in me at the moment. I have been asked to do speaking engagements, but I can’t do that right now. As I take the baby steps, I expect that will come back.”

On August 31, Senior unveiled a gravestone at her son’s burial site at Pine Ridge Memorial Gardens in Ajax.

Senator Paulette Senior at her son’s gravesite (Photo by Ron Fanfair)

Losing a child is never easy.

Just imagine what it is like being permanently separated from the only one.

While at a gas station, Williams collapsed. He was pronounced dead a few hours later in hospital.

His grieving mother has been struggling to adjust to a new normal.

“It is a six-month journey I never thought I would be on,” said Senior who has led, managed and operated Toronto-based shelters and employment and housing programs. “I hate I am on it and that is the truth because I did not want it. I often become angry. I have been trying to accept the reality that my son has passed. I have been trying to imagine what life without him would be like. I am still trying to figure it out. Meanwhile, some days I am good and others I am not.”

Knowing that her son’s reach was extensive because of his vast community work, mainly with youths, she has encouraged people who interacted with him regularly to contact her.

“In that way, I will understand the totality of who he was and who he continues to be for you,” Senior said. “It is a beautiful thing to have lived a life that matters. That is a gift he has left us. More than anything else, he would want us to live a life that counts, a life that makes an impression and a life that when you are gone, people will continue because of you.”

She thanked family and friends who have reached out to her in the last few months, offering support.

“I have told you that I am okay,” the former YWCA Canada Chief Executive Officer noted. “But beneath that are rivers and streams of stuff that I can’t share and I hope you understand that because I don’t have the words to truly tell you how I feel. Thank you for accepting okay and thinking about me.”

Williams’ cousins, Robyn-Makayla Broomfield and Raisha Senior Pinnock, generated a QR code that is on the gravestone.

“You can scan it to know exactly who Jay was and what he accomplished,” Broomfield said.

Born and raised in Toronto, Williams completed a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Education & Promotion at Dalhousie University where he played varsity basketball and was an Assistant Coach in his final year in 2007, and a Bachelor of Education two years later at Ontario Tech University.

He taught mainly Grade 8 in Toronto District School Board middle schools and was an Equity, Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Coach for students from kindergarten through Grade 12 before joining the Centre of Black Excellence for Black Student Achievement in July 2023 as an Equity Co-ordinator.

Always at the forefront of movements speaking out against injustice and inequality, Williams was passionate about Black students excelling in the education system.

He never turned down an opportunity to engage young people in the community, urging them to stay in school and be the best version of themselves.