In September, Maureen joined other prominent Canadian women to write an open letter to Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, calling on him to end religious-based arbitration in Ontario (and all other Canadian provinces) in matters of family law and property law. She appeared on Parliament Hill to speak to the issue, and a text of her remarks are included here.

On November 15, 2005, Maureen was the guest speaker at the monthly meeting of Le Club du Midi, a group of French-Canadian women in Ottawa. Her powerpoint presentation, delivered entirely in French, was on "Legal Issues at the end of Life: A Look at Advance Directives and Living Wills".

To thank her for her presentation, the group made a financial contribution to the Shirley E. Greenberg Women's Health Centre.

In September, 2005, Maureen was appointed to be the first Chairperson of the new Advisory Board of the Shirley E. Greenberg Women's Health Centre at the Riverside campus of the Ottawa Hospital. This premier facility was opened on Jan. 21, 2005 thanks to the vision of Dr. Elaine Jolly and the work of a team of dedicated volunteers. For more information on the Centre, see www.owhc.ca

On May 5, 2005, Maureen McTeer spoke to the annual meeting of OASIS in Oakville Ontarion about genetic testing, discrimination and privacy of personal medical information.

In January, 2004, Maureen McTeer graduated with a Masters degree in biotechnological law and ethics from the University of Sheffield in the UK, where she spent 2003 [acedemic year] as both a visiting research fellow and graduate student. She is the first Canadian to earn this important degree. Her Masters thesis analyzed the issues raised by patents on the human genome.

In 2004, Maureen delivered several speeches:

• Legal Brief to the Canadian Senate Committee studying Bill C-6, An Act respecting assisted human reproduction and related research. February, 25, 2004.

• Invited Guest Speaker, the Granite Club, Feb. 24, 2004, Toronto, Ontario. Bill C-6, Where do we go from here?”

• Invited Guest Speaker, the Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association, Feb. 27, 2004, Calgary, Alberta, “Women, Culture & International Diversity”.

• Judge and speaker, University of Ottawa English Debating Society, March 3, 2004, Ottawa, Ontario, “Be It Resolved that all human cloning be banned.”

• Guest speaker, Le Conseil Regional de developpement de l”outaouais (CRDO) March 24, 2004, Gatineau, Quebec, “Les Femmes et le pouvoir" (French only).

• Guest speaker, Symposium on Conscience and Science: A Forum on Biotechnology, Ethics & the Future, (see www.conscienceandscience.com) April 29, 2004, Vancouver, B.C., Patents on the Human Genome: Implications for the Future.

• Guest author, reading from In My Own Name (Random House, 2003), sponsored by World Literacy of Canada, Toronto, Ontario, May 5, 2004, Writes of Passage.

• Guest speaker, Panel on Biotechnology and Public Policy, sponsored by the Institute on Governance, May 25, 2004, Biotechnology and law: Partners in the Public Good.

• Keynote speaker, Conference on Understanding the Early Years, June 10, 2004, Saskatoon, SK., Prepare a healthy child for life in the 21st century.

• Keynote speaker, provincial Legislators’ lunch on osteoporosis and public policy, June 11, Regina, SK. Healthy Bones and Bodies: Legislating for public health and well-being.