Gretta Chambers

Life and career

Chambers received a B.A. in political sciences from McGill University in 1947. She worked in radio and television and wrote for several newspapers and magazines. From 1966 until 1980, she was the host of the weekly CBC radio show called The Province in Print. From 1977 to 2002, she had a weekly column in the Montreal Gazette.

Since its inception in 1991, until her death in 2017, she was involved with the Montreal Consortium for Human Rights Advocacy Training (MCHRAT) at McGill University. When a MCHRAT project, the McGill Middle East Program (MMEP), took off in 1997, Chambers became a Co-Chair of its Executive and Management Committees. She was Chancellor of McGill University from 1991 to 1999, the first woman to serve in this position. In 2003, Martin Cauchon, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, appointed her to the Judicial Compensation and Benefits Commission, effective until August 31, 2007.

Her brother is McGill University philosopher Charles Taylor. Her late husband was Egan Chambers, former Canadian member of parliament.

Honours and awards

In 1993, she was named an Officer of the National Order of Quebec. In 1994, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, and she was promoted to Companion in 2000.