Linda Silas is a Canadian nurse and trade unionist. She is the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) since 2003.

Early life and education

Linda Silas grew up in

Dalhousie, New Brunswick Dalhousie ( ) is a former Town in Restigouche County, New Brunswick, Restigouche County, New Brunswick. It was dissolved in 2023, when it amalgamated with Charlo, New Brunswick, Charlo to form the New Town of Heron Bay, New Brunswick, Heron B ...

, a small community on the

Restigouche River The Restigouche River (, ) is a river that flows across the northwestern part of the province of New Brunswick and the southeastern part of Quebec. The river flows in a northeasterly direction from its source in the Appalachian Mountains of nort ...

. Her father worked at the ''Abitibi newsprint mill'', and served as president of the mill workers’ union local. Silas studied nursing at the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

, where she graduated in 1983.

Career

Silas worked as a nurse in

emergency care Emergency medicine is the medical specialty concerned with the care of illnesses or injuries requiring immediate medical attention. Emergency physicians (or "ER doctors") specialize in providing care for unscheduled and undifferentiated pa ...

, critical care, and

childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vaginal delivery or caesarean section and becomes a newborn to ...

. She soon became president of her union local. She was elected President of the New Brunswick Nurses Union, thus becoming the youngest nurses union center president in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with di ...

. She remained in that position for 10 years. In 2003, she was elected president of the CFNU, a position she still holds today.

Advocacy

Under Silas's tenure, the CFNU remained a

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

union center. However, Silas has been a vocal political actor on healthcare issues in Canada. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she repeatedly called on provincial governments to hire more health care workers. Linda Silas is longtime advocate of universal pharmacare. She claims implementing this policy is especially urgent during a global pandemic.

Bid for CLC leadership

On 3 January 2020, Linda Silas announced she was running to become president of the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian trade union, labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was founded on April 23, 1956, thro ...

(CLC), Canada's House of Labour. Her candidacy was endorsed by major Canadian trade unions such as Teamsters Canada and the

Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

. However, she terminated her campaign in March 2021.

External links

Bob McKeown interviews CFNU president Linda Silas about the state of nursing in Canada

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Silas, Linda Université de Moncton alumni Acadian people People from Restigouche County, New Brunswick Trade unionists from New Brunswick Living people Canadian nurses Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women nurses Canadian women trade unionists