Sarmite Bulte

Sarmite (Sam) Bulte is a lawyer and former politician. A former member of the UC Literary and Athletic Society, she owned and operated her own law firm before being elected as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Parkdale-High Park, which she represented for nine years. In the House of Commons, she held the positions of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, and chair of the Task Force on Women’s Entrepreneurship. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 2004.

Bulte is currently a consultant, legal advisor and speaker on public policy, governance, parliamentary capacity-building and entrepreneurship with the United Nations Development Program. She has provided training and assistance to Cambodia, Kenya, Macedonia, Somalia, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen, to name just a few countries. A seasoned board and committee member, she has served the Canadian Association of Women Executives and Entrepreneurs, the National Ballet School and the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation, among other organizations. For her tremendous contributions, she has been recognized with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Lifetime Tribute Award from Women Entrepreneurs of Canada and the Order of the Republic of Lithuania, among other honours.