Hon. Daniel Lang,
Senator, Chair of the Standing Committee on National Security and Defence

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Biography

The Honourable Hector Daniel Lang has served as Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on National Security and Defence since 2013 and was re-elected on January 25, 2016 as Chair. During his chairmanship, the Committee published a number of reports including on Sexual Harassment in the RCMP (2013); Ballistic Missile Defence (2014); Canada Border Services Agency (2015) and Treats to the Security of Canada (2015). The Committee also scrutinized private members bills and government legislations, including the Anti-Terrorism Act 2015.

Senator Lang also serves as a member of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration and on the Sub-Committee on Veterans Affairs. He is also an active member of various parliamentary groups including Canada-NATO, Canada-US, Canada-Japan and was a founding member of the Canada-Peru Parliamentary Friendship group.

Born in 1948 in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, he moved with his family to Whitehorse, Yukon where he completed elementary and secondary school, and later attended the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

He was first elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly in 1974 and served five consecutive terms until his retirement in 1992. Over the course of his 18 years in elected office he was responsible for numerous Ministerial portfolios and later served in the opposition. 

Always active in community affairs, Senator Lang has served as President of the Yukon Real Estate Board; as a member of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Real Estate Association; as President of Polarettes Gymnastics and as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors for Yukon College. 

After retiring from the Legislature, he worked as a real estate associate until 2008, when he was summoned to the Senate of Canada.

He has four children who reside in Whitehorse and eight grandchildren. Senator Lang presently lives in Whitehorse with his wife Valerie Hodgson, a well-known local artist.

Current Member of the following Senate committee(s):

• Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration
• National Security and Defence Chair
• Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs