Jean Casselman Wadds OC ( Rowe; September 16, 1920 – November 25, 2011) was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Grenville—Dundas from 1958 to 1968. She sat as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. She served as Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1983, playing a role in the government of Pierre Trudeau's negotiations with the British government of Margaret Thatcher in Trudeau's successful effort to patriate the Canadian Constitution in 1982.
High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
In 1979, Wadds was appointed Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. She served in this capacity until 1983. During this time, the Canadian Constitution was patriated. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was to say of her:
<blockquote>"I always said it was thanks to three women that we were eventually able to reform our Constitution. The Queen, who was favourable, Margaret Thatcher, who undertook to do everything that our Parliament asked of her, and Jean Wadds, who represented the interests of Canada so well in London."</blockquote>
In 1982, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for carrying "out her duties with great competence and conscientiousness, particularly during the period of the patriation of the Constitution".
Macdonald Commission and later career
Returning to Canada in 1983, she was appointed one of 13 commissioners on the Macdonald Commission into the economic future of Canada. The Royal Commission's recommendations that Canada negotiate a free trade agreement with the United States were ultimately taken up by the government of Brian Mulroney, resulting in the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988.