Browse "Politicians"

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  • Article

    Melanie Mark

    Melanie Joy Mark (also known as Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak), politician, leader (born 17 October 1975 in Vancouver, BC). Melanie Mark is the first First Nations woman elected as a Member of British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly and the first First Nations woman to serve as a cabinet minister. Mark, the granddaughter of residential school survivors, is of Nisga'a, Gitxsan, Cree, Ojibwe, French and Scottish ancestry. Her Nisga’a name is Hli Haykwhl Ẃii Xsgaak, which means “the eagle that passes on to the next generation.” As a candidate of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), Mark was elected in 2016 as the MLA for the Vancouver-Mount Pleasant riding. She subsequently won provincial elections in 2017 and 2020. Mark has been outspoken about the challenges of growing up in poverty, being raised by a single mother and about her time in the foster care system. In 2017, Mark was appointed to cabinet as the Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Training, and later became the Minister of Tourism, Art, Culture and Sport in 2020. She resigned as an MLA in February 2023. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/MelanieMark/Melanie_Mark_Family_image_resized.jpg Melanie Mark

  • Article

    Member of Parliament (MP) (Plain-Language Summary)

    A member of Parliament (MP) is elected to represent a single district, or “riding,” in the House of Commons. MPs have three main duties: passing laws and crafting policies in Parliament, representing their riding and political party, and serving the people in their riding. MPs have different roles and levels of influence. They can be backbenchers, Cabinet ministers, opposition critics or the prime minister. They typically serve four-year terms. They hold office until Parliament is dissolved. They have no term limits and can be re-elected any number of times. The number of MPs changes every 10 years. There are currently 338 MPs. This article is a plain-language summary of member of Parliament (MP). If you are interested in reading about this topic in more depth, please see our full-length entry: Member of Parliament (MP).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/P060471-362871.jpg Member of Parliament (MP) (Plain-Language Summary)

  • Article

    Michael Luchkovich

    Michael Luchkovich, teacher, politician, author (born 13 November 1892 in Shamokin, Pennsylvania; died 21 April 1973 in Edmonton, AB). In 1926, Michael Luchkovich became the first Ukrainian Canadian to be elected to Parliament. A member of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), he was re-elected in 1930 but defeated in 1935, when he ran as part of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). A staunch defender of minority rights in Canada, Luchkovich was an early advocate for multiculturalism. He later translated books from Ukrainian into English.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Michael_Luchkovich_-_1930_16661079827.jpg Michael Luchkovich

  • Article

    Michelle Stilwell

    Michelle “Mikey” Stilwell (née Bauknecht), wheelchair basketball player, wheelchair racer, politician (born 4 July 1974 in Winnipeg, MB). Michelle Stilwell is the only Canadian woman to win gold medals in two sports at the Paralympic Games. She and the Canadian team won gold in women’s wheelchair basketball at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. Stilwell also won gold in women’s wheelchair racing at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. From 2006 to 2016, she was the fastest wheelchair racer in the world in the T52-class; she currently holds world records in the women’s 100 m and 200 m. She also served as a BC MLA for Parksville-Qualicum from 2013 to 2020.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/MichelleStilwellTweetOnly.jpg Michelle Stilwell

  • Article

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

    Mumilaaq Qaqqaq, Inuk Member of Parliament (born 4 November 1993 in Baker Lake, NU). In 2019, Qaqqaq became, at age 25, Nunavut’s youngest MP in history, and the first from the New Democratic Party (NDP) since Nunavut became a territory in 1999. Before entering politics, Qaqqaq was a public speaker and activist who raised awareness of the various crises that Inuit face (suicide, food insecurity, housing, climate).

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/MumilaaqQaqqaq/Mumilaaq_Qaqqaq_CBC_image.jpeg Mumilaaq Qaqqaq

  • Article

    Naheed Nenshi

    Naheed Kurban Nenshi, leader of Alberta NDP 2024–present, mayor of Calgary 2010–21, business consultant, professor, (born 2 February 1972 in Toronto, ON). Naheed Nenshi was elected mayor of Calgary for three terms, from 2010 to 2021. He was the first Muslim mayor of a major North American city. He was also the first Canadian mayor to be awarded the World Mayor Prize by the British-based City Mayors Foundation. Nenshi was known for pioneering the use of social media in political campaigns. He also promoted civic engagement, completed various large infrastructure projects and guided Calgary’s recovery following devastating floods in 2013. He won the leadership of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP) on 22 June 2024.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Naheed_Nenshi_2012-12-08.jpg Naheed Nenshi

  • Article

    Native People's Caravan

    The Native People’s Caravan was a cross-country mobile protest that took place in 1974. Its main purpose was to raise awareness about the poor living conditions and discrimination experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. It travelled from Vancouver to Ottawa, where the subsequent occupation of a vacant warehouse on Victoria Island, near Parliament Hill, extended into 1975. The caravan brought various Indigenous groups together in protest of broken treaties, as well as a lack of government-supported education, housing and health care. As a result, meetings between Cabinet ministers and Indigenous leaders became more frequent. The protest is remembered as an important turning point in Indigenous activism in Canada. 

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/e9e4a925-a033-404d-9819-a3bb46fe9c8e.jpg Native People's Caravan

  • Article

    Nellie J. Cournoyea

    Nellie J. Cournoyea, OC, ONWT, premier of the Northwest Territories 1991–95, politician (born on 4 March 1940 in Aklavik, NT). Cournoyea is the first Indigenous woman to lead a provincial or territorial government in Canada.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/IndiLeaderStamps/nellie-cournoyea-stamp.jpg Nellie J. Cournoyea

  • Article

    Olivia Chow

    Olivia Chow, mayor of Toronto 2023­–present, politician, organizer, artist (born 24 March 1957 in Hong Kong). Olivia Chow began her career in Toronto municipal politics as a school trustee in the 1980s. She went on to serve as a city councillor from 1991 until 2005. In 2006, she entered federal politics as a Member of Parliament. She took a prominent role in the NDP caucus alongside her husband, NDP leader Jack Layton. In 2023, Chow became the first racialized person elected mayor of Toronto.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Olivia_Chow_at_Mayoral_Candidates_Roundtable_2014_cropped.jpg Olivia Chow

  • Article

    Pat Carney

    Patricia Carney, CM, PC, Member of Parliament 1980–88, senator 1991–2008, journalist, economist (born 26 May 1935 in Shanghai, China; died 25 July 2023). Pat Carney’s career was marked by many firsts. After working as the first female business columnist with a major daily newspaper in Canada, she became the first female Conservative politician from British Columbia to be elected to Parliament, in 1980. She was re-elected in 1984 and served as Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources, Minister of International Trade and president of the Treasury Board. She was the first woman to head each portfolio. In 1990, she became the first woman from British Columbia to be appointed to the Senate. Carney played a key role in negotiating NAFTA and cast the deciding vote that kept abortion legal in Canada.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Pat_Carney.jpg Pat Carney

  • Article

    Paul Martin

    Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, CC, PC, businessman, politician, cabinet minister, prime minister 2003–06, philanthropist (born 28 August 1938 in Windsor, ON). The son of influential Liberal Party MP Paul Martin Sr., Paul Martin had a successful career in business before entering politics. He was elected as a Liberal MP in 1988 and served as minister of finance (1993–2002) under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. In that role, Martin eliminated the deficit and achieved five straight years of budget surpluses. Martin succeeded Chrétien as prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party in 2003. He resigned in 2006 after losing the election to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. Known as a fiscal conservative with a social conscience, Martin spearheaded several initiatives as prime minister, including the Kelowna Accord, a national child care program, health accords with the provinces and the legalization of same-sex marriage.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/606px-Paul_martin_2004.jpg Paul Martin

  • Article

    Paul Hellyer

    Paul Theodore Hellyer, PC, politician, engineer, businessman, writer (born 6 August 1923 near Waterford, ON; died 8 August 2021 in Toronto, ON). A long-time Member of Parliament (MP), Paul Hellyer served in the cabinets of prime ministers Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, and was the longest-serving member of the Privy Council at the time of his death. As defence minister, he oversaw Canada’s adoption of nuclear weapons and organized the unification of the armed forces. Hellyer contested the leadership of both the Liberal and Progressive Conservative parties and led two small federal parties of his own creation. He was a notable critic of free trade and advocated for monetary reform. He also gained international notoriety for claiming that Western governments possess — and have been suppressing — evidence of UFOs and extraterrestrial life.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/Paul_Hellyer_1940s.jpg Paul Hellyer

  • Article

    Paul Rose

    Paul Rose, Québecois indépendantiste leader, terrorist, unionist (born 16 October 1943 in Montreal, Quebec; died 14 March 2013 in Montreal). He was a member of the Chénier Cell, also known as the South Shore Gang, of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) and a key player in the October Crisis. On 13 March 1971, he was sentenced for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte, a minister in the government of Quebec.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/single_use_images/Paul_Rose.jpg Paul Rose

  • Article

    Jean-Luc Pepin

    Jean-Luc Pepin, academic, politician (b at Drummondville, Qué 1 Nov 1924; d at Ottawa 5 Sept 1995). Educated at the University of Ottawa and the University of Paris, Pepin later taught political science at U of O.

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    https://development.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/images/tce_placeholder.jpg?v=e9dca980c9bdb3aa11e832e7ea94f5d9 Jean-Luc Pepin

  • Article

    Percy Schmeiser

    Percy Schmeiser, farmer, business owner, Saskatchewan MLA 1967–71, politician (born 5 January 1931 in Bruno, SK; died 13 October 2020). Farmer Percy Schmeiser was mayor of Bruno, Saskatchewan, from 1963 to 1982 and MLA for the riding of Watrous from 1967 to 1971. He is best known as the defendant in Schmeiser v. Monsanto, which was argued all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Monsanto, an American agrochemicals corporation, accused Schmeiser of illegally using their patented genetically modified seeds. Schmeiser claimed they had simply blown onto his farm. He became a folk hero for his stand against a large agricultural corporation and against the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. An advocate for environmental justice, farmers’ rights, and the right to save seeds, he received the Mahatma Gandhi Award and the Canadian Health Food Association Hall of Fame Award.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/dc2050ae-b79f-4f42-9cb0-d37a157abffa.jpg Percy Schmeiser