Politicians | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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  • Article

    Mary John Batten

    Mary John Batten (née Fodchuk), lawyer, politician, justice and chief justice of the Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench (born 30 August 1921 in Sifton, MB; died 9 October 2015). Mary John Batten was the first Ukrainian Canadian woman elected to a Canadian legislature. She served as an MLA in Saskatchewan from 1956 until 1964. That year, she became the first woman to be appointed as a federal judge in Saskatchewan, and only the second in Canada. In 1983, she became Saskatchewan’s first female chief justice. She also chaired a Saskatchewan royal commission. She retired from the bench in 1989.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/DCI-images/Mary-John-Batten-final.jpg Mary John Batten

  • Article

    Vincent Massey

    Charles Vincent Massey, PC, CC, governor general 1952-59, historian, business executive, politician, diplomat, royal commissioner, patron of the arts (born 20 February 1887 in Toronto; died 30 December 1967 in London, England). Massey was the country’s first Canadian-born governor general. He helped create the Order of Canada in 1967, and as a champion of the arts in Canada laid the groundwork for the Canada Council, the National Library of Canada and the National Arts Centre.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/media/192ab9c4-8241-4b0d-bb1c-d675696b89f7.jpg Vincent Massey

  • Article

    Maxime Bernier

    Maxime Bernier, businessman, lawyer, politician, leader of the People’s Party of Canada 2018–present (born 18 January 1963 in St-Georges-de-Beauce, Quebec). Maxime Bernier served as Member of Parliament for Beauce from 2006 to 2019. He was a prominent Cabinet minister in the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. After narrowly losing the Conservative leadership race to Andrew Scheer in 2017, Bernier left the party in 2018 and formed the far-right People’s Party of Canada (PPC). Bernier opposes government intervention in society, culture, the economy. He also criticizes multiculturalism and increased immigration as well as government policies to fight climate change.

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    https://d2ttikhf7xbzbs.cloudfront.net/media/new_article_images/Libertarianism/Maxime_Bernier.jpg Maxime Bernier

  • 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, business consultant, professor, mayor of Calgary, AB, 2010–21 (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. On 11 March 2024, he announced that he would campaign for the leadership of the Alberta New Democratic Party (NDP).

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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 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