Bev Desjarlais
Encyclopedia
Bev Desjarlais is a retired Canadian
politician. She represented Churchill
in the Canadian House of Commons
from 1997 to 2006, initially as a New Democrat
and later as an Independent after losing her party nomination in late 2005. She later worked as a departmental aide to Conservative
Veterans Affairs Minister
Greg Thompson
.
Her husband, Bob Desjarlais
, is a prominent labour leader in northern Manitoba, who campaigned for Mayor of Thompson
in 2006
.
, Saskatchewan
. She graduated from Bert Fox Composite High School in 1973, and held several positions at the General Hospital in Thompson
, Manitoba
over the next twenty-four years. At the time of her election, she was a ward clerk. Desjarlais has also been a union steward with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and is a member of Canadian Parents for French.
Her political career began in 1992, when she was elected as a trustee for the Mystery Lake
School Division. She became Chair of the Board in 1994, and served until her election to Parliament in 1997.
incumbent Elijah Harper
for the Churchill riding in the 1997 federal election
. Although Harper had gained national fame in 1990 for blocking passage of the Meech Lake Accord
, he was not a prominent Member of Parliament
. Desjarlais won by 2,764 votes, and joined twenty other New Democrats on the opposition benches. Her opposition to the Canadian gun registry
was likely a contributing factor to her victory, as the registry was unpopular in rural Manitoba.
She held several official responsibilities in the 36th Canadian parliament
, including serving as her party's critic for housing and the Treasury Board. In the latter capacity, she was a prominent supporter of pay equity policies to benefit Canadian women. Desjarlais was also chosen as her party's representative on the Commons Transport Committee, and held this position for several years. She defeated Harper again in the 2000 election, and was appointed NDP Industry Critic in the following parliament.
In 2001, she participated in a military training exercise to educate parliamentarians about the Canadian Forces
. Desjarlais joined the Canadian Air Force for a week, and took part in a search and rescue exercise in Northern Ontario
. She later supported fellow Manitoba MP Bill Blaikie
's campaign to become NDP leader in 2002-03. Blaikie finished second against Jack Layton
.
Desjarlais was re-elected in the 2004 election
over a strong challenge from Liberal candidate Ron Evans. After the election, she was named NDP critic for Transport, Crown Corporations and the Canadian Wheat Board
. In early 2005, former Assembly of First Nations
National Chief Ovide Mercredi
announced that he would challenge Desjarlais for the NDP nomination in Churchill. He later withdrew the challenge.
, which legalized same-sex marriage in Canada
, on its third and final reading in 2005. Her position placed her in conflict with both official NDP policy and party leader Jack Layton, who described same-sex marriage as a human rights issue and ruled that caucus members would not be permitted a free vote
on matters of equality.
Desjarlais argued that her position was based on personal religious convictions, and was not grounded in homophobia
. She acknowledged as early as 2003 that opposing same-sex marriage was contrary to NDP policy, and accepted that "discipline may take place" as a result. She was relieved of her parliamentary critic responsibilities after the 2005 vote.
On other issues, her views were closer to official NDP policy. She is a strong defender of the rights of labour and public health care, and supports the principle of aboriginal self-government.
, daughter of Manitoba cabinet minister Steve Ashton
, in a vote of the membership of the Churchill NDP riding association. She resigned from the NDP caucus on the same day, and announced she would run as an Independent in the next federal election She acknowledged that her position on same-sex marriage was a prominent factor in her defeat.
Desjarlais was endorsed on January 5, 2006 by Vote Marriage Canada
, a group which opposes same-sex marriage. She finished third, behind Ashton and winning Liberal candidate (and North of 60
star) Tina Keeper
.
, Minister of Veterans' Affairs
in the Conservative
government of Stephen Harper
. The reaction from her former NDP colleagues was mixed. Caucus Chair Judy Wasylycia-Leis
described her decision as "mind-boggling and very disappointing", and commented that it was "hard to understand how Bev could have gone from being an active New Democrat to actually supporting and upholding the Stephen Harper agenda". Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer
said that Desjarlais had always worked well with MPs of all parties, and that she and Thompson would "work well together".
All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada
. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available. The list of winning candidates from 1992 is taken from the Winnipeg Free Press, 30 October 1992.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. She represented Churchill
Churchill (electoral district)
Churchill is a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935. It covers northern Manitoba, a vast wilderness area dotted with small municipalities and First Nations reserves...
in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
from 1997 to 2006, initially as a New Democrat
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
and later as an Independent after losing her party nomination in late 2005. She later worked as a departmental aide to Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
Veterans Affairs Minister
Minister of Veterans Affairs (Canada)
The Minister of Veterans Affairs is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet whose position was created in 1944. The Department of Veterans Affairs Canada was split from the Department of Pensions and National Health and was given the responsibility of administering benefits and pensions...
Greg Thompson
Greg Thompson
Gregory Francis Thompson, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who served six terms as an MP.Thompson, a businessman and financial planner was first elected into the Canadian House of Commons in the Canadian federal election, 1988 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
.
Her husband, Bob Desjarlais
Bob Desjarlais
Bob Desjarlais is a prominent labour leader in Thompson, Manitoba, Canada, having served as president of the United Steelworkers of America Local 6166 since the 1990s.- Biography :...
, is a prominent labour leader in northern Manitoba, who campaigned for Mayor of Thompson
Thompson, Manitoba
Thompson is a city in northern Manitoba. As the "Hub of the North" it serves as the regional trade and service centre of northern Manitoba. Thompson is located north of the Canada – United States border, north of the provincial capital of Winnipeg, and is northeast of Flin Flon...
in 2006
Manitoba municipal elections, 2006
-Brandon:*Jeff Harwood is a teacher in Brandon. He was a councillor for the city's second ward in the 1980s, and represented Brandon before the Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation in 1990. Following the events of September 11, 2001, Harwood wrote a piece supporting increased...
.
Early life and career
Desjarlais was born in ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
. She graduated from Bert Fox Composite High School in 1973, and held several positions at the General Hospital in Thompson
Thompson, Manitoba
Thompson is a city in northern Manitoba. As the "Hub of the North" it serves as the regional trade and service centre of northern Manitoba. Thompson is located north of the Canada – United States border, north of the provincial capital of Winnipeg, and is northeast of Flin Flon...
, Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
over the next twenty-four years. At the time of her election, she was a ward clerk. Desjarlais has also been a union steward with the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and is a member of Canadian Parents for French.
Her political career began in 1992, when she was elected as a trustee for the Mystery Lake
Mystery Lake, Manitoba
Mystery Lake is a local government district in northern Manitoba. It surrounds the city of Thompson.In 2006, according to Statistics Canada census data, Mystery Lake had a population of 147 living in 79 dwellings, a 2,840.0% increase from 2001. The LGD has a land area of and a population density...
School Division. She became Chair of the Board in 1994, and served until her election to Parliament in 1997.
New Democratic Party MP
Desjarlais challenged LiberalLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
incumbent Elijah Harper
Elijah Harper
Elijah Harper is an Aboriginal Cree Canadian politician and band chief. He was a key player in the rejection of the Meech Lake Accord, an attempt at Canadian constitutional reform.- Early life :...
for the Churchill riding in the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
. Although Harper had gained national fame in 1990 for blocking passage of the Meech Lake Accord
Meech Lake Accord
The Meech Lake Accord was a package of proposed amendments to the Constitution of Canada negotiated in 1987 by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and ten provincial premiers. It was intended to persuade the government of the Province of Quebec to endorse the 1982 Canadian Constitution and increase...
, he was not a prominent Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. Desjarlais won by 2,764 votes, and joined twenty other New Democrats on the opposition benches. Her opposition to the Canadian gun registry
Canadian gun registry
The Canadian Firearms Registry is part of the Firearms Act and is managed by the Canadian Firearms Program of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police . It requires the registration of all guns in Canada. It was introduced by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and implemented by...
was likely a contributing factor to her victory, as the registry was unpopular in rural Manitoba.
She held several official responsibilities in the 36th Canadian parliament
36th Canadian Parliament
The 36th Canadian Parliament was in session from September 22, 1997 until October 22, 2000. The membership was set by the 1997 federal election on June 2, 1997, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was dissolved prior to the 2000 election.It was controlled by...
, including serving as her party's critic for housing and the Treasury Board. In the latter capacity, she was a prominent supporter of pay equity policies to benefit Canadian women. Desjarlais was also chosen as her party's representative on the Commons Transport Committee, and held this position for several years. She defeated Harper again in the 2000 election, and was appointed NDP Industry Critic in the following parliament.
In 2001, she participated in a military training exercise to educate parliamentarians about the Canadian Forces
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
. Desjarlais joined the Canadian Air Force for a week, and took part in a search and rescue exercise in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
. She later supported fellow Manitoba MP Bill Blaikie
Bill Blaikie
William Alexander "Bill" Blaikie, PC is a Canadian politician. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba since April 2009, representing the Winnipeg division of Elmwood as a member of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, and Minister of Conservation and Government House Leader...
's campaign to become NDP leader in 2002-03. Blaikie finished second against Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
.
Desjarlais was re-elected in the 2004 election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
over a strong challenge from Liberal candidate Ron Evans. After the election, she was named NDP critic for Transport, Crown Corporations and the Canadian Wheat Board
Canadian Wheat Board
The Canadian Wheat Board was established by the Parliament of Canada on 5 July 1935 as a mandatory producer marketing system for wheat and barley in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and a small part of British Columbia...
. In early 2005, former Assembly of First Nations
Assembly of First Nations
The Assembly of First Nations , formerly known as the National Indian Brotherhood, is a body of First Nations leaders in Canada...
National Chief Ovide Mercredi
Ovide Mercredi
Ovide William Mercredi, OM is an Aboriginal Canadian politician. He is Cree and a former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations....
announced that he would challenge Desjarlais for the NDP nomination in Churchill. He later withdrew the challenge.
Policy views
Desjarlais was one of the most socially conservative members of the federal NDP, and when in caucus was its most socially conservative member. She was the only New Democrat to vote against Bill C-38Civil Marriage Act
The Civil Marriage Act was legislation legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada...
, which legalized same-sex marriage in Canada
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
, on its third and final reading in 2005. Her position placed her in conflict with both official NDP policy and party leader Jack Layton, who described same-sex marriage as a human rights issue and ruled that caucus members would not be permitted a free vote
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
on matters of equality.
Desjarlais argued that her position was based on personal religious convictions, and was not grounded in homophobia
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
. She acknowledged as early as 2003 that opposing same-sex marriage was contrary to NDP policy, and accepted that "discipline may take place" as a result. She was relieved of her parliamentary critic responsibilities after the 2005 vote.
On other issues, her views were closer to official NDP policy. She is a strong defender of the rights of labour and public health care, and supports the principle of aboriginal self-government.
Independent MP
On October 17, 2005, Desjarlais lost the Churchill NDP nomination to Niki AshtonNiki Ashton
Niki Christina Ashton is the New Democratic Member of Parliament for the electoral district of Churchill in Manitoba, Canada. She was first elected in the 2008 federal election....
, daughter of Manitoba cabinet minister Steve Ashton
Steve Ashton
Steve Ashton is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He is a long-serving member of the Manitoba legislature, and is currently a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party government of Greg Selinger....
, in a vote of the membership of the Churchill NDP riding association. She resigned from the NDP caucus on the same day, and announced she would run as an Independent in the next federal election She acknowledged that her position on same-sex marriage was a prominent factor in her defeat.
Desjarlais was endorsed on January 5, 2006 by Vote Marriage Canada
Vote Marriage Canada
Vote Marriage Canada was a socially conservative political lobbying group organized for the Canadian federal election in 2006 aiming at the overturning of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada....
, a group which opposes same-sex marriage. She finished third, behind Ashton and winning Liberal candidate (and North of 60
North of 60
North of 60 is a mid-1990s Canadian television series depicting life in the sub-Arctic northern boreal forest . It first aired on CBC Television in 1992 and was syndicated around the world. It is set in the fictional community of Lynx River, a primarily Native-run town depicted as being in the...
star) Tina Keeper
Tina Keeper
Tina Keeper, OM , is a Cree activist, producer, former actress and former member of the Canadian House of Commons.Keeper is best known for her role as RCMP officer Michelle Kenidi in the CBC Television series North of 60, about the fictional aboriginal community of Lynx River. She also hosted a...
.
After defeat
After her defeat, Desjarlais took a job in Ottawa as Director of Parliamentary Affairs in the office of Greg ThompsonGreg Thompson
Gregory Francis Thompson, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who served six terms as an MP.Thompson, a businessman and financial planner was first elected into the Canadian House of Commons in the Canadian federal election, 1988 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada...
, Minister of Veterans' Affairs
Minister of Veterans Affairs (Canada)
The Minister of Veterans Affairs is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet whose position was created in 1944. The Department of Veterans Affairs Canada was split from the Department of Pensions and National Health and was given the responsibility of administering benefits and pensions...
in the Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
government of Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
. The reaction from her former NDP colleagues was mixed. Caucus Chair Judy Wasylycia-Leis
Judy Wasylycia-Leis
Klazina Judith "Judy" Wasylycia-Leis is a Canadian politician. She was a Manitoba cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley from 1986 to 1988, and was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from September 22, 1997 to April 30, 2010...
described her decision as "mind-boggling and very disappointing", and commented that it was "hard to understand how Bev could have gone from being an active New Democrat to actually supporting and upholding the Stephen Harper agenda". Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer
Peter Stoffer
Peter Arend Stoffer is a Canadian politician.Stoffer is currently a member of the New Democratic Party caucus in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Sackville—Eastern Shore. He represented Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore after the 2000 election, and after the...
said that Desjarlais had always worked well with MPs of all parties, and that she and Thompson would "work well together".
Electoral record
Desjarlais was re-elected to the Mystery Lake School Division in 1995.All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available. The list of winning candidates from 1992 is taken from the Winnipeg Free Press, 30 October 1992.