Leah Gazan

Leah Gazan
MP
Member of Parliament
for Winnipeg Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 21, 2019
Preceded byRobert-Falcon Ouellette
Personal details
Born (1972-04-08) April 8, 1972 (age 52)[1]
Thompson, Manitoba, Canada[2]
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Residence(s)Winnipeg, Manitoba[3]

Leah Gazan MP (born April 8, 1972) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Winnipeg Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[4]

Early life

Leah Gazan was born in Thompson, Manitoba[2] to Abraham (Albert) Gazan[5] and Marjorie Anne Lecaine.[6] According to Gazan, both her parents are "survivors": her maternal grandmother, Adeline LeCaine, is Lakota, and her maternal grandfather is Chinese,[7] while her paternal grandparents are Jewish.[8] Gazan's father, born at The Hague, South Holland in 1938, was two and a half years old when the Germans invaded Holland, and spent the remainder of the war in hiding, sheltered by Dutch families.[9] Gazan's paternal grandmother, Gina Gazan, spent time in a concentration camp.[10]

Both of Gazan's parents were organizers for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, the NDP's predecessor party.[11]

Before her first political campaign, Gazan was a lecturer at the Faculty of Education in University of Winnipeg.[12][13][14] She also served as president for the Social Planning council of Winnipeg. Gazan participated in Idle No More, and pushed for Bill C-262 to be passed by the House of Commons.[15] She also represented the province of Manitoba for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues advocating for acknowledgement of injustice perpetuated against Indigenous Canadian adoptive children.[16]

Political career

Gazan identifies as a socialist, like her parents.[11][17] In 2019, Gazan won the NDP nomination for Winnipeg Centre over former Manitoba Attorney General Andrew Swan.[18] She subsequently defeated incumbent Liberal Robert-Falcon Ouellette, another Indigenous candidate, for the seat of Winnipeg Centre, retaking the riding for the NDP.[19]

During the 43rd Canadian Parliament, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh appointed Gazan to be the Critic for Families, Children, and Social Development in the NDP's shadow Cabinet. She introduced one private member's bill, Bill C-323, An Act respecting a Climate Emergency Action Framework, which sought to require the Minister of the Environment to develop and implement a framework on achieving the objectives of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. At a vote on March 24, 2021, it was defeated with Liberal and Conservative Party MPs voting against.[20][21]

In August 2020, Gazan introduced Motion 46 in the House of Commons of Canada, which would convert the Canada Emergency Response Benefit introduced by the federal government during the COVID-19 pandemic into a permanent basic income program.[22] In 2021 she spoke in the House of Commons in support of UBI.[23]

She presented a motion to the House of Commons to declare the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women and girls a Canada-wide emergency, which passed unanimously. The motion also called for the creation of a new system to send out alerts for missing people.[24]

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: Winnipeg Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Leah Gazan 14,962 50.3 +9.1 $95,075.71
Liberal Paul Ong 8,446 28.4 -5.3 $34,450.58
Conservative Sabrina Brenot 3,818 12.8 -4.7 none listed
People's Bhavni Bhakoo 1,229 4.1 +2.6 $3,735.84
Green Andrew Brown 708 2.4 -2.8 $0.00
Libertarian Jamie Buhler 373 1.3 N/A none listed
Animal Protection Debra Wall 213 0.7 N/A $4,055.48
Total valid votes/expense limit 29,749 98.8 – $101,566.38
Total rejected ballots 365 1.2
Turnout 30,114 52.2
Eligible voters 57,672
New Democratic hold Swing +7.2
Source: Elections Canada[25]
2019 Canadian federal election: Winnipeg Centre
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Leah Gazan 13,073 41.21 +13.2 $81,565.86
Liberal Robert-Falcon Ouellette 10,704 33.74 -20.8 $93,870.93
Conservative Ryan Dyck 5,561 17.53 +5.1 $16,427.27
Green Andrea Shalay 1,661 5.24 +1.1 none listed
People's Yogi Henderson 474 1.49 – none listed
Christian Heritage Stephanie Hein 251 0.79 +0.1 none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 31,724 100.0  
Total rejected ballots 274
Turnout 31,998 54.2
Eligible voters 59,012
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing +17.0
Source: Elections Canada[26][27]

References

  1. ^ Jennifer Howard on Twitter: Happy Birthday! And welcome to 50. Twitter
  2. ^ a b Kusch, Larry (16 October 2019). "Oct 2019: Two-candidate race for heart of Winnipeg Centre". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Gazan ousts Ouellette to return riding to NDP". Winnipeg Free Press. October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  5. ^ "MANI ABRAHAM - Obituaries - Winnipeg Free Press Passages". passages.winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  6. ^ "WIN MARJORIE - Obituaries - Winnipeg Free Press Passages". passages.winnipegfreepress.com. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  7. ^ "Debates (Hansard) No. 219 - September 18, 2023 (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  8. ^ Bellan, Bernie. "Leah Gazan – the NDP candidate in the Federal riding of Winnipeg Centre is a "proud Jewish, Lakota, Asian woman"". www.jewishpostandnews.ca. The Jewish Post and News. Archived from the original on 2019-07-16. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  9. ^ Millo, Belle (2010). Voices of Winnipeg Holocaust Survivors. Belle Millo. ISBN 978-0-9691256-9-3.
  10. ^ "Debates (Hansard) No. 179 - April 18, 2023 (44-1) - House of Commons of Canada". www.ourcommons.ca. Retrieved 2024-07-10.
  11. ^ a b Forrest, Maura. "Rookies of Parliament Hill: Leah Gazan — the unapologetic 'proud socialist'". nationalpost. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  12. ^ "Biography". Leah Gazan. 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  13. ^ "Leah Gazan at University of Winnipeg | Rate My Professors". www.ratemyprofessors.com. Retrieved 2023-05-17.
  14. ^ Kusch, Larry; Cash, Martin (21 October 2019). "Gazan ousts Ouellette to return riding to NDP". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Leah Gazan for Winnipeg Centre". Leah Gazan for Winnipeg Centre. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Story". Leah Gazan. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  17. ^ Dembicki, Geoff (16 July 2019). "'We Are Living in a Growing Corporate Dictatorship'". The Tyee. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  18. ^ "Former Manitoba justice minister Andrew Swan seeks NDP nod to run in federal election". CBC News. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  19. ^ Rosen, Kayla (21 October 2019). "NDP candidate Leah Gazan takes Winnipeg Centre seat from incumbent Robert-Falcon Ouellette". www.iheartradio.ca. Bell Media. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
  20. ^ Peacock, Paige (December 21, 2020). "'She is very clear about why she is there': rookie MP Gazan putting her 'movement' stamp on first year in House". The Hill Times.
  21. ^ "Bill C-232 An Act respecting a Climate Emergency Action Framework". Parliament of Canada. February 26, 2020.
  22. ^ McGuckin, Amber (August 12, 2020). "Manitoba MP submits motion to convert CERB benefit to permanent basic income". globalnews.ca.
  23. ^ News, Morgan Sharp |; April 29th 2021, Politics | (2021-04-29). "NDP puts universal basic income back on the agenda". Canada's National Observer. Retrieved 2021-05-04. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ "House of Commons unanimously backs system to alert public when Indigenous women go missing". The Globe and Mail. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-03.
  25. ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  26. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  27. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 9, 2019.