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Jim PankiwJim Pankiw is a Canadian politician and former Member of Parliament. He served two terms in the Canadian House of Commons, representing SaskatoonHumboldt in Saskatchewan from 1997 until 2004 as a member of the Reform Party of Canada, the Canadian Alliance, the Democratic Representative Caucus and finally as an independent MP. Pankiw's tenure in the House is generally regarded as one of the most controversial in recent memory. Pankiw, a chiropractor, was first elected to Parliament in the 1997 Canadian federal election as a member of the Reform Party, with a plurality of just 220 votes over Dennis Gruending of the New Democratic Party. Pankiw first became embroiled in controversy in 2000, when he wrote a letter to the president of the University of Saskatchewan, Peter MacKinnon which condemned the university's affirmative action policies and comparing its supporters to those of the Ku Klux Klan. The letter infuriated many within the university and led to a heated debate between Pankiw and Saskatchewan Liberal cabinet minister Jack Hillson on the U of S campus. The controversy surrounding Pankiw's letter to MacKinnon had not completely subsided by the time the 2000 Canadian election was called. Now a member of Reform's successor, the CA, Pankiw ran into fierce opposition during his on-campus debate with the Liberal candidate, former MP Morris Bodnar. However, strong support from the rural areas of the constituency meant that Pankiw not only won re-election, but he did so with a much-increased plurality of 6,360 votes. By 2001, Pankiw's relationship with much of the Alliance caucus and especially the leader, Stockwell Day was reported to be strained at best. Pankiw would eventually join with a small group of MPs informally led by Chuck Strahl and call for Day's resignation, a move which would trigger Pankiw's suspension and eventual expulsion from the Alliance caucus and party. Pankiw would eventually sit with other DRC members in the Progressive Conservative-DRC coalition. The election of Stephen Harper as leader of the Alliance would soon result in the dissolution of the PC-DRC coalition and in most of the DRC members returning to the Alliance fold. Pankiw also applied for re-admission, however, by this time he was involved in another controversy when an aboriginal lawyer alleged that an inebriated Pankiw had made lewd gestures to him in a Saskatoon bar, and challenged him to a fight. Pankiw had also persisted in demanding that the Saskatoon Police force abolish its affirmative action initiatives, despite pleas from several Alliance members that he stop. These controversies, combined with earlier comments Pankiw had allegedly made to some Alliance members proved too much for the party, and Pankiw was denied re-admission to the Alliance. Despite the contacts he had made with the PCs during his time in the DRC, Pankiw was also refused entry to the new Conservative Party of Canada, and served the rest of his term as an independent MP. In 2003, Pankiw decided to run to replace the unpopular James Maddin as mayor of Saskatoon. His candidacy was controversial for a number of reasons. His comments and confrontations had led many people, especially aboriginals to conclude that Pankiw was a racist. Pankiw responded with flyers to back up his belief that it was his opponents who were guilty of racism, while those opposed to him raised billboards which read Racism-Free Zone No Pankiw, Thank You. Pankiw's decision to seek the mayor's chair without resigning his seat in Parliament first also raised some eyebrows, although his supporters were quick to point out that in a federal by-election in SaskatoonRosetownBiggar just four years earlier, then-mayor Henry Dayday had sought election as a Liberal while keeping the mayor's chair. Finally, the revelation that Pankiw had recently purchased a home outside the Saskatoon city limits also attracted considerable criticism. Despite the controversy, Pankiw still managed to finish ahead of the incumbent in third place, behind runner-up Peter Zakreski. Don Atchison was elected mayor. Pankiw's candidacy helped fuel a voter turnout that exceeded 50 percent, a level almost unheard of in a Canadian municipal election. Despite being challenged for his seat by Conservative candidate Brad Trost, Pankiw decided to seek re-election in 2004. His candidacy was also challenged by Liberal Patrick Wolfe and New Democrat Nettie Wiebe. Without a party to back him, Pankiw was unable to secure a third term in Parliament. He did receive 7,076 votes, however, enough for a respectable fourth-place finish and only 2,368 votes behind the winner, Trost. The vote-splitting nearly cost Trost the seat, as he was left with just a 387 vote plurality over Wiebe. Although Pankiw was only 37 when he was defeated by Trost, it is uncertain what political future, if any Pankiw may have. Pankiw has often been critical of the right-leaning Saskatchewan Party, and it seems unlikely he would be welcome in that party in any event. It is rumored that the Western Independence Party of Saskatchewan is courting him to take a prominent role in their party. Although Pankiw has never publicly endorsed western separatism, some people believe that at the very least, he privately sympathises with the separatist cause. Pankiw, Jim Pankiw, Jim
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