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Judy Wasylycia-leisJudy Wasylycia-Leis (born August 10, 1951) is a Canadian politician. She was a Manitoba cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley from 1986 to 1988, and has been a member of the Canadian House of Commons since 1997. Wasylycia-Leis was born in Kitchener, Ontario, and was educated at the University of Waterloo and Carleton University (receiving a Master of Arts degree in political science from the latter institution in 1976). She worked as a policy planning consultant for the social-democratic New Democratic Party of Canada following her graduation, and served as an executive assistant to party leader Ed Broadbent. She also served as Women's Organizer for the federal NDP during this period. Wasylycia-Leis ran for office three times while living in Ontario, though she was not elected on any of these occasions. In 1977, she ran for the Ontario legislature for the provincial New Democratic Party in the riding of Carleton, and received 6837 votes for a third-place finish. She ran for the seat again in a 1980 by-election and the 1981 general election, and again placed third on each occasion. Wasylycia-Leis moved to Manitoba during the 1980s, where she worked as an executive assistant to Premier Howard Pawley and coordinated the Women's Directorate in the Manitoba government. She was elected to the Manitoba legislature for that province's New Democratic Party in the 1986 provincial election. She was elected in the north-end Winnipeg riding of St. Johns (generally a safe seat for the party), defeating Progressive Conservative John Baluta by almost two thousand votes. On April 17, 1986, Wasylycia-Leis was appointed to the Manitoba cabinet as Minister of Culture, Heritage and Recreation with responsibility for the Status of Women and the Manitoba Lotteries Foundation Act. She was relieved of the Status of Women responsibility on September 21, 1987, but retained the other two positions until the Pawley government was defeated in the 1988 provincial election. Wasylycia-Leis was herself re-elected in 1988, although by a narrower margin; she defeated Liberal Ruth Oberman, 3092 votes to 2480. In the 1990 provincial election, she was re-elected again by a wider margin. Wasylycia-Leis resigned her seat on August 12, 1993 to seek (and win) the federal NDP nomination in the riding of Winnipeg North. The NDP fared poorly in the 1993 election, however, and Wasylycia-Leis lost to Liberal Rey Pagtakhan by almost 10,000 votes. She subsequently became a co-chair of Cho!ces, a Manitoba social-justice coalition. In the federal election of 1997, Wasylycia-Leis ran in the riding of Winnipeg North Centre, and defeated Liberal Judith Optiz Silver, 13663 votes to 7801. She was re-elected by a wider margin in the 2000 election. In 2003, she supported Bill Blaikie's campaign to become leader of the federal NDP. Redistribution placed Wasylycia-Leis against Pagtakhan again for the federal election of 2004, in the altered riding of Winnipeg North. On this occasion, Wasylycia-Leis defeated Pagtakhan 12507 votes to 9491. Wasylycia-Leis was named Deputy Caucus Chair of the parliamentary NDP on January 30, 2003. On August 2, 2004, she was promoted to Caucus Chair. In parliament, Wasylycia-Leis has focused primarily on issues relating to women (including women's health concerns) and general human rights. She has served as her party's health critic, and was made critic for women's and senior's issues in 2001. She is also a strong advocate for Israel, and in recent years has been critical of her party's foreign policy positions as regards Israel and the Middle East. Wasylycia-Leis is a Ukrainian-Canadian, and in November 2004 traveled to Ukraine to monitor developments in that country's disputed Presidential election. Wasylycia-Leis, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Judy Wasylycia-Leis, Judy
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