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Walt LastewkaWalter Thomas Lastewka (born October 11, 1940 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian politician. He has been a member of the Canadian House of Commons since 1993, representing the Ontario riding of St. Catharines for the Liberal Party. Lastewka was educated at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, receiving a degree in 1963. He continued his education in adult life, completing an Executive Program at the University of Western Ontario in 1981. He worked as an industrial engineer in private life, and was a plant manager and senior executive for General Motors of Canada between 1963 and 1992. Lastewka has also been involved in numerous community activities, including serving as a director of the United Way and a trustee of Brock University. He is also a former director and parish chairman for St. John's Ukrainian Church. Lastewka worked as campaign manager for federal MP Gilbert Parent in every election from 1974 to 1988, and was the Vice-President of Organization in the Ontario Liberal Party from 1979 to 1981. He was himself elected to parliament in the 1993 election, defeating Reformer Rob Hesp and incumbent Progressive Conservative Ken Atkinson by a fairly wide margin. St. Catharines is not a "safe" seat for the Liberals, and Lastewka has faced credible challenges in every election since his first. He defeated Hesp by just over 6,000 votes in the 1997 election, and Canadian Alliance candidate Randy Dumont by 5,000 votes in that of 2000. In 2004, the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to create the Conservative Party of Canada. Many believed this party would win the St. Catharines riding in 2004; however, Lastewka defeated Conservative candidate Leo Bonomi by 3,016 votes. Lastewka served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Industry from 1997 to 1999. He is currently the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, having been appointed in late 2003. Until the 2004 election, he held special responsibility for matters relating to Procurement Review. Lastewka, Walt Lastewka, Walt Lastewka, Walt
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