Chaviva Hosek

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Dr. Chaviva Milada Hosek (born 21 November 1946 in Czechoslovakia) is a Canadian academic, feminist and former politician.

The child of Holocaust survivors, Hosek was born to a Hungarian Jewish family living in Bohemia and raised in Montreal. She received her undergraduate degree from McGill University and earned a doctorate in English literature from Harvard in 1973 (specializing in the poetry of Walt Whitman).

She worked as a professor of English Literature at the University of Toronto for thirteen years. An active feminist, she served as president of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women from 1984 to 1986. She later described her time at the NAC as "the harshest political experience I ever had", claiming that the group was polarized by internal divisions during this period.[1] Hosek was named B'nai Brith Woman of the Year in 1984.

In the 1987 Ontario election, Hosek sought and won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for the Toronto constituency of Oakwood, defeating Ontario New Democratic Party incumbent Tony Grande by 1,331 votes. She was immediately appointed to David Peterson's cabinet as Minister of Housing, and embarked on a program to expand social housing.

Hosek was forced to resign from cabinet on October 1, 1989, due to charges that she had hired a developer in her department. Hosek had also attracted controversy by firing popular former Toronto mayor John Sewell from the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority. She was later cleared by the provincial auditor of any wrongdoing.

The Peterson government been defeated in the 1990 Ontario election. Hosek lost her own riding to Tony Rizzo of the NDP by 2,280 votes.

Hosek became director of the Liberal Party of Canada's caucus research bureau. Along with Paul Martin, she co-authored the party's Red Book, as the party's campaign platform for the 1993 federal election was known. After Liberal leader Jean Chrétien became Prime Minister of Canada, Hosek was appointed Director of Policy and Research in the Prime Minister's Office, and wrote the Liberal platforms for the 1997 and 2000 federal elections

In 2001, Hosek left the PMO to become president and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research.