Christel Haeck

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Christel Haeck (born March 9, 1948 in Stuttgart, Germany) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

Haeck was educated at Trent University in Peterborough and the SUNY Buffalo School of Information and Library Science. She worked as a library assistant at the Fort Erie Public Library in Fort Erie, Ontario from 1974 to 1977, and then took up a position as a librarian for the St. Catharines Public Library. She was later appointed Head of Special Collections for the St. Catharines Public Library, leaving that position in January of 1990 after her marriage to Dennis Gannon of Arlington, VA. Haeck graduated from the Niagara College program, Library Computer Network Operator in June 1996. She is a member of the Ontario Library Association.

She has served on many community boards including Labour Advisory Committee, Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology, the St.Catharines and District Labour Council, Board Member of Niagara North Community Legal Assistance Clinic, incorporating president of the St. Catharines Community Co-operative Homes, the Labour Representative on the Board of Governors, Niagara College of Applied Arts and Technology, St. Catharines Social Planning Council, the Employment Help Centre and AIDS Niagara. She currently serves on Heritage Niagara, Bethlehem Projects and the Ecological and Environmental Advisory Committee of the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

She first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, but finished third against Liberal Mike Dietsch in the riding of St. Catharines—Brock. She ran a second time in the 1990 provincial election, and defeated Dietsch by 1,159 votes amid an unexpected NDP majority victory across the province. Haeck served as a parliamentary assistant to the Ontario Minister of Colleges and Universities from October 1990 to August 1991, and was a member of the NDP caucus executive. Haeck chaired the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills for two years.

The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Haeck finished third against Progressive Conservative Tom Froese in her bid for re-election. She has not returned to provincial politics since this time.

Haeck participated in municipal electoral politics in 1997, coming a close third. A recount was initiated by Haeck where a judicial recount established her standing. In 2000, Haeck campaigned to be a part of the six-member St. Catharines delegation to the Niagara Regional Council and finished seventh. She was appointed to the council in 2002, following the death of former mayor Roy Adams. She ran again in the 2003 municipal election, but finished tenth.

She has been awarded a lifetime membership in the NDP.