Thomas G. "Tom" Nevakshonoff (born 1958 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He is currently a member of the Manitoba legislature.[1]
Nevakshonoff grew up in Poplarfield and Fisher Branch, Manitoba. He graduated from the Fisher Branch Collegiate Institute in 1977. He then spent eighteen years working in Canada's oilfields.[2]
In 1987, Nevakshonoff graduated from Carleton University in Ottawa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in East European Studies.[2] He is from a Doukhobor family that moved to Canada in 1899. Nevakshonoff travelled to Russia in 1991 where he was employed by Canadian companies interested in the Russian oil and gas industries. In 1992, he was commissioned by the Canadian Embassy in Russia to write a petroleum sector study.[2]
He returned to Canada and on his father's retirement replaced his father as co-owner of the family business, Aberdeen Lodge, a family-owned lodge located just south of Flin Flon.[2]
Nevakshonoff was elected to the Manitoba legislature as a New Democrat in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Progressive Conservative Betty Green by 3809 votes to 3260 in the riding of Interlake.[3] The election was notable for smear campaign against Nevakshonoff. Faxes and letters were circulated claiming that he was a liar, a convicted thief and drug dealer. Heather Campbell Dewar, the Progressive Conservative Party's campaign manager later pled guilty to defamation and obstruction of justice.[4][5][6]
In 2003, he supported Bill Blaikie's campaign to become leader of the federal New Democratic Party.
Nevakshonoff was re-elected in the 2003 election, defeating Betty Green again by a wider margin.[3] He was returned again in the 2007 election.[3] He is the chair of the NDP's Legislative Review Committee of the NDP Caucus and the Standing Committee of Agriculture of the Legislative Assembly. He is also the Legislative Assistant to the Minister of Conservation and the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation.[2]
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