Jane Stewart (politician)
| The Hon. Jane Stewart | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Brant | |
| In office 1993–2004 | |
| Preceded by | Derek Blackburn |
| Succeeded by | Lloyd St. Amand |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 25, 1955 Brantford, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Relations | Robert Nixon, father Harry Nixon, grandfather |
| Cabinet | Minister of National Revenue (1996-1997) Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1997-1999) Minister of Human Resources Development (1999-2003) |
Jane Stewart, PC (born April 25, 1955 ) is a former Canadian politician who was the Minister of Human Resources Development from 1999 to 2003. She currently is the Special Representative and Director of the International Labour Organization's office to the United Nations
Born in Brantford, Ontario, Stewart was first elected to Parliament in the 1993 election. She was a close friend of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and was soon appointed to the important position of Minister of Indian Affairs. In 1999, she was moved to the Department of Human Resources Development (HRDC), the government department that has the largest budget. Stewart was widely viewed to have leadership ambitions, and was closely supported by Chrétien.
These ambitions were put to an end by the so-called "billion-dollar boondoggle" where ineffective accounting practices at HRDC allegedly left millions of dollars unaccounted for (subsequent accounting reports revealed that only $85,000 were left unaccounted for[citation needed]). While the problems at HRDC mostly date from the time of her predecessor, Pierre Pettigrew, Stewart took the brunt of the attack but was also the Minister widely viewed to have cleaned up the mess left behind by her predecessor. She did not resign, and Chrétien stood by her throughout the ordeal.
She remained minister in charge of HRDC until Paul Martin became Prime Minister on December 12, 2003. She was moved to the backbenches because of her position as a loyalist to the ousted Chrétien. She retired from politics on February 13, 2004, to become an Executive Director of the International Labour Organization. In July 2005, she left her job with the ILO to return to Canada and marry businessman Henry Stolp. She has since returned to ILO as its Executive Director and currently resides in New York City.
With the announcement that Martin was stepping down as leader of the Liberal Party, a group called "Liberals for Jane" had hoped to see Stewart seek the party leadership. This was ruled out when Stewart accepted the position of Chief of Staff to acting Leader of the Opposition, Bill Graham. Only weeks later, Stewart stepped down from the post due to family obligations. She was replaced by former cabinet minister Andy Mitchell.
From 2006 to May 2007 Stewart was chief negotiator for the province of Ontario in the Caledonia land dispute.[1] In 2008, Jane became the Volunteer Chair for Brant United Way.
Stewart comes from a family of politicians. Her father Robert Nixon was leader of the Ontario Liberal Party, while her grandfather was Ontario premier Harry Nixon.
Electoral record
| Canadian federal election, 2000: Brant | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±pp | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | Jane Stewart | 24,068 | 56.42 | – | $46,551 | |
| Canadian Alliance | Chris Cattle | 10,955 | 25.68 | $43,139 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Stephen Kun | 3,580 | 8.39 | $6,405 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Dee Chisholm | 3,126 | 7.33 | $9,266 | ||
| Green | Graeme Dunn | 484 | 1.13 | $156 | ||
| Canadian Action | Mike Clancy | 447 | 1.05 | $8,881 | ||
| Total valid votes/Expense Limit | 42,660 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 262 | |||||
| Turnout | 42,922 | 56.28 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 76,270 | |||||
| Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada. | ||||||
| Canadian federal election, 1997 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±pp | ||
| Liberal | Jane Stewart | 24,125 | 53.0% | +1.5% | ||
| Reform | Dan Houssar | 10,436 | 22.9% | -1.8% | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Stephen W. Kun | 5,781 | 12.7% | +0.5% | ||
| New Democratic | Pat Franklin | 5,201 | 11.4% | +4.5% | ||
| Total valid votes | 45,543 | 100.0% | ||||
| Canadian federal election, 1993: Brant | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±pp | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | Jane Stewart | 24,686 | 51.46 | – | $39,023 | |
| Reform | Ken Edmison | 11,863 | 24.73 | $36,354 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Mabel E. Dougherty | 5,831 | 12.16 | $25,624 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Michael C. Smith | 3,317 | 6.92 | $37,911 | ||
| National | Herman Kruis | 1,227 | 2.56 | $8,148 | ||
| Green | Jamie Legacey | 482 | 1.00 | $0 | ||
| Libertarian | Helmut Kurmis | 258 | 0.54 | $0 | ||
| Natural Law | Eleanor Toshiko Hyodo | 192 | 0.40 | $2,853 | ||
| N/A (Social Credit) | Doug Stelpstra | 112 | 0.23 | $158 | ||
| Total valid votes | 47,968 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 500 | |||||
| Turnout | 48,468 | 65.27 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 74,260 | |||||
| Source: Thirty-fifth General Election, 1993: Official Voting Results, Published by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. Financial figures taken from official contributions and expenses provided by Elections Canada. | ||||||
References
- ↑ "Ontario replacing negotiator in Caledonia talks". Canadian Press. 7 May 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
External links
| 26th Ministry – Cabinet of Jean Chrétien | ||
| Cabinet Posts (3) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Pierre Pettigrew | Minister of Human Resources Development 1999–2003 |
Liza Frulla |
| Ron Irwin | Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development 1997–1999 |
Bob Nault |
| David Anderson | Minister of National Revenue 1996–1997 |
Herb Dhaliwal |
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