Rebecca Blaikie
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Rebecca Blaikie | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Blaikie addressing the 2013 federal NDP convention in Montreal | |
| President of the New Democratic Party | |
| In office September 12, 2011 – April 10, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Topp |
| Succeeded by | Marit Stiles |
| Treasurer of the New Democratic Party | |
| In office 2009–2011 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1978 or 1979 (age 47–48) |
| Party | New Democratic Party |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | Daniel Blaikie (brother) |
| Alma mater | |
Rebecca Blaikie (born 1978 or 1979)[1] is a Canadian politician, who served as president of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2011 to 2016.[2]
She is the daughter of Bill Blaikie, a former NDP Member of Parliament from Winnipeg, deputy leader of the party, and provincial cabinet minister.[3][4] Her brother Daniel Blaikie was elected as Member of Parliament for their father's former riding of Elmwood—Transcona in 2015.
She has an undergraduate degree in Canadian social history from the University of Winnipeg and a graduate degree in community economic development from Concordia University's School of Community and Public Affairs.
Blaikie was a candidate for the NDP in the 2004 Canadian federal election in then-Prime Minister Paul Martin's electoral district of LaSalle—Émard in Montreal, Quebec.[5] She received 4.4 per cent of the vote, coming in fourth place. She did, however, receive a large amount of press coverage.
As executive director of the party's Quebec wing, she was one of the architects of Tom Mulcair's historic victory in the 2007 Outremont by-election[6]—he became the first New Democrat to win a federal seat in Quebec since Phil Edmonston in the 1990 Chambly by-election, and Outremont had voted Liberal in every election since its creation except for the Progressive Conservative win of 1988. She was also widely credited with setting the groundwork for the party's historic breakthrough in the province in the 2011 election.[7]
She then returned to Manitoba to work for the provincial government. She ran in the 2011 federal election in the district of Winnipeg North,[8] receiving 35.41 per cent of the vote, narrowly losing to incumbent Kevin Lamoureux of the Liberal Party by 44 votes (0.17 per cent).[3][9]