Gordon Henry Alexander Mackintosh (born July 7, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who represented the riding of St. Johns in the
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...
from 1993 to 2016. He served as a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments of
Gary Doer
Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...
and
Greg Selinger
Gregory Francis Selinger (born February 16, 1951) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 21st premier of Manitoba from 2009 until 2016, leading an NDP government. From 1999 to 2009 he was the Minister of Finance in the government of ...
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, and was educated at the
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba. Before entering politics, Mackintosh worked for the
Canadian Human Rights Commission
The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the ''Canadian Human Rights Act'' to investigate and to try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the pr ...
and the
Manitoba Human Rights Commission
The Manitoba Human Rights Commission (MHRC) is a quasi-judicial arms-length agency of the Government of Manitoba that is responsible for enforcing ''The Human Rights Code'' (Manitoba).
The acting chairperson of the Board of Commissioners is John ...
between 1979 and 1984, and also worked as Deputy Clerk of the
Manitoba Legislature
The Legislature of Manitoba is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the King of Canada in Right of Manitoba, represented by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, and the unicameral ...
from 1980 to 1984. He was called to the bar in 1988, served as chair of the Patient's Rights Committee from 1986 to 1992, and was a member of the
Rainbow Society
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows ca ...
and the
Manitoba Anti-Poverty Organization
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
. In his legal career, he specialized in environmental issues, and was also an assistant to Elijah Harper during the Meech Lake constitutional debates of 1990.
Political career
Mackintosh entered provincial politics in September 1993, winning a
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
in the north
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
Judy Wasylycia-Leis
Klazina Judith Wasylycia-Leis (; born 1951) is a Canadian politician. She was a Manitoba cabinet minister in the government of Howard Pawley from 1986 to 1988, and was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from September 22, 1997, to April ...
, who resigned to run for the federal
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
). Mackintosh won 3232 votes, compared to 878 for his nearest opponent,
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
Naty Yenkech. In the provincial election of 1995, Mackintosh was re-elected in St. Johns with 4513 votes, against 1610 for Liberal Bron Gorski. The general election was won by
Gary Filmon
Gary Albert Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is Canadian politician from Manitoba. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the 19th premier of Manitoba from 1988 to 1999.
Political care ...
's Progressive Conservatives, and Mackintosh joined 22 other New Democrats in the official opposition.
The New Democrats won the election of 1999, and Mackintosh was re-elected in his own riding. On October 5, he was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney General and Keeper of the Great Seal with responsibility for Constitutional Affairs, and was also named NDP House Leader. On January 17, 2001, he was charged with responsibility for the Manitoba Public Insurance Corporation Act.
As Attorney General, Mackintosh oversaw the extension of children's rights in the legal system, and supported the creation of Cybertip.ca by Child Find Manitoba to report on online predators and child pornography. In addition, Mackintosh oversaw new initiatives in aboriginal and community justice, and made efforts to target organized crime in Manitoba. On November 1, 2004, Mackintosh's department announced that it would introduce tough anti-gang legislation, which would permit the province to confiscate the assets of suspected gang members even if no criminal convictions have occurred.
In 2003, Mackintosh supported
Bill Blaikie
William Alexander Blaikie (June 19, 1951 – September 24, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2008, representing Elmwood—Transcona and its antecedent ridings in the House of Commons of Canad ...
's candidacy to become leader of the federal New Democratic Party. The New Democrats were re-elected, and Mackintosh was returned in St. Johns with over 72% of the vote. In September 2006, Mackintosh became Minister of Family Services and Housing, replacing Christine Melnick. Mackintosh was re-elected in the 2007 and 2011 provincial elections.
Post-political career
Mackintosh now teaches political science at the
University of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gra ...