Rebecca Blaikie is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician, who served as president of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2011 to 2016. She is the daughter of

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 ...

, a former NDP

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

from Winnipeg, deputy leader of the party, and provincial cabinet minister. Her brother

Daniel Blaikie Daniel Blaikie is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Elmwood—Transcona in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 Canadian federal election as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). He is the New Dem ...

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 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 ...

and a graduate degree in community economic development from Concordia University's School of Community and Public Affairs.

Candidate for the New Democratic Party

Blaikie was a candidate for the NDP in the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue ...

in then-Prime Minister

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

's electoral district of

LaSalle—Émard LaSalle—Émard was a federal electoral district in the Canadian province of Quebec that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. Its population in 2001 was 99,767. The MP from 1988 to 2008 was Paul Martin, who s ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. She received 4.97 per cent of the vote share, and was not elected. She did however receive a large amount of press coverage. As executive director of the party's

wing, she was one of the architects of

Thomas Mulcair Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) Thomas is a male given name of Aramaic origins. The English spelling "Thomas" is a transliteration; through Latin "Thomas", of the approximate Greek translite ...

's historic victory in the 2007

Outremont Outremont is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by fran ...

by-election and was widely credited with setting the groundwork for the party's historic breakthrough in the province in the 2011 election. She then returned to Manitoba to work for the provincial government. She ran in the 2011 federal election in the district of

Winnipeg North Winnipeg North (french: Winnipeg-Nord) is a federal electoral district in Canada that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It covers the northern portion of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Geography The riding includes the ne ...

, receiving 35.41 per cent of the vote, narrowly losing to

Kevin Lamoureux Kevin Lamoureux (born January 22, 1962) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. On November 29, 2010, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the constituency of Winnipeg North in a by-election. He was re-elected during the 2011 el ...

of the Liberal Party by 44 votes (0.17 per cent).

NDP treasurer and president

Blaikie was elected treasurer of the NDP at the Halifax convention in 2009 and reelected at the Vancouver convention in 2011, alongside Brian Topp who had been elected president. After

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

's death, Topp resigned as party president to run in the leadership race. As the party's federal council may fill vacancies with one of its own members, it chose Blaikie to fill the seat of president. Blaikie was re-elected as president at the 2013 Montreal convention. One of Blaikie's first notable acts as party president was to preside over the 2012 leadership election. Her term as president of the NDP ended in 2016."Four in race to become next NDP president after disastrous election, ‘I think it’s important we get the right people in this time’"
''

The Hill Times ''The Hill Times'' is a Canadian twice-weekly newspaper and daily news website, published in Ottawa, Ontario, which covers the Parliament of Canada, the federal government, and other federal political news. Founded in 1989 by Ross Dickson and Jim ...

'', April 9, 2016. At the party's convention in April 2016, Marit Stiles was selected as her successor."New NDP president supportive of Mulcair remaining leader till successor chosen"
''iPolitics'', April 11, 2016.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaikie, Rebecca Living people Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian political consultants Concordia University alumni Manitoba candidates for Member of Parliament New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Politicians from Winnipeg Presidents of the New Democratic Party of Canada Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament University of Winnipeg alumni Year of birth missing (living people)