Christine Susan Stewart, (3 January 1941 – 25 April 2015) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

politician. She served three terms as a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Member of Parliament for the riding of

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

in Ontario. During her career she held the cabinet positions of Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, and Minister of the Environment.

Early life and education

Stewart earned a degree in

nursing Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

(BScN) from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

Career

Stewart practised nursing for a short time before becoming involved in international development work first as a volunteer with her husband in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

in 1971-72. She co-founded a non-government organization, Horizons of Friendship, of which she was co-executive director until 1988. She raised her family of three children, served as a school board trustee and on several community church, social and arts bodies in

Cobourg, Ontario Cobourg ( ) is a town in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto and east of Oshawa. It is the largest town in and seat of Northumberland County, Ontario, Northumberla ...

. She was first elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

as an Opposition member by a margin of 27 votes in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, following Conservative

George Hees George Harris Hees (June 17, 1910 – June 11, 1996) was a Canadian politician and businessman. Background Born in Toronto, Hees was educated at the exclusive Crescent School in Toronto, Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, the Roya ...

. During that term she was assigned the job of development assistance critic. Stewart was elected twice more in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

with substantive majorities and served in the cabinet of prime minister

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

first as Secretary of State (Latin America and Africa) from 1993 to 1997, and then as

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

from 1997 to 1999. She announced her resignation from politics for personal reasons before the election of 2000. As Secretary of State, Latin America and Africa, she made official visits to most countries on those continents. For many of these countries, including some who had been receiving Canadian development assistance for years, it was the first visit by a

minister. As Minister of the Environment, Stewart headed the Canadian delegation to the Kyoto climate change negotiations and signed the

Kyoto Accord The was an international treaty which extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that commits state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, based on the scientific consensus that global warming is occ ...

on behalf of Canada. She pushed for action on the Kyoto Accord, improvements in the ''

Canadian Environmental Protection Act The ''Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999'' (''CEPA, 1999''; ) is an act of the 36th Parliament of Canada, whose goal is to contribute to sustainable development through pollution prevention and to protect the environment, human life an ...

'', the ''

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (, SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. T ...

'', and the ''

Canadian Environmental Assessment Act The ''Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012'' (, CEAA 2012) and its regulations established the legislative basis for the federal practice of environmental assessment in most regions of Canada from 2012 to 2019. It was repealed with the com ...

''. However, she also fueled the fires of

climate change deniers Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetori ...

when, in 1998 she told editors and reporters of the

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

, "No matter if the science of global warming is all phony…climate change rovidesthe greatest opportunity to bring about justice and equality in the world." After leaving Canadian politics, Stewart acted as special envoy to

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

for the Commonwealth Secretary General until 2006 and continued her interest in addressing social issues in her community and work on good governance internationally. She died on 25 April 2015."Former MP for Northumberland Christine Stewart dies"
26 Apr 2015, by Karen Longwell ''Northumberland News''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Christine 1941 births 2015 deaths Women government ministers of Canada Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the 26th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Women in Ontario politics 21st-century Canadian women politicians 20th-century Canadian women politicians Ministers of the environment of Canada 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada