Mira Spivak ( Steele; born July 12, 1934) is a former member of the

Canadian Senate The Senate of Canada (french: region=CA, Sénat du Canada) is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the House of Commons, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The Senate is modelled after the Br ...

representing the province of

Manitoba , 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 = Win ...

. Born in

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the surrounding Ri ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

(then in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

), Spivak received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

, Honours Degree in Political Science and Philosophy from 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.Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political ...

in 1986 as a Progressive Conservative (PC). She refused to join the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

when the PC Party merged with the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

in 2003 and subsequently left the Conservative caucus to sit in the Senate as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

on February 3, 2004. Spivak holds liberal views on most social issues. She allowed her name to be used on a full-page

pro-choice Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...

advertisement that ran in the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well ...

'' on October 11, 1989. In 2006, she supported

Elizabeth May Elizabeth Evans May (born June 9, 1954) is a Canadian politician, environmentalist, author, activist, and lawyer who is serving as the leader of the Green Party of Canada since 2022, and previously served as the leader from 2006 to 2019. Sh ...

in her successful campaign to win the leadership of the

Green Party of Canada The Green Party of Canada (french: Parti vert du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1983 with a focus on green politics. The Green Party is currently the fifth largest party in the House of Commons by seat count. It ...

.Susan Delacourt
May wins vote to lead Greens
''Toronto Star'', August 27, 2006 Spivak retired from the Senate on July 12, 2009, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75. She is the widow of Manitoba politician

Sidney Spivak Sidney Joel Spivak, (May 23, 1928 – July 8, 2002) was a Manitoba politician. He was a Cabinet minister in the governments of Dufferin Roblin, Walter Weir and Sterling Lyon, and was himself leader of the Progressive Conservative Party o ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spivak, Mira 1934 births Living people People from Rivne Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Canadian senators from Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Independent Canadian senators Women members of the Senate of Canada Women in Manitoba politics Jewish Canadian politicians Ukrainian emigrants to Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians Jewish women politicians