Thomas George Nevakshonoff (born December 22, 1958) is a former politician in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, Canada. He served as a member of the

Manitoba legislature The Manitoba Legislature is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor of Manitoba, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada) and the unicameral assemb ...

, prior to his defeat in 2016. Nevakshonoff was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

. He grew up in Poplarfield and Fisher Branch, Manitoba. He graduated from the Fisher Branch Collegiate Institute in 1977. He then spent eighteen years working in Canada's oilfields. In 1987, Nevakshonoff graduated from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in East European Studies. He is from a

Doukhobor The Doukhobors ( Canadian spelling) or Dukhobors (; ) are a Spiritual Christian ethnoreligious group of Russian origin. They are known for their pacifism and tradition of oral history, hymn-singing, and verse. They reject the Russian Ortho ...

family that moved to Canada in 1899. Nevakshonoff travelled to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in 1991 where he was employed by Canadian companies interested in the Russian oil and gas industries. In 1992, he was commissioned by the Canadian Embassy in Russia to write a petroleum sector study. He returned to Canada and on his father's retirement replaced his father as co-owner of the family business, Aberdeen Lodge, a family-owned lodge located just south of

Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located withi ...

. He married Rozanne Imlah in 2000. Nevakshonoff was elected to the

as a

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Progressive Conservative Betty Green by 3,809 votes to 3,260 in the riding of

Interlake Interlake was a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1979, and has formally existed since the 1981 provincial election. Previously, much of the Interlake region was include ...

. In 2003, he supported

Bill Blaikie William Alexander "Bill" 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 ...

's campaign to become leader of the federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. Nevakshonoff was re-elected in the 2003 election, defeating Betty Green again by a wider margin. He was returned again in the 2007 election. He is the chair of the NDP's Legislative Review Committee of the NDP Caucus and the Standing Committee of Agriculture of the Legislative Assembly. He is also the Legislative Assistant to the Minister of Conservation and the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. In 2011, he was named deputy speaker. Nevakshonoff was elected again in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

. His great-grandfather Henry Mabb and Frederick Bird, another ancestor, both served in the Manitoba assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevakshonoff, Tom 1958 births Canadian people of Russian descent Carleton University alumni Living people New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Politicians from Winnipeg Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba