Niki Ashton
| Niki Ashton MP | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski | |
|
Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Riding Established |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Churchill | |
|
In office October 14, 2008 – October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Tina Keeper |
| Succeeded by | Riding Abolished |
| Chair of the Standing Committee on Status of Women | |
|
In office 21 June 2011 – 14 November 2011 | |
| Minister | Rona Ambrose |
| Preceded by | Hedy Fry |
| Succeeded by | Irene Mathyssen |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Niki Christina Ashton September 9, 1982 Thompson, Manitoba |
| Political party | New Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Ryan Barker |
| Residence | Thompson, Manitoba |
| Alma mater |
University of Manitoba Carleton University |
| Profession | University lecturer, researcher |
Niki Christina Ashton MP (born September 9, 1982) is a Canadian politician. She is the New Democratic Member of Parliament for the federal electoral district of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba, Canada. She was first elected in the 2008 federal election.
A resident of Thompson, Manitoba, she is the daughter of former Manitoba provincial NDP cabinet minister Steve Ashton. She has been an instructor at the University College of the North.[1]
Personal life
Ashton was born in Thompson and attended École Riverside School and R. D. Parker Collegiate. She later attended the Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong. She has a B.A in Global Political Economy from the University of Manitoba, an M.A in International Affairs from Carleton University and is currently in the process of completing her PhD in Peace and Conflict Studies at the Art Mauro Centre at the University of Manitoba.
Later, she was a coordinator and promoter of volunteering at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. At the event, she assisted the team from China.
She has studied human rights in Canada, and was awarded the Ahmed Ali Hashi Human Rights Scholarship for her work.
Ashton speaks Greek, French, English and Spanish fluently. In 2011 it was reported that she was also studying Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Cree.[2]
Ashton married Ryan Barker in August 2011 in Alexandroupoli, Greece, her mother's hometown.[3][4]
Career
In 2005, she defeated incumbent New Democratic Party Member of Parliament Bev Desjarlais for the NDP nomination due, in part, to the same-sex marriage issue after Desjarlais broke party ranks to vote against the Civil Marriage Act. Desjarlais subsequently quit the party and sat as an independent for the remainder of her term; she ran against Ashton as an independent candidate in the election in the Churchill riding in the 2006 Canadian federal election.[5] Ashton's major themes in her campaign included getting federal funding for the University College of the North, as well as getting a federal government northern development agreement.
Although the labour unions in Thompson endorsed Ashton,[6] the NDP vote nevertheless split between Ashton and Desjarlais, and the riding was won by Liberal Party candidate Tina Keeper.[7]
Ashton defeated Keeper in the 2008 election to regain the riding for the NDP.
In 2011 Ashton received the support of American documentary film maker Michael Moore[8] in her fight to prevent the closing of Brazilian mining company Vale's smelter and refinery in Thompson, Manitoba. Vale, which owned the refinery after it took over Canadian company Inco, had earlier received a $1 billion unsecured loan from the Harper Government, and under the Investment Canada Act signed a contractual agreement with the federal government. A media investigation found that Vale broke this agreement, but as of May 2011 the government has yet to file punitive action against Vale.[9]
On November 7, 2011, in Montreal, Ashton launched her campaign as the ninth person to join the NDP leadership race.[10] She placed seventh with 5.7% of the vote at the March 24, 2012 leadership election and was eliminated on the first ballot.
Since first being elected in 2008, Ashton was elected as the Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women in the 40th Parliament of Canada, as has served as the NDP Post-Secondary and Youth critic, as the Rural and Community Development critic and from 2012 to 2014 as the Status of Women Critic. Ashton currently serves as the Aboriginal Affairs Critic in Canada's Official Opposition.[11]
After the 2015 federal election, Ashton was appointed the NDP critic for Jobs, Employment and Workforce Development in the 42nd Canadian Parliament.[12]
After the May 2016 "Elbowgate" incident in which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accidentally elbowed NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau, Ashton stood in the House of Commons and described the incident as assault, said that she was "deeply traumatized", and likened the incident to violence against women by saying that "if we apply gendered lens," the incident might make women feel unsafe working in the House of Commons.[13][14]
In June 2016, Ashton spent a Sunday when the House of Commons was not sitting to visit North Dakota and volunteer on the campaign of presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.[15]
Electoral record
| Canadian federal election, 2015: Churchill—Keewatinook Aski | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Niki Ashton | 13,487 | 45.04 | -6.66 | – | |||
| Liberal | Rebecca Chartrand | 12,575 | 42.00 | +22.14 | – | |||
| Conservative | Kyle G. Mirecki | 3,090 | 10.32 | -15.81 | – | |||
| Green | August Hastmann | 537 | 1.79 | -0.53 | – | |||
| Libertarian | Zachary Linnick | 255 | 0.85 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 29,944 | 100.0 | $232,138.03 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 252 | – | – | |||||
| Turnout | 30,196 | – | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 49,036 | |||||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | -14.4% | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[16][17] | ||||||||
| Canadian federal election, 2011: Churchill | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Niki Ashton | 10,262 | 51.1% | +3.34% | – | – | ||
| Conservative | Wally Daudrich | 5,256 | 26.2% | +5.7% | – | – | ||
| Liberal | Sydney Garrioch | 4,087 | 20.4% | -8.34% | – | – | ||
| Green | Alberteen Spence | 471 | 2.3% | -0.99% | – | – | ||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 20,076 | 100.00% | - | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 107 | – | ||||||
| Turnout | 20,183 | – | – | |||||
| New Democratic hold | Swing | -1.18% | ||||||
| Canadian federal election, 2008: Churchill | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | ||||
| New Democratic | Niki Ashton | 8,735 | 47.40% | +18.96% | ||||
| Liberal | Tina Keeper | 5,313 | 28.83% | -11.84% | ||||
| Conservative | Wally Daudrich | 3,774 | 20.48% | +8.93% | ||||
| Green | Saara Harvie | 606 | 3.29% | +1.68% | ||||
| Total valid votes | 18,428 | 100.00% | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | – | % | ||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +15.4% | ||||||
| Canadian federal election, 2006: Churchill | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ∆% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Tina Keeper | 10,159 | 40.67% | +2.32% | $75,179 | |||
| New Democratic | Niki Ashton | 7,103 | 28.44% | -14.99% | $70,290 | |||
| Independent | Bev Desjarlais | 4,283 | 17.15% | -26.28% | $23,042 | |||
| Conservative | Nazir Ahmad | 2,886 | 11.55% | -3.57% | $23,875 | |||
| Green | Jeff Fountain | 401 | 1.61% | -1.41% | $2,837 | |||
| Independent | Brad Bodnar | 146 | 0.58% | – | $68.69 | |||
| Total valid votes | – | 100.00% | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | – | |||||||
| Turnout | 24,978 | 55.53% | ||||||
| Liberal gain from New Democratic | Swing | +8.66% | ||||||
References
- ↑ "About Niki Ashton". Niki Ashton. New Democratic Party. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ Smith, Joanna (November 7, 2011). "Niki Ashton joins NDP leadership race". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 24, 2012.
- ↑ Taber, Jane (October 28, 2011). "For Churchill MP, scrapping Canadian Wheat Board is a big fat headache". Toronto: The Globe & Mail. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ↑ "Senators' home cooking and a no-fuss wedding". Maclean's. September 12, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ↑ "Churchill MP quits NDP after nomination loss". CBC News. October 18, 2005. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ "NDP Candidate Niki Ashton Backed by Unions". Manitoba Federation of Labour. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ "Canada Votes 2006 - Candidates & Ridings - 216 Churchill". CBC News. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ Barker, John (February 25, 2011). "Michael Moore delivers the goods for Niki Ashton". Thompson Citizen. Glacier Media Group. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ Ashton, Niki (February 25, 2011). "It Was Flint Yesterday, It's Us and Wisconsin Today, and Tomorrow It's Going to Be Everyone". Mike & Friends Blog. Michael Moore. Retrieved June 11, 2011.
- ↑ "Niki Ashton vows 'new politics' in NDP leadership bid". CBC News. November 7, 2011.
- ↑ "NIKI ASHTON NAMED CRITIC FOR ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS". January 23, 2014.
- ↑ Kirkup, Kristy (12 November 2015). "Tom Mulcair taps Nathan Cullen, Charlie Angus, Guy Caron for top critic roles". CBC News. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ↑ Sampert, Shannon (May 25, 2016). "Niki Ashton, what kinda feminist are you?". Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ DiManno, Rosie (May 19, 2016). "Reaction to dust-up in Parliament is over-the-top ridiculous". Toronto Star. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ Smith, Marie-Danielle (June 6, 2016). "As House continues to sit, NDP MP Niki Ashton says she's campaigning for Bernie Sanders". The National Post. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
- ↑ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, 30 September 2015
- ↑ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
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