Bill Blaikie (2009-2010)

Bill Blaikie was one of Canada’s longest serving members of parliament, representing a variety of Manitoba ridings from 1979-2008. Blaikie served as Deputy Leader and House Leader of the New Democratic Party under Jack Layton. After retiring from Parliament, Blaikie began teaching at the University of Winnipeg. He was later elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Manitoba. Before entering politics, he served in the Canadian military and worked as a labourer with the Canadian National Railway while studying at university. He is also an ordained minister of the United Church and from 1977-1979 worked in an outreach mission in Winnipeg. Blaikie received the 2007 Maclean’s award for Best Parliamentarian of the Year, the 2013 Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians, and was sworn in to the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in 2003. He is an active writer on policy and politics in Canada, publishing numerous articles and opinion pieces as well as a political memoir, The Blaikie Report – An Insider’s Look at Faith and Politics (2011).