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Linda Asper (born 1 December 1943) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She joined the Liberal Party and then later returned to the New Democratic Party during the 1990s. She was a member of the Manitoba legislature from 1999 to 2003. [1]
Linda Asper | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Riel | |
| In office September 21, 1999 –April 24, 2003 | |
| Preceded by | David Neuman |
| Succeeded by | Christine Melnick |
Asper holds a Ph.D. in Education,and had an extensive career as an educator before entering political life. She was a Winnipeg school trustee for the Seine River division,and served as President of the Manitoba Teachers' Society and Vice-President of the Canadian Teachers' Federation for a period of time. [2] Asper was also a member of the Faculty Council of the University of Manitoba,and served on the board of governors at St. Boniface College. In addition to her career in education,she was a member of the Manitoba Action Committee on the Status of Women.
In the 1990 provincial election,Asper ran as a Liberal in the south Winnipeg riding of Niakwa. She was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Jack Reimer [3] by 4,950 votes to 4,301.
By 1999,Asper had crossed over to the New Democratic Party. In that year's provincial election,she was elected as a New Democratic for the Winnipeg riding of Riel,defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent David Newman [4] 4,833 votes to 4,559.
In April 2003,Asper announced that she was leaving politics to take a position with Education International an advocacy group based in Brussels,Belgium. She now promotes the rights of both children and educators on an international level,and has been a vocal opponent of child labour practices.
Linda Asper was the sister-in-law of the late Israel Asper.
| 1999 Manitoba general election : Riel | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Linda Asper | 4,883 | 46.68 | $20,612.00 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | David Newman | 4,559 | 44.03 | $27,412.91 | ||||
| Liberal | Clayton Weselowski | 820 | 7.92 | – | $3,179.52 | |||
| Manitoba | Mike Kubara | 91 | 0.88 | $3,179.52 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 10,303 | 99.35 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 51 | 0.65 | ||||||
| Turnout | 10,354 | 76.08 | ||||||
| Registered voters | 13,610 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Manitoba [5] | ||||||||