Bernadette Smith is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

politician who was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gen ...

in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on June 13, 2017. She represents the electoral district of

Point Douglas Point Douglas is a provincial electoral district in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is named for a part of the city that is surrounded by a bend in the Red River. The riding covers the neighbourhoods of William Whyte, Dufferin Industrial, Nort ...

as a member of the

Manitoba New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party of Manitoba (french: Nouveau Parti démocratique du Manitoba) is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba ...

Personal life and education

Smith was born and raised in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

. She left school in Grade 11, completing her high school education at age 22. She subsequently obtained a Child and Youth Care Certificate from Red River Community College. Smith is

Anishinaabe The Anishinaabeg (adjectival: Anishinaabe) are a group of culturally related Indigenous peoples present in the Great Lakes region of Canada and the United States. They include the Ojibwe (including Saulteaux and Oji-Cree), Odawa, Potawat ...

and Métis. Her sister, Claudette Priscilla June Osborne-Tyo, has been missing from Winnipeg since 2008. She has three children: Aron, Matthew and Makena. She was awarded the Order of Manitoba in 2016.

Career

She was a teacher at

Maples Collegiate Maples Collegiate is a public high school in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It is a part of the Seven Oaks School Division. The Maples Met High School is located in the same building as the regular high school. Notable alumni * Tanya Dubnicoff, medalist i ...

and the Assistant Director of WayFinders Program at the

Seven Oaks School Division Seven Oaks School Division is a school division in the north-west area of Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. Established in July 1959, it takes in the neighbourhoods of West Kildonan, Garden City, the Maples, Riverbend, Amber Trails, West St. Paul, ...

. She is the co-founder of the Manitoba Coalition of Families of Missing and Murdered Women in Manitoba (CFMMWM) and the Drag the Red Initiative.

Politics

Smith was the only candidate to submit her name in order to qualify as the New Democratic Party's candidate for

in the 2017 by-election. During the campaign, the opposing Progressive Conservative Party filed a complaint with

Elections Manitoba Elections Manitoba (french: Élections Manitoba) is the non-partisan agency of the Government of Manitoba responsible for the conduct and regulation of provincial elections in Manitoba. Its responsibilities are to operate free of political influ ...

alleging that Smith had improperly campaigned at polling stations. Smith won the seat with 44% of the vote. She was re-elected in the 2019 provincial election and the 2023 Manitoba general election. Smith has advocated for some form of government investment in order to preserve the Neechi Commons grocery store and arts centre.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Bernadette Living people Members of the Order of Manitoba 21st-century Canadian politicians Politicians from Winnipeg Red River College alumni New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba First Nations women in politics Women MLAs in Manitoba 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women government ministers of Canada Year of birth missing (living people) Métis politicians First Nations politicians Canadian Métis people