Chaviva Milada Hošek, ; (born 6 October 1946) 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 ...

academic, feminist and former politician.

Background

Hošek was born in Chomutov,

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. Her mother was imprisoned in Auschwitz during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The family initially moved to

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

but then emigrated to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

in 1952. She received her undergraduate degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

and earned a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

in English literature from Harvard in 1973. She worked as a professor of English Literature at Victoria University in the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

for thirteen years, achieved tenured status and served on the University's governing council. In 1985 she was appointed co-chairman of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's National Economic Conference. In 1986 she resigned from the university and went to work for Gordon Capital Corp. as a pension consultant. An active feminist, she served as president of the

National Action Committee on the Status of Women The National Action Committee on the Status of Women was a Canadian feminist activist organization. History It was founded in 1971 as a pressure group to lobby for the implementation of the 167 recommendations made in the Royal Commission on ...

from 1984 to 1986. She later described her time at the NAC as "the harshest political experience I ever had", claiming that the group was polarized by internal divisions during this period. Hošek was named

B'nai Brith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peop ...

Woman of the Year in 1984 and received the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in 1986 for Community and Public Service.

Politics

In the 1987 Ontario election, Hošek won a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Provincial Parliament for the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

riding of Oakwood, defeating

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...

incumbent Tony Grande by 1,331 votes. She was appointed to

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgr ...

's cabinet as Minister of Housing and embarked on a program to expand social housing. In the spring of 1989, Hošek was implicated in the Patti Starr affair. Starr, a close associate of Hošek, was a Liberal fundraiser who was head of the National Council of Jewish Women (Toronto Section) and had misused her position to contribute funds illegally to the 1987 election campaigns of several Liberal MPPs. Peterson shuffled his cabinet on August 1, 1989, and Hošek was not included. Hošek did not receive funds from Starr but several key members of the Housing Ministry were implicated in the scandal. Hošek had also made an unpopular decision not to reappoint former

Toronto mayor The mayor of Toronto is the head of Toronto City Council and chief executive officer of the municipal government. The mayor is elected alongside city council every four years on the fourth Monday of October; there are no term limits. While in ...

John Sewell John Sewell (born December 8, 1940) is a Canadian politician and lawyer who served as the 58th mayor of Toronto from 1978 to 1980. Background Born and raised in the Beach neighbourhood, in Toronto, Sewell attended Malvern Collegiate Institut ...

to the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority. The Peterson government was defeated in the 1990 Ontario election, Hošek lost her riding to

Tony Rizzo Tony Rizzo (born June 27, 1940) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 who represented the central Toronto riding of Oakwood. He was also an alderman ...

of the NDP by 2,280 votes.

Cabinet positions

Later life

Hošek became director of the Liberal Party of Canada's caucus research bureau in 1990. Along with

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

, she co-authored '' Creating Opportunity'', as the party's campaign platform for the 1993 federal election was called. After Liberal leader Jean Chrétien became

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

, Hošek was appointed Director of Policy and Research in the Prime Minister's Office, and wrote the Liberal platforms for the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and 2000 federal elections In 2001, Hošek left the PMO to become president and CEO of the

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is a Canadian-based global research organization that brings together teams of top researchers from around the world to address important and complex questions. It was founded in 1982 and is s ...

. She retired from this position in May 2012. On October 27, 2002, she received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

. On October 5, 2006, she was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

. On June 25, 2009, she received an

from

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

(Ontario).

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hosek, Chaviva 1946 births Living people Canadian feminists Canadian people of Czech-Jewish descent Canadian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Women government ministers of Canada Czechoslovak emigrants to Canada Czech feminists Feminist studies scholars Harvard University alumni Jewish Canadian politicians Jewish feminists Ontario Liberal Party MPPs McGill University alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto faculty Women MPPs in Ontario Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Jewish women politicians People from Chomutov