Christine "Chris" Melnick (born 1950) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. She was a cabinet minister in the governments led by

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP)

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...

and

Greg Selinger Gregory Francis Selinger (born February 16, 1951) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 21st premier of Manitoba from 2009 until 2016, leading an NDP government. From 1999 to 2009 he was the Minister of Finance in the government of ...

. Born 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 749,6 ...

, Manitoba, Melnick received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

library and information science Library and information science(s) or studies (LIS) is an interdisciplinary field of study that deals generally with organization, access, collection, and protection/regulation of information, whether in physical (e.g. art, legal proceedings, e ...

from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. She has worked for a variety of businesses in the private and public sectors, with experience such fields as in education, advertising and offshore oil. Prior to entering provincial politics, she was employed as a librarian and researcher at the Canada/Manitoba Business Service Centre and was a trustee for the

Louis Riel School Division The Louis Riel School Division (LRSD; , DSL-R) is a school division in Winnipeg, Manitoba, offering English language, English-language and French immersion, French-immersion education to its students. It was broadly formed in 1998 with the volun ...

of southeastern Winnipeg. She was also active in women's health, human rights, literacy and environmental issues, and sat on the province's Council on Post-Secondary Education. Melnick 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 gener ...

in 2003, succeeding retiring NDP

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA)

Linda Asper 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. Asper ...

in the south Winnipeg riding of

Riel Riel may refer to: Places * Riel, Netherlands, a town in the Netherlands *Riel (electoral district), a provincial electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, named after Louis Riel * Riel, Winnipeg, a community committee comprising three city wards Pe ...

. She received 4,393 votes, against 3,171 for her Progressive Conservative opponent,

Shirley Render Shirley Render (born April 1, 1943) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1990 to 1999, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of Gary Filmon. Early life Born Shirley H ...

, who had previously represented the neighbouring riding of St. Vital from 1990 to 1999. The NDP, then led by Doer, won a

landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the victorious candidate or party wins by an overwhelming margin. The term became popular in the 1800s to describe a victory in which the opposition is "buried", similar to the way in which a geol ...

. Following the election, she was appointed Minister of Family Services and Housing, with responsibility for

Persons with Disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, ...

. She was re-elected in the provincial elections of 2007 and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. In September 2007, Doer appointed her as Minister of Water Stewardship, succeeding Steve Ashton. In January 2012, Melnick was appointed Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism. In October 2013, Selinger, who had been party leader and premier since 2009, shuffled Melnick out of cabinet, along with fellow veteran ministers

Nancy Allan Nancy Allan (born July 25, 1952, in Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments of premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. Allan was raised in MacGregor, Manitoba, an ...

and

Jim Rondeau Jim Rondeau (born April 6, 1959) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1999 to 2016, and served as cabinet minister in the provincial governments of Gary Doer and Greg Sel ...

. On February 4, 2014, Selinger removed Melnick from the NDP

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

after she claimed she was told to act as a

scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...

for the premier relating to a controversy surrounding invitations issued to a legislative debate. On November 13, 2014, Melnick was readmitted to NDP caucus, but the leadership refused to let her attend caucus meetings. In 2018, Melnick was honoured with the

Peter Gzowski Award The Peter Gzowski Award (originally styled the Peter Gzowski Literacy Award of Merit) is an award given annually bPeter Gzowski Invitationalin memory of Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known col ...

for her contributions to literacy in Canada.Former MLA shares the magic of reading

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

. February 11, 2019. Retrieved March 3, 2021.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melnick, Christine 1950 births Living people New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Dalhousie University alumni Women MLAs in Manitoba Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba Politicians from Winnipeg Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians