Debra Elaine Higgins 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 ...

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 ...

. She was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

for the constituency of

Moose Jaw Wakamow Moose Jaw Wakamow is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. This district was created for the 1967 election after the Saskatchewan government decided to retire a system of multiple-MLA electoral d ...

from 1999 to 2011 and served as the mayor of

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

from 2012 to 2016.

Political career

Higgins got her start in politics when she became involved with the

United Food and Commercial Workers The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is a labor union representing approximately 1.3 million workers in the United States and Canada in industries including retail; meatpacking, food processing and manufacturing; hosp ...

union in 1982 while working at a Safeway grocery store. She later served as the President of the UFCW Manitoba Provincial Council from 1993 to 1999, during which period she also served as a table officer for the Moose Jaw & District Labour Council.

NDP MLA

Higgins was first elected to the provincial legislature as a member of the

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 ...

in the 1999 election, and she was re-elected in the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

and 2007 elections. She served in the cabinet of Premier

Lorne Calvert Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter. Ear ...

, first as the Minister of Labour and later as the Minister of Learning. After the defeat of the NDP government in the 2007 election, Higgins has served as the NDP critic for municipal affairs, liquor and gaming, and women's issues. In 2008 Calvert retired, triggering the 2009 NDP leadership race. On January 30, 2009, Higgins announced her bid to succeed Calvert at the party's June 2009 leadership convention. Higgins ran on the theme of party renewal and poverty reduction. She was joined in the race by former Saskatchewan NDP President

Yens Pedersen Yens Pedersen is a Canadian politician and lawyer, who served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2018 to 2020 representing the constituency of Regina Northeast. He is a former candidate in the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party lea ...

, former Deputy Premier

Dwain Lingenfelter Dwain Lingenfelter (born February 27, 1949) is a businessman, farmer, politician and former Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party. Lingenfelter won the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party on June 6, 2009. He resigne ...

, and Saskatoon doctor

Ryan Meili Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadians, Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly, MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Sask ...

. Higgins secured 14% of votes on the first ballot and was eliminated; although both Higgins and Pedersen, who withdrew after the first ballot, endorsed Meili ahead of the second ballot, Lingenfelter was elected leader. After the race, Lingenfelter named Higgins Deputy Leader. Higgins ran in the 2011 election, but she lost her seat to rookie Saskatchewan Party candidate

Greg Lawrence Greg Lawrence is a Canadian politician elected to represent the electoral district of Moose Jaw Wakamow in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legisl ...

in an election that saw the NDP reduced to an historic low of 9 seats in the legislature. Lingenfelter also lost his seat in the election and resigned as leader, triggering another leadership race. Higgins decided not to run again for the leadership, advocating instead for younger members to step into contention for the role. Higgins chaired the leadership election, which resulted in

Cam Broten Cameron Paul Broten (born April 29, 1978) is a Canadian politician. He represented the constituency of Saskatoon Massey Place in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2016 and served as the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democrat ...

being elected.

Mayor of Moose Jaw

In September 2012, Higgins announced she would be entering municipal politics and running to become the next mayor of Moose Jaw. On October 23, 2012, Higgins was elected mayor, defeating

Fraser Tolmie Fraser Tolmie is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2021 Canadian federal election. Prior to his election to Parliament, Tolmie served a ...

in a tight race and becoming the first female mayor in Moose Jaw's history. Higgins ran for reelection in 2016. She was again running against Tolmie, along with three other candidates in a crowded field. The ballot also included a referendum on funding for replacing local water and sewer mains, which led to a high turnout. Higgins was unseated by Tolmie, who secured 53.5% of the vote.

Electoral record

References

External links