Joan Marie Sawicki (born September 18, 1945) is a former

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. She served as a

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...

Member of the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

from 1991 to 2001, representing

Burnaby-Willingdon Burnaby-Willingdon was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of Br ...

. She served as

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures in Australia, and in provincial and ter ...

from 1992 to 1994, and as Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks from 1999 to 2000.

Background

Sawicki was born in

Burnaby Burnaby is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the centre of the Burrard Peninsula, it neighbours the City of Vancouver to the west, the District of North Vancouver across the confluence of the Burrard I ...

, BC in 1945. She attended the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...

earning a B.A. in Education in 1968. Sawicki was a secondary school teacher, a civil servant, and a land-use consultant prior to holding elected offices.

Political career

Sawicki was elected to the

Burnaby City Council The Burnaby City Council is the governing body for the City of Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city ...

in 1987 and served one term. She chaired the environment and waste management committee and sat as a municipal representative on both the

Greater Vancouver Regional District The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...

waste management committee and the Metropolitan Board of Health. Sawicki was the NDP candidate in the riding of

in the 1986 provincial election but was defeated by

Elwood Veitch Elwood Neal Veitch (July 21, 1929 – September 18, 1993) was a financial administrator and political figure in British Columbia. He represented Burnaby-Willingdon in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1975 to 1978 and from 1 ...

, a minister in the

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

government. She was elected in the same riding in 1991, and re-elected in 1996. Sawicki was elected

in March 1992, serving for two years. She was forced to resign as Speaker by Premier

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt, OC (born January 6, 1943) served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th mayor of Vancouver, BC's largest city, from 1980 to 1986. Early life and education Harcourt was ...

in 1994. She then served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Municipal Affairs from April 1994 to May 1996, and to the Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks from June 1996 to January 1998. She resigned from her position over issues concerning a proposed land development project that was to take place on protected land under the Agricultural Land Reserve at Six Mile Ranch near

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. In July 1999,

Glen Clark Glen David Clark (born November 22, 1957) is a Canadian business executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999. Early life and education Clark attended independent Roman Catholic schools, n ...

named Sawicki to cabinet as Minister of Environment, Lands, and Parks. She retained her portfolio when

Ujjal Dosanjh Ujjal Dev Dosanjh ( pa, ਉੱਜਲ ਦੇਵ ਦੁਸਾਂਝ) (), (born September 9, 1947) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 33rd premier of British Columbia from 2000 to 2001 and as a Liberal Party of Canada member of ...

became premier. She announced in October 2000 that she would not seek re-election, and relinquished her portfolio on November 1, 2000.

References

1945 births Living people British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Women government ministers of Canada Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Women legislative speakers Women MLAs in British Columbia 20th-century Canadian politicians 20th-century Canadian women politicians {{BritishColumbia-MLA-stub