Nancy Allan (born July 25, 1952, 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 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 ...

) is a politician in

, Canada. She was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in 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 ...

governments of premiers

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 ...

. Allan was raised in

MacGregor, Manitoba MacGregor is a community in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It held town status prior to January 1, 2015 when it amalgamated with the Rural Municipality of North Norfolk to form the Municipality of North Norfolk. MacGregor is located approxima ...

, and was educated at MacGregor Collegiate. From 1990 to 1994, she was director of development for the

Canadian Diabetes Association Diabetes Canada (known from 1953 to 2017 as the Canadian Diabetes Association or CDA) is a registered national charity whose mission includes serving the 11 million Canadians living with diabetes or prediabetes. Diabetes Canada programs include: ...

. She worked for the Manitoba Motion Picture Industries Association from 1994 to 1995, and then as a consultant for small business and non-profit organizations from 1995 to 1999. She has also taught two continuing education courses at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...

. Allan began her political career as a

school trustee A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...

, serving on the Norwood School Division from 1995 to 1998 and the St. Boniface School Division from 1998 to 1999. She 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 the 1999 provincial election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative MLA

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 ...

in the south-central Winnipeg riding of St. Vital by 5218 votes to 3699. In 2003 she supported

Bill Blaikie William Alexander Blaikie (June 19, 1951 – September 24, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He served as a Member of Parliament (Canada), member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2008, representing Elmwood—Transcona and its antecedent ridings i ...

's bid to become leader of the federal

. In the 2003 election Allan was re-elected with over 63% of the popular vote. On November 4, 2003, she entered cabinet as Minister of Labour of Immigration, with responsibility for

Multiculturalism The term multiculturalism has a range of meanings within the contexts of sociology, political philosophy, and colloquial use. In sociology and in everyday usage, it is a synonym for "Pluralism (political theory), ethnic pluralism", with the tw ...

, Status of Women and administration of the Workers Compensation Act. Allan was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election. After Greg Selinger succeeded

premier of Manitoba The premier of Manitoba (french: premier ministre du Manitoba) is the first minister (i.e., head of government or chief executive) for the Canadian province of Manitoba—as well as the ''de facto'' President of the province's Executive Council ...

, he appointed Allan as the Minister of Education on November 3, 2009. During her term as education minister, Allan introduced

anti-bullying legislation Anti-bullying legislation is a legislation enacted to help reduce and eliminate bullying. This legislation may be national or sub-national and is commonly aimed at ending bullying in schools or workplaces. According to one study, state-level anti- ...

: Bill 18, the public schools amendment act (safe and inclusive schools). Religious organizations criticized the legislation, claiming it infringed on freedom of religion by requiring faith-based schools to support the creation of

gay–straight alliance A Gay–Straight Alliance, Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA) or Queer–Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-led or community-based organisation, found in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. These are primarily in the United ...

s if initiated by students. The federal Public Safety Minister at the time,

Vic Toews Victor Toews (; born September 10, 1952) is a Paraguayan-Canadian politician and jurist. Toews is a judge of the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba. He represented Provencher in the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 until his resignation on Ju ...

, stated that he believed that the bill violated the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

. The bill passed into law in September 2013. On October 18, 2013, Nancy Allan was removed from the post of education minister by Premier Greg Selinger.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan, Nancy 1952 births Living people Manitoba school board members Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Politicians from Winnipeg Women MLAs in Manitoba Women government ministers of Canada 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians