| Intro | Canadian politician |
| Is | Politician |
| From | Canada |
| Type | Politics |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 1971, Thompson, Canada |
| Age: | 49 years |
| Politics | New Democratic Party |
Leah Gazan MP (born 1971 or 1972) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the riding of Winnipeg Centre in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.
Early Life
Leah Gazan was born in the Wood Mountain Lakota First Nation in Saskatchewan to Albert and Marjorie Gazan. Gazan is Lakota-Chinese on her mother’s side, and Jewish on her father’s side. Gazan’s father, Albert Gazan, is a Holocaust survivor from the Netherlands, born in The Hague in 1938.
Gazan previously taught at the University of Winnipeg prior to running in the 2019 election. She also served as president for the Social Planning council of Winnipeg. Gazan participated in Idle No More, and pushed for Bill C-262 to be passed by the House of Commons. She also represented the province of Manitoba for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues advocating for acknowledgement of injustice perpetuated against Indigenous Canadian adoptive children.
Political career
Gazan identifies as a socialist, like her parents. In 2019, Gazan defeated incumbent Robert-Falcon Ouellette, another indigenous candidate, for the seat of Winnipeg Centre retaking the district for the NDP.
Electoral record
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Winnipeg Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| New Democratic | Leah Gazan | 13,073 | 41.2 | +13.2 | – | |||
| Liberal | Robert-Falcon Ouellette | 10,704 | 33.7 | -20.8 | – | |||
| Conservative | Ryan Dyck | 5,561 | 17.5 | +5.1 | – | |||
| Green | Andrea Shalay | 1,661 | 5.2 | +1.1 | – | |||
| People’s | Yogi Henderson | 474 | 1.5 | – | – | |||
| Christian Heritage | Stephanie Hein | 251 | 0.8 | +0.1 | – | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 31,724 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 274 | |||||||
| Turnout | 31,998 | 54.2 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 59,012 | |||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +17.0 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada | ||||||||