Libby Davies
Encyclopedia
Libby Davies is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party
(NDP), representing the riding of Vancouver East
in Vancouver
, British Columbia. In 2007, she was named Deputy Leader
of the federal NDP, jointly with Thomas Mulcair
.
, England and emigrated to British Columbia
in 1968. Before being elected to Parliament
, she participated in many grass-roots political organizations in Vancouver, specifically in the Downtown Eastside
area. She dropped out of university to help Bruce Eriksen
found the Downtown Eastside Residents Association
(DERA), an influential low-income housing advocacy group. She was instrumental in a campaign to save the Carnegie building
which was later converted into a community centre serving low-income adults.
For 24 years Davies lived in a common law
relationship with Vancouver city councilor Bruce Eriksen
, who died of cancer in 1997. They had one son, Lief.
as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors
in 1982 and re-elected in 1984, 1986, 1988, and 1990. She ran for Mayor of Vancouver in 1993, losing to Philip Owen
. She was first elected to parliament in 1997
and re-elected in 2000
, 2004
, 2006
and 2008
and 2011. For the federal NDP she is currently both the House Leader
and the spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness and Multiculturalism. In parliament she has been a strong supporter of drug policy reform, specifically to halt the criminalization of drug users.
In 2005, during the parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage in Canada
, Conservative
MP Jason Kenney
cited Davies' prior relationship with Eriksen as proof that marriage law doesn't discriminate against LGBT individuals, since a gay person can marry a member of the opposite sex. Davies, who was never formally married to Eriksen, joined other commentators in criticizing Kenney for playing politics with other parliamentarians' personal lives.
In December 2007, Davies received the Justice Gerald Le Dain
Award for Achievement in the Field of Law. She was recognized for her "outstanding drug policy reform work" at the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance
and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
On June 5, 2010, Davies gave an interview in which she suggested that Israel
has been occupied territory
since 1948. She was criticized for her comments the next day in an Ottawa Citizen
editorial. She responded to these criticisms in a letter to the Citizen which can be viewed on Davies' website. On June 15 Prime Minister Stephen Harper
and Liberal
Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae
echoed the criticisms in the Citizen and demanded her resignation. NDP Leader Jack Layton
defended his deputy leader, but described Davies' statement as a "serious mistake" and called the Israeli ambassador to clarify the NDP's policy.
In 2011, it was announced that Davies would serve as Health Critic for the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
, while continuing to serve in her role as Deputy Leader of the NDP.
On September 22, 2011, Davies declined her candidacy as the next Leader of the New Democrats, citing her inability to speak French
, as a factor.
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
(NDP), representing the riding of Vancouver East
Vancouver East
Vancouver East is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935....
in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia. In 2007, she was named Deputy Leader
Deputy Leader
A deputy leader in the Westminster system is the second-in-command of a political party, behind the party leader. Deputy leaders often become deputy prime minister when their parties are elected to government. In opposition, deputy leaders often lead Question Time sessions when the party leader is...
of the federal NDP, jointly with Thomas Mulcair
Thomas Mulcair
Thomas J. "Tom" Mulcair is a Canadian lawyer, university professor, and politician. He is the federal Member of Parliament for Outremont, Quebec, Canada, and currently holds a seat in the New Democratic Party of Canada...
.
Background
Davies was born in AldershotAldershot
Aldershot is a town in the English county of Hampshire, located on heathland about southwest of London. The town is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council...
, England and emigrated to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
in 1968. Before being elected to Parliament
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...
, she participated in many grass-roots political organizations in Vancouver, specifically in the Downtown Eastside
Downtown Eastside
The Downtown Eastside is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is known as "Canada's poorest postal code"....
area. She dropped out of university to help Bruce Eriksen
Bruce Eriksen
Bruce Eriksen was an artist, social activist and founder of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents Association . Eriksen and DERA are recognised for materially improving the lives of residents in the Downtown Eastside .-Childhood and youth:Bruce Eriksen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a child of...
found the Downtown Eastside Residents Association
Downtown Eastside Residents Association
The Downtown Eastside Residents Association is a non-profit Society in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver.The association was founded in 1973 by Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies, Jean Swanson and other residents of the Downtown Eastside and membership is restricted to those who live within the...
(DERA), an influential low-income housing advocacy group. She was instrumental in a campaign to save the Carnegie building
Carnegie library
A Carnegie library is a library built with money donated by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. 2,509 Carnegie libraries were built between 1883 and 1929, including some belonging to public and university library systems...
which was later converted into a community centre serving low-income adults.
For 24 years Davies lived in a common law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
relationship with Vancouver city councilor Bruce Eriksen
Bruce Eriksen
Bruce Eriksen was an artist, social activist and founder of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Residents Association . Eriksen and DERA are recognised for materially improving the lives of residents in the Downtown Eastside .-Childhood and youth:Bruce Eriksen was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, a child of...
, who died of cancer in 1997. They had one son, Lief.
Political career
Davies was elected to Vancouver City CouncilVancouver City Council
Vancouver City Council is the governing body of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.The city is governed by the Vancouver Charter, not the Community Charter and the Local Government Act which are used for other municipal governments...
as a member of the Coalition of Progressive Electors
Coalition of Progressive Electors
The Coalition of Progressive Electors is a municipal political party in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia.-Origins:...
in 1982 and re-elected in 1984, 1986, 1988, and 1990. She ran for Mayor of Vancouver in 1993, losing to Philip Owen
Philip Owen
Philip Walter Owen was the mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia from 1993 to 2002, making him one of Vancouver's longest serving mayors. His father was Walter S. Owen, who was Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1973 to 1978....
. She was first elected to parliament in 1997
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
and re-elected in 2000
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
, 2004
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, 2006
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
and 2008
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
and 2011. For the federal NDP she is currently both the House Leader
House Leader
In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament and an expert in parliamentary procedure...
and the spokesperson for Housing and Homelessness and Multiculturalism. In parliament she has been a strong supporter of drug policy reform, specifically to halt the criminalization of drug users.
In 2005, during the parliamentary debate on same-sex marriage in Canada
Same-sex marriage in Canada
On July 20, 2005, Canada became the fourth country in the world and the first country in the Americas to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act which provided a gender-neutral marriage definition...
, Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
MP Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney
Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
cited Davies' prior relationship with Eriksen as proof that marriage law doesn't discriminate against LGBT individuals, since a gay person can marry a member of the opposite sex. Davies, who was never formally married to Eriksen, joined other commentators in criticizing Kenney for playing politics with other parliamentarians' personal lives.
In December 2007, Davies received the Justice Gerald Le Dain
Gerald Le Dain
Gerald Eric Le Dain, CC was a Canadian lawyer and judge, who sat on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1984 to 1988....
Award for Achievement in the Field of Law. She was recognized for her "outstanding drug policy reform work" at the 2007 International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance
Drug Policy Alliance
The Drug Policy Alliance is a New York City-based non-profit organization, led by executive director Ethan Nadelmann, with the principal goal of ending the American "War on Drugs"...
and the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation.
On June 5, 2010, Davies gave an interview in which she suggested that Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
has been occupied territory
Israeli-Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The conflict is wide-ranging, and the term is also used in reference to the earlier phases of the same conflict, between Jewish and Zionist yishuv and the Arab population living in Palestine under Ottoman or...
since 1948. She was criticized for her comments the next day in an Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
editorial. She responded to these criticisms in a letter to the Citizen which can be viewed on Davies' website. On June 15 Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
and Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Foreign Affairs critic Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
echoed the criticisms in the Citizen and demanded her resignation. NDP Leader Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
defended his deputy leader, but described Davies' statement as a "serious mistake" and called the Israeli ambassador to clarify the NDP's policy.
In 2011, it was announced that Davies would serve as Health Critic for the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet
Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (Canada)
The Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet of the 39th Canadian parliament is listed below. Members are drawn from the Liberal Party of Canada, and most are members of their parliamentary caucus...
, while continuing to serve in her role as Deputy Leader of the NDP.
On September 22, 2011, Davies declined her candidacy as the next Leader of the New Democrats, citing her inability to speak French
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...
, as a factor.