Розмари Линн Водрей: Политическая карьера в Манитобе

Canadian politician

Rosemary Lynn Vodrey (born October 20, 1949) is a former Canadian politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1990 to 1999 and was a senior cabinet minister of the government of Gary Filmon.

Vodrey was born Rosemary Webster on October 20, 1949, the daughter of senior Toronto police officer Jack Webster. She studied Psychology at the University of Toronto before moving to Winnipeg with her partner. Vodrey later became a school psychologist and lectured in home economics at the University of Manitoba. She became politically active after befriending Gary and Janice Filmon and sought election to the Manitoba legislature in the 1988 provincial election in the central Winnipeg division of Osborne. She finished third, behind Liberal candidate Reg Alcock and incumbent New Democrat Muriel Smith.

Vodrey ran for the legislature a second time in the 1990 provincial election and defeated incumbent Liberal Laurie Evans in the Fort Garry division in south central Winnipeg. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government, and Vodrey entered the legislature as a government backbencher. She faced a credible challenge from Liberal Jim Woodman in the 1995 provincial election but was re elected as the Filmon government won a second majority across the province.

Vodrey was reassigned as Minister of Culture, Heritage and Citizenship on January 6, 1997. She retained ministerial responsibility for the Status of Women and was also given responsibility for Multiculturalism and the Liquor Control Act. In June 1997, Vodrey introduced legislation to change Manitoba's access to information rules for the provincial and municipal governments and crown corporations. She also brought forward a companion bill for the protection of personal health records, which was intended to allow Manitoba's public health system to be transferred online. Some doctors expressed concern about the latter measure, arguing that patient privacy could not be ensured. The access to information bill was expected to be less controversial but was nonetheless met with opposition from journalists and others who argued that it would reduce public access to government files, and to electronic files in particular. Vodrey revised the bill in response to this criticism. Vodrey announced several cultural grants in the summer of 1997, including $1.5 million to the Franco Manitoban Heritage Centre and $400,000 to the Portage Community Centre Inc. In June 1998, she appointed a Ministerial Millennium Advisory Committee to advise on the best ways of celebrating the millennium. Vodrey changed the governance structure of Manitoba Film and Sound in late 1998, establishing a nine member board appointed by the provincial government. One of her final acts in office was to oversee a financial bailout of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. Vodrey also oversaw Manitoba's immigration policy during her time as Minister of Culture. In 1998, the province received a $7 million funding increase for immigration from the federal government and was given a direct role in recruitment strategies. In early 1998, Vodrey and three other politicians were awarded robes of honour from Winnipeg's Sikh community.

In 1995, Vodrey introduced a $50,000 scholarship program for women entering high technology fields at Manitoba community colleges. Female enrollment in these programs was very low at the time. In the same year, she was an official observer at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China. She announced an anti stalking initiative in 1996, allowing Manitobans to remove their names from provincial land title documents as a means of keeping their addresses confidential. In 1996, journalist Lindor Reynolds wrote that Vodrey had a mixed record of effectiveness on women's issues. Reynolds noted that Manitoba's domestic abuse committee, started by former Justice Minister Jim McCrae, was shut down after Vodrey became Justice Minister in 1993. However, she commended Vodrey for releasing a 50 page guide entitled "Stop The Violence" that was used by women's shelters, crisis workers, doctor's offices and counsellors.

Vodrey introduced a review of the province's four existing private wine stores in May 1997. The following year, she announced that the Filmon government would begin licensing private sales throughout the province. Jim Maloway of the New Democratic Party described this as "privatization by stealth", and expressed concern that the province would eventually privatize the Liquor Control Commission.

Vodrey was co chair of Kim Campbell's Manitoba campaign in 1993, during her ultimately successful bid to succeed Brian Mulroney as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.

Vodrey announced in March 1999 that she would not be a candidate in the next provincial election. She formally resigned from cabinet with the rest of the Filmon ministry on October 5, 1999, following the appointment of an NDP government that formalized the result of the election. She supported Stuart Murray's successful bid to succeed Gary Filmon as Progressive Conservative leader in 2000, and later endorsed Hugh McFadyen's successful campaign to succeed Murray in 2006. She supported Sam Katz's campaign for re election as Mayor of Winnipeg in 2006. Vodrey was appointed to a two year term on the Board of Directors of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 2002 and was re appointed in 2004, 2006 and 2008. She has also served on the board of the Misericordia Health Centre (MHC) Foundation. In 2003, Vodrey took part in a seminar entitled "Election Readiness for Women". She was appointed as the Manitoba Saskatchewan representative on the Canada Council for the Arts in April 2009.