30 Facts About Bev Desjarlais

Beverly Faye Desjarlais was a Canadian politician.

Bev Desjarlais represented the Manitoba electoral district of Churchill in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2006, initially as a New Democrat and later as an Independent after losing her party's nomination in late 2005.

Bev Desjarlais had lost the confidence of the NDP after she voted against the Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada.

Bev Desjarlais later worked as a departmental aide to Conservative Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson.

Bev Desjarlais's ex-husband, Bob Desjarlais, was a prominent labour leader in northern Manitoba, who campaigned for Mayor of Thompson in 2006.

Bev Desjarlais graduated from Bert Fox Composite High School in 1973, and held several positions at the General Hospital in Thompson, Manitoba, over the next twenty-four years.

Bev Desjarlais became Chair of the Board in 1994, and served until her election to Parliament in 1997.

Bev Desjarlais challenged Liberal incumbent Elijah Harper for the Churchill riding in the 1997 federal election.

Bev Desjarlais won by 2,764 votes and joined twenty other New Democrats on the opposition benches.

Bev Desjarlais held several official responsibilities in the 36th Canadian Parliament, including serving as her party's critic for housing and the Treasury Board of Canada.

Bev Desjarlais was chosen as her party's representative on the Commons Transport Committee, and held this position for several years.

Bev Desjarlais defeated Harper again in the 2000 election, and NDP leader Alexa McDonough appointed her to be the party's Industry Critic in the following parliament.

Bev Desjarlais joined the Canadian Air Force for a week, and participated in a search and rescue exercise in Northern Ontario.

Bev Desjarlais was re-elected in the 2004 election over a strong challenge from Liberal candidate and First Nations leader Ron Evans.

Bev Desjarlais was one of the most socially conservative members of the federal NDP, and when in caucus was its most socially conservative member.

Bev Desjarlais was the only New Democrat to vote against the Civil Marriage Act, which legalized same-sex marriage in Canada, on its third and final reading in 2005.

Bev Desjarlais's position placed her in conflict with both official NDP policy and party leader Jack Layton, who described same-sex marriage as a human rights issue and ruled that caucus members would not be permitted a free vote on matters of equality.

Bev Desjarlais argued that her position was based on personal religious convictions and was not grounded in homophobia.

Bev Desjarlais acknowledged as early as 2003 that opposing same-sex marriage was contrary to NDP policy, and accepted that "discipline may take place" as a result.

Bev Desjarlais was stripped of her shadow cabinet posts after the 2005 vote.

Bev Desjarlais was a strong defender of the rights of labour and public health care and supported the principle of aboriginal self-government.

On October 17,2005, Bev Desjarlais lost the Churchill NDP nomination to Niki Ashton, daughter of Manitoba cabinet minister Steve Ashton, in a vote of the membership of the Churchill NDP riding association.

Bev Desjarlais resigned from the NDP caucus on the same day and announced she would run as an Independent in the next federal election, which took place on January 23,2006 after Prime Minister Paul Martin's government lost a vote of confidence.

Bev Desjarlais acknowledged that her position on same-sex marriage was a prominent factor in her defeat.

Bev Desjarlais was endorsed on January 5,2006 by Vote Marriage Canada, a group which opposes same-sex marriage.

Bev Desjarlais finished third, behind Ashton and winning Liberal candidate Tina Keeper.

Caucus Chair Judy Wasylycia-Leis described her decision as "mind-boggling and very disappointing", and commented that it was "hard to understand how Bev Desjarlais could have gone from being an active New Democrat to actually supporting and upholding the Stephen Harper agenda".

Veterans Affairs critic Peter Stoffer said that Bev Desjarlais had always worked well with MPs of all parties and that she and Thompson would "work well together".

Bev Desjarlais died in Brandon, Manitoba on March 15,2018.

Bev Desjarlais was re-elected to the Mystery Lake School Division in 1995.