53 Facts About Dan Vandal

Dan Vandal represented St Boniface on the Winnipeg City Council from 1995 to 2004 and from 2006 to 2014, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Winnipeg in 2004, coming in second to Sam Katz.

Dan Vandal is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada and served as the Federal Minister of Northern Affairs in Justin Trudeau's cabinet.

Dan Vandal's family identified as French Canadian during his youth, and he only became aware of his Metis heritage in later life.

Dan Vandal dropped out of high school, and was a manual labourer for part of his teenage years.

Dan Vandal later credited boxing for turning his life around, and has opposed efforts to ban the sport.

Dan Vandal subsequently became a youth worker at Winnipeg's Mamawiwichiitata Centre, and received a degree in Social Work from the University of Manitoba.

Dan Vandal was vice-president of the Old St Boniface Residents Association in the 1990s, and campaigned against the proposed construction of a stadium for Sam Katz's Winnipeg Goldeyes baseball team in Whittier Park.

Dan Vandal was elected to the Winnipeg City Council in the 1995 municipal election, winning an upset victory over incumbent councillor Evelyne Reese in the St Boniface Ward.

Dan Vandal was associated with the left-leaning Winnipeg in the '90s group, which included councillors Glen Murray and Lillian Thomas.

Dan Vandal later saved the Pointe Hebert neighbourhood in his ward from being turned into parkland, and was chosen to sit on the city's newly formed property and development committee in November 1997.

Dan Vandal's position was that the project was not financially viable, and that Katz would later return to the city for more money.

In February 1997, Dan Vandal introduced a motion to create a municipal aboriginal affairs committee that would address issues of crime prevention and health.

Dan Vandal later represented Winnipeg on an aboriginal subcommittee of the Manitoba Round Table on Environment and Economy.

Dan Vandal was re-elected in the 1998 municipal election as an independent with support from the Winnipeg Labour Council and the New Democratic Party, of which he was a member at the time.

Dan Vandal led a task force charged with improving francophone services in the city, and was one of three council representatives on the board of Winnipeg Enterprises Corp.

Murray and Dan Vandal argued that the city's share of the cost, about $2.5 million per year, should be assumed by the province.

Dan Vandal said that he was very pleased with the outcome.

Dan Vandal promoted a plan to turn over some police responsibilities to civilian control in 1999, both to reduce costs and to free up more officers for front-line duty.

Dan Vandal later supported a plan to introduce photo radar to catch speeding drivers, and endorsed a 2000 report that called for three fire stations to be closed to provide increased funding for paramedic services.

Dan Vandal argued that overall fire services would not be affected, as a smaller number of stations could oversee the city.

Dan Vandal was chair of the property and development committee when Wal-Mart announced that it had found suitable land for a new establishment in north Winnipeg.

Dan Vandal argued that this announcement validated council's decision to reject the initial application, which he said would have cost the city an extra $20 million.

Dan Vandal was again endorsed by the Winnipeg Labour Council for the 2002 municipal election.

Dan Vandal said that he wanted to make aboriginal issues the top priority of his third term in office, and was the primary author of a 15-point strategy to combat poverty among Winnipeg's aboriginal community.

Dan Vandal believed that St Boniface could be developed as a vibrant French Quarter for Winnipeg, and supported tax credits as a means of encouraging this outcome.

Dan Vandal supported a plan to increase the area's population, arguing that this would bring about improvements in other fields.

Dan Vandal was the only member of Murray's cabinet to support a compromise with local anti-poverty groups to remove the most contentious aspects of an anti-panhandling by-law in 1999.

Dan Vandal supported funding for downtown festivals as a means of boosting tourism, and helped approve $200,000 to this end in 2000.

Dan Vandal was the first cabinet member to favour a total indoor smoking ban in public places, and supported Winnipeg's landmark smoking ban in 2002.

In May 2002, Dan Vandal represented the mayor and council for the raising of a gay pride flag at city hall.

Dan Vandal said that he hoped the flag would encourage a spirit of tolerance.

Dan Vandal later took part in a major Winnipeg protest against the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Dan Vandal was promoted to Deputy Mayor of Winnipeg in a November 2003 cabinet shuffle, while remaining chair of the property and development committee and receiving additional responsibility for implementing the city's aboriginal strategy.

In 2004, Dan Vandal indicated his support for Prime Minister Paul Martin's plan to divert a portion of Canada's Goods and Services Tax revenue to municipal infrastructure.

In late 2003, Dan Vandal requested that hockey legend and franchise owner Mario Lemieux consider bringing the Pittsburgh Penguins to Winnipeg.

Dan Vandal later indicated that Winnipeg was contacted by a "Sun Belt" hockey franchise that was considering a move to Winnipeg, although this too never came to fruition.

In late April 2004, Dan Vandal was appointed to a steering committee on the development of Manitoba's capital region.

Dan Vandal ran on his record of accomplishment in Glen Murray's administration, while indicating that he would run the city in a different style.

Dan Vandal promised $4.4 million annually in new spending, a downtown housing tax credit and productivity reinvestment tax credit, doubling the city's arts funding, and the creation of a new municipal holiday to celebrate the city's heritage.

Some argued that Dan Vandal had difficulty presenting himself as a strong leader.

Shortly after the election, Dan Vandal was hired by the province to administer a $75 million urban development agreement for Winnipeg's inner city.

Dan Vandal later became a project officer with the aboriginal affairs committee of the provincial cabinet.

Dan Vandal was re-elected to the Winnipeg City Council for St Boniface in the 2006 municipal election over incumbent Franco Magnifico, who had taken the seat after Dan Vandal stepped down in 2004.

The contest was expected to be close, but Dan Vandal won by a significant margin.

Dan Vandal was appointed to the Winnipeg Housing Steering Committee in March 2007, and sits on the property and planning committee.

Dan Vandal argued that a business tax cut would drive up property rates, citing precedents in several other North American cities.

Dan Vandal has criticized Katz and council for not moving forward with educational and employment opportunities for aboriginal youth, despite having allocated funds for such programs.

Dan Vandal emerged as one of Sam Katz's most prominent council opponents in late 2007 and 2008.

Dan Vandal was a vocal critic of Katz's water and sewer rate increases in late 2007, and accused the mayor of diverting the increased funds into general revenue to pay for his business tax cuts.

Dan Vandal called for a public inquiry into the finances Riverside Park Management in late 2008, after the city erased $233,000 from the organization's back taxes.

Dan Vandal believes that this position will help open a dialog and advocate for the reforms to enhance protection of vulnerable women by giving them a voice.

Dan Vandal won easily as part of the Liberals' near-sweep of Winnipeg, and was reelected almost as easily in 2021.

Dan Vandal is the current Minister of Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for two Regional Development Agencies: the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency and the Prairies Economic Development Agency of Canada.