1. Niki Ashton was first elected in the 2008 federal election.
25 Facts About Niki Ashton
1. 2.
Niki Ashton placed third in the October 1,2017 election.
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Niki Ashton is the daughter of Hariklia Dimitrakopoulou and former Manitoba provincial NDP cabinet minister Steve Ashton.
4.
Niki Ashton's father was born in England and her mother in Greece.
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Niki Ashton's paternal grandfather, John Ashton, was a Welsh-born chemical scientist who emigrated to Canada in 1967, where he worked for Inco.
6.
Niki Ashton attended Ecole Riverside School and R D Parker Collegiate.
7.
Niki Ashton later attended the Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong.
8.
Niki Ashton earned a bachelor of arts degree in Global Political Economy from the University of Manitoba, and a master of arts in international affairs from Carleton University.
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Niki Ashton has been an instructor at the University College of the North.
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Niki Ashton studied human rights and social justice at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.
11.
Niki Ashton defeated Keeper in the 2008 election to regain the riding for the NDP.
12.
On November 7,2011, in Montreal, Niki Ashton launched her campaign as the ninth person to join the 2012 NDP leadership race.
13.
Since first being elected in 2008, Niki Ashton was elected as the Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women in the 40th Parliament of Canada, has served as the NDP Post-Secondary and Youth critic, as the Rural and Community Development critic and from 2012 to 2014 as the Status of Women Critic.
14.
On January 23,2015, Niki Ashton was appointed as the Aboriginal Affairs Critic in Canada's Official Opposition.
15.
Niki Ashton announced her candidacy for the 2017 NDP leadership election on March 7,2017.
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Niki Ashton has criticized the Canada Infrastructure Bank for only funding public-private partnerships, and for its failure to complete any of its projects after four years of existence.
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In February 2022, Niki Ashton introduced a bill to rewrite its mandate focus on projects that tackle the impacts of climate change, and to fund publicly owned infrastructure instead of trying to implicate private finance.
18.
In October 2022, Niki Ashton spoke and voted in favour of a symbolic motion proposed by Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-Francois Blanchet that the House abolish the monarchy of Canada.
19.
Niki Ashton has been a critic of the extradition case against Meng Wanzhou.
20.
Niki Ashton is against the United States embargo against Cuba, and sponsored a petition in the House of Commons calling for the lifting of the embargo.
21.
Niki Ashton was criticized for sharing on social media a podcast episode that suggested Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland's support of Ukraine in the face of pending invasion from Russia was tied to her "Nazi past".
22.
Niki Ashton can read, write and speak four languages: English, French, Greek and Spanish.
23.
Niki Ashton has taken lessons in Cree, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian and Mandarin.
24.
Niki Ashton commented, "Like millions of Canadian women I will carry on my work", and continued with her leadership campaign.
25.
Niki Ashton gave birth to twin boys in November 2017.