Walt Lastewka was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2006, representing the Ontario riding of St Catharines as a member of the Liberal Party.
23 Facts About Walt Lastewka
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Walt Lastewka was hired as an industrial engineer by General Motors in the same year, was promoted to supervisor of industrial engineering in 1967, and held several managerial positions before his retirement in 1992.
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Walt Lastewka completed the three-week-long University of Western Ontario Executive Program in 1981.
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Walt Lastewka has been involved in several community activities, including serving as a director of the United Way and as a trustee of Brock University.
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Walt Lastewka is a former director and parish chairman for St John's Ukrainian Church.
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Walt Lastewka joined the St Catharines branch of the Liberal Party in 1972 and worked as campaign manager to federal Member of Parliament Gilbert Parent in every election between 1974 and 1988.
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Walt Lastewka was vice-president of organization for the Ontario Liberal Party from 1979 to 1981 and chaired provincial campaigns for Jim Bradley and Harry Pelissero.
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Walt Lastewka was elected to Parliament in the 1993 election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative Ken Atkinson by a significant margin.
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Walt Lastewka served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Industry from 1997 to 1999 and as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services from 2003 to 2006.
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Walt Lastewka spearheaded a movement to clean up the St Catharines Twelve Mile Creek during his first term and used his knowledge of government bureaucracy to expedite the city's bid to host the 1999 World Rowing Championships.
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Walt Lastewka supported Paul Martin's bid to succeed Jean Chretien as Liberal Party leader during the 1990s, and was one of the first Liberal MPs to call for Chretien's resignation in 2000.
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In 1995, Walt Lastewka criticized the Government of Canada for attempting to deport Johann Dueck, a constituent who had been accused of committing war crimes during World War II.
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Walt Lastewka argued that if Dueck was to be charged, it should have been under a 1987 law that allowed accused war criminals to be tried domestically in Canada.
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Walt Lastewka was criticized for these comments by the Toronto Star newspaper and some Canadian Jewish leaders, including Sol Littman of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
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Also in 1995, Walt Lastewka petitioned the government for an inquiry into the way crown officials handled the prosecution of Karla Homolka.
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Walt Lastewka argued that the sentence was far too lenient and called for a review of the negotiation process.
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Walt Lastewka later called for Senator Michel Biron to resign in 2005, after Biron wrote a letter opposing restrictions on Homolka following her release.
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Walt Lastewka said that he was "appalled" by Biron's letter and wrote that the Senator displayed "complete and utter disregard" for the families of Homolka's victims.
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Walt Lastewka later voted against Bill C38, which legalized same-sex marriage rights in Canada.
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Local gay rights activist Ted Mouradian endorsed Walt Lastewka in 2005, arguing that he was a better candidate than his Conservative opponent.
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Walt Lastewka was narrowly defeated by Conservative Rick Dykstra in the 2006 federal election.
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On March 22,2007, Walt Lastewka was acclaimed as the Liberal Party candidate for St Catharines in the next federal election.
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However, Walt Lastewka was defeated by an increased margin in the 2008 election.