Jane Stewart (politician)
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The Honourable Jane Stewart PC |
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| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Brant |
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In office October 25, 1993 – June 28, 2004 |
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| Preceded by | Derek Blackburn |
| Succeeded by | Lloyd St. Amand |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 25, 1955 Brantford, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Relations |
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| Children | 2 sons |
| Cabinet |
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Jane Stewart, PC (born April 25, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who was the Minister of Human Resources Development from 1999 to 2003. She joined International Labour Organization in May 2004 and currently is the Special Representative and Director of the International Labour Organization's office to the United Nations.
Born in Brantford, Ontario, Stewart was first elected to Parliament in the 1993 election. She was a close friend of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, and was soon appointed to the important position of minister of National Revenue and subsequently Minister of Indian Affairs. In 1999, she was moved to the Department of Human Resources Development (HRDC), the government department that has the largest budget. Stewart was widely viewed to have leadership ambitions, and was closely supported by Chrétien.
These ambitions were put to an end by the so-called "billion-dollar boondoggle" where ineffective accounting practices at HRDC allegedly left millions of dollars unaccounted for (subsequent accounting reports revealed that only $85,000 were left unaccounted for). While the problems at HRDC mostly date from the time of her predecessor, Pierre Pettigrew, Stewart took the brunt of the attack but was also the Minister widely viewed to have cleaned up the mess left behind by her predecessor. She did not resign and according to some, Chrétien stood by her throughout the ordeal.
She remained minister in charge of HRDC until Paul Martin became Prime Minister on December 12, 2003. She was moved to the backbenches because of her position as a loyalist to the ousted Chrétien. She retired from politics on February 13, 2004, to become an Executive Director of the International Labour Organization. In July 2005, she left her job with the ILO to return to Canada and marry businessman Henry Stolp. She has since returned to ILO as its Executive Director and currently resides in New York City.
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