Bill Blaikie

Bill Blaikie is passionate about the intersection of faith and politics, and as director of the Knowles-Woodsworth Centre in The University of Winnipeg's Faculty of Theology, he keeps the dialogue going on campus.

Blaikie graduated from UWinnipeg and pursued ordained ministry through the United Church. His dedication to public service took him to Ottawa on a more than 30-year political journey as a Member of Parliament where he served in a number of capacities, including as Parliamentary Leader of the NDP, Deputy Speaker, and Dean of the House of Commons.

He has challenged Canadians to stop idolizing the market, and allowing greed to dictate society; and instead push for social justice by putting human and environmental needs first.

Shortly after his retirement from federal politics, he ran provincially, and, as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, he became Minister of Conservation. Here he worked on many issues, including establishing four provincial parks in his very short term. He recently published The Blaikie Report – An Insider’s Look at Faith and Politics.

For his lifetime of dedicated public service, Blaikie was awarded honorary Doctorates in Divinity from both UWinnipeg and Victoria University (Toronto). He was sworn in to the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in 2003, was voted Parliamentarian of the Year by his peers in 2007, and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Former Parliamentarians in 2013.