Home > Sharon Carstairs

Carstairs was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia and was educated at Dalhousie University. She subsequently moved to western Canada, and in 1975 was an unsuccessful Liberal candidate for Calgary-Elbow in an Alberta provincial election. She served as President of the Alberta Liberal Party between 1975 and 1977, and was on the national executive of the Liberal Party of Canada in the same period.

Carstairs became leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party in 1984, at a time when the party held no seats in the legislature. She was defeated in a 1984 by-election in Fort Garry, but was elected for River Heights in 1986, defeating incumbent Tory Warren Steen . For the next two years, she would be the only Liberal in the legislature.

In 1988, she led the party to a dramatic resurgence. The New Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the New Democratic Party of Canada, and is a successor to the Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. It is currently the g had lost much of its support, and Carstairs's Liberals managed to win the votes of many centre-left electors. The party won 20 of 57 seats (their best result since 1953), and Carstairs became leader of the opposition, the first woman to hold such this position in any Canadian legislature.

The 1988 election saw the election of a Progressive Conservative minority governmentFor minority regime see Apartheid. A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system which does not represent a majority in the parliament or in bicameral parliaments, in that chamber whose confidence is considered most cr under Gary FilmonGary Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is a Manitoba politician. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as Premier from 1988 to 1999. Born in Winnipeg, Filmon was educated at the University of Manitob and the reduction of the New Democratic Party of ManitobaThe New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the New Democratic Party of Canada, and is a successor to the Manitoba Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. It is currently the g from government to third partypolitics a third party is a political party organized in all or nearly all states other than the Democrats or Republicans. See: Third party (United States . In Canada, a third party or third party status usually refers to a small political party that is n status. It initially appeared that Carstairs would lead her increasingly popular Liberals to victory in the following election. The 1990 election, however, saw the Tories returned with a majority government and a resurgent NDP under Gary Doer regain official opposition status. The Liberals were reduced to only seven seats.

Carstairs remained as party leader, and in 1992 campaigned for the "No" side on the Charlottetown Accord (she was financially assisted to this end by former Manitoba Liberal Party leader Israel Asper). She was blamed by many in the party for squandering their best chance to form government, however, and resigned as leader in 1993. The party has continued to decline since her departure.

On September 15, 1994, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Carstairs to the Canadian Senate. She held the position of Leader of the Government in the Senate from January 2001 to December 2003, and also served as Minister with Special Responsibility for Palliative Care for most of this time.