Peggy Nash Politician

Peggy A. Nash (born June 28, 1951) is a Canadian labour official and politician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament (MP) for the Parkdale—High Park electoral district (riding) in Toronto, and is the Official Opposition's Industry Critic. Before becoming a parliamentarian, she worked as a labour official at the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW). In 2005, she became the first female to negotiate a major contract with one of the Detroit-based automobile corporations. She was first elected as the MP for Parkdale—High Park in the 2006 federal election. In the 2008 federal election, she was defeated in her re-election bid by Liberal candidate Gerard Kennedy. Following the 2006 election, Nash returned to her previous job as a labour official with the CAW. She was elected to a two-year term as the federal NDP's President on August 15, 2009, at the party's convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was a candidate again in the 2011 federal election, and defeated Kennedy, earning 47% of the vote to regain her former seat in the Canadian House of Commons.In 2012, Nash was a candidate for the leadership of the federal NDP. She finished fourth on the second ballot at the party's convention in Toronto on March 24, 2012. In April 2012, she was reappointed as the NDP's Finance Critic by new leader Thomas Mulcair.