Audrey Gordon

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Audrey Gordon

| honorific-suffix =

| image =

| imagesize =

| office = Manitoba Minister of Health

| term_start = January 18, 2022

| term_end = October 18, 2023

| premier = Heather Stefanson

| predecessor = Portfolio renamed

| successor = Uzoma Asagwara

| office1 = Manitoba Minister of Health and Seniors Care

| term_start1 = August 18, 2021

| term_end1 = January 18, 2022

| premier1 = Brian Pallister
Kelvin Goertzen
Heather Stefanson

| predecessor1 = Heather Stefanson

| successor1 = Portfolio renamed

| office2 = Minister of Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery

| term_start2 = January 5, 2021

| term_end2 = January 18, 2022

| premier2 = Brian Pallister
Kelvin Goertzen
Heather Stefanson

| predecessor2 = Portfolio established

| successor2 = Sarah Guillemard

| office3 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Southdale

| constituency3 =

| predecessor3 = Andrew Smith

| successor3 = Renée Cable

| term_start3 = September 10, 2019

| term_end3 = September 5, 2023

| birth_date =

| birth_place =

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality =

| spouse =

| party = Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba

| residence = Winnipeg, Manitoba

| education = University of Manitoba (BA, MBA)

}}

Audrey Gordon is a Canadian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 2019 to 2023, representing the electoral district of Southdale as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.Bryce Hoye, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-election-2019-new-mlas-1.5275960 "Meet the rookies: Manitobans elect 13 first-time MLAs"]. CBC News Manitoba, September 11, 2019. Alongside Jamie Moses and Uzoma Asagwara, she was one of the first three Black Canadian MLAs elected in the 2019 Manitoba general election.

Early life and career

Born in Jamaica as the seventh of eight children, Gordon's family moved to Winnipeg when she was five.{{Cite web |last=Woldtsadique |first=Feleseta Kassaye |date=2023-11-13 |title=Audrey Gordon: The Political Rise of Manitoba's First Black Cabinet Minister |url=https://byblacks.com/profiles/personalities/item/2699-audrey-gordon-the-political-rise-of-manitoba-s-first-black-cabinet-minister |access-date=2024-09-07 |website=byblacks.com |language=en-gb}} Gordon attended the University of Manitoba and where she completed both a BA and MBA.

Prior to entering politics, Gordon was the Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and a provincial civil servant for 25 years.{{Cite web |title=BIOGRAPHIES OF NEW MINISTERS |url=https://news.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/newslinks/2020/BG-New_Minister_Bios.pdf |access-date=September 7, 2024 |website=Government of Manitoba}}

Political career

At the 2016 general election, Gordon stood in the central Winnipeg constituency of Fort Rouge. She came in second place to Wab Kinew, who later became leader of the Manitoba NDP, narrowing the NDP majority in the district; Manitoba Liberal Party leader Rana Bokhari, who did not have a seat at the time of the election, ran third in this riding.

At the 2019 general election, Gordon was elected in the southeastern Winnipeg constituency of Southdale.{{Cite web|title=Manitoba Electoral Riding: Southdale|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/5714492/manitoba-electoral-riding-southdale/|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Global News|language=en-US}}

In August 2020, Gordon was victim of a racist attack when a bench with her image on it was defaced with graffiti.{{Cite web|last=Hoye|first=Bryce|date=Aug 10, 2020|title=Manitoba MLA 'saddened' but undeterred by racist graffiti on bus bench with her image|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/audrey-gordon-racist-graffiti-bus-bench-winnipeg-1.5680490|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811161826/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/audrey-gordon-racist-graffiti-bus-bench-winnipeg-1.5680490 |archive-date=2020-08-11 |access-date=|website=CBC News - Manitoba}}{{Cite web|last=McKendrick|first=Devon|date=2020-08-10|title=Winnipeg MLA has bus bench defaced with racist graffiti|url=https://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg-mla-has-bus-bench-defaced-with-racist-graffiti-1.5059047|access-date=2020-10-28|website=Winnipeg|language=en}}{{Citation|title=Racial slur found on bus bench of Winnipeg MLA|url=https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/video/2020/08/09/racial-slur-found-on-bus-bench-of-winnipeg-mla/|access-date=2020-10-28}}

In May 2021, Springs Church, of which Gordon is a member, held an in-person graduation event. This was in defiance of restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. Gordon eventually commented on the event in a Facebook post, adding: "I have read several posts stating that I was present at the Springs graduation ceremony. To my knowledge, no evidence has been provided to substantiate this claim."{{Cite web|title=Winnipeg's Springs Church faces backlash for maskless graduation photos, pastor says they followed rules|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/springs-church-graduation-covid-19-1.6037683|access-date=2021-05-23|website=CBC News|language=en-US}} Her Facebook page was later deactivated.

In November 2021, Gordon was criticized for offering "thoughts and prayers" to Manitobans who had their surgeries cancelled and placed on a waitlist of over 130,000 postponed procedures.{{Cite web|title=Manitoba health minister offers 'thoughts and prayers' to those affected by postponed surgeries|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/surgery-diagnostic-backlog-manitoba-task-force-1.6250023|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-08|website=CBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211116010519/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/surgery-diagnostic-backlog-manitoba-task-force-1.6250023 |archive-date=2021-11-16 }} As of December 7, the delayed procedure backlog has surpassed 152,000{{Cite web|title=Surgical, diagnostic backlog surpasses 152,000 cases in Manitoba, doctors' group says|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-surgical-diagnostic-backlog-doctors-manitoba-1.6276422|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-08|website=CBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211207180100/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-surgical-diagnostic-backlog-doctors-manitoba-1.6276422 |archive-date=2021-12-07 }} and on December 8 health officials announced that they would look at cancelling additional surgical procedures as ICU beds are required for new COVID-19 patients that are being admitted to hospitals.{{Cite web|title=Health officials look at cancelling more surgeries as Manitoba ICUs face continued strain|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-19-update-manitoba-1.6277617|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-08|website=CBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208152330/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-19-update-manitoba-1.6277617 |archive-date=2021-12-08 }}

Gordon received further criticism from the opposition and in the media after a third of the nurses in the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) program resigned in March 2023.{{cite news |title=NDP calls for Manitoba health minister to resign after more nurses quit program for sex assault victims |url= https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/more-nurses-quit-sex-assault-program-hsc-1.6787909 |website=CBC Manitoba |date=March 22, 2023}} When confronted by the opposition, Gordon shifted the blame to "health system leaders" in the bureaucracy despite this being under her portfolio, bringing on more outcry over her leadership.{{cite news |title= Health minister wrong to pass the buck |url= https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/2023/03/24/health-minister-wrong-to-pass-the-buck |website= Winnipeg Free Press |date= March 24, 2023}}

At the 2023 general election, Gordon lost re-election to Renée Cable in her riding of Southdale.{{Cite news |last=Petz |first=Sarah |date=October 3, 2023 |title=Health Minister Audrey Gordon among Winnipeg PC cabinet ministers losing seats to NDP |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-election-2023-incumbent-losses-1.6985407 |access-date=September 7, 2024 |work=CBC News}}