Bev Oda

Infobox CanadianMP
honorific-prefix = The Honourable
name = Beverley Joan Oda
honorific-suffix =
PC, MP


riding = Durham
parliament = Canadian
term_start = 2004 federal election
term_end =
predecessor = Alex Shepherd
successor =
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|07|27
birth_place = Thunder Bay, Ontario
death_date =
death_place =
party = Conservative
portfolio = Minister for International Cooperation
profession = Broadcasting executive, communication consultant, teacher
spouse =
residence = Orono
footnotes =

Beverley Joan "Bev" Oda PC, MP (born July 27, 1944 in Thunder Bay, Ontario) [ [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=39a65c4b-9038-463b-a6ba-a22d94707191&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience Parliament of Canada: ODA, The Hon. Beverley J. (Bev), P.C., B.A.] ] is a Canadian politician. She is a current member of the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first Japanese-Canadian MP and Cabinet Minister in Canadian history. She represents the riding of Durham for the Conservative Party of Canada. She was appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women on February 6, 2006. On August 14, 2007, she was appointed to a new portfolio: Minister for International Cooperation.

Background

Oda has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. [ [http://www.conservative.ca/?section_id=1051&linkTo=true&districtId=1473 Conservative Party of Canada Website] ] She began her broadcasting career at TV Ontario in 1973, and later worked for Citytv and the Global Television Network. Oda was an Ontario Film Review Board Member in 1986-87, and a Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Commissioner from 1987 to 1993. She became the Chair of FUND (now The Harold Greenberg Fund) in 1994. From 1995 to 1999, she was a Senior Vice-President of CTV and Baton Broadcasting. She was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame in November 2003, and was awarded The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of work in broadcasting. She has also worked as a policy adviser to three Secretaries of State.

Politics

Oda was for many years a volunteer with the Progressive Conservative Party. She ran as a Conservative in Clarington—Scugog—Uxbridge in the 2004 federal election, and won a narrow victory over Liberal Tim Lang.

Following her election, Oda was named as the Conservative Party critic for the Ministry of Heritage. She has recently argued in favour of allowing more Canadian and foreign programming options in the country.

On November 15, 2004, she reintroduced Bill C-333, the Chinese Canadian Recognition and Redress Act, which calls on parliament to recognize the contribution of Chinese immigrants to Canada, and acknowledge the unjust past treatments of Chinese Canadians as a result of racist legislation. Oda is not herself Chinese, but is Canada's first parliamentarian of Japanese heritage.

In the 2006 election, she successfully defended her seat in Durham with 47% of the vote in the riding, despite controversy over campaign funding by US copyright proponents. [ [http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1060 Michael Geist: The Sad Reality of Copyright Policy in Canada] ] On February 6, 2006, Oda was sworn in as Heritage Minister in the cabinet of the newly elected Conservative government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper. She is the first Japanese-Canadian cabinet minister in Canadian history.

2006 fundraising controversy

In November 2006, Oda planned on holding a fundraising dinner for broadcasting executives, just weeks before a major review of broadcasting rules. The event was cancelled, but a number of donations were still made. [cite news|url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070504.woda04/BNStory/National/home |title=Oda faces heat over aborted fundraising event |date=2007-05-04 |accessdate=2007-05-05 |last=Curry |first=Bill |publisher=Globe and Mail]

Limo controversy

Bev Oda has recently been accused of hiding over 17000 dollars of limo expenses billed to tax payers [NDP says Conservative MP hid limo expenses, May 8th 2008, ctv news [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080507/quebec_monarchy_080507/20080507?hub=Politics] ] . This is not the first time such accusations have been made, In 2006, Oda paid back $2,200 to taxpayers after the Liberals found that she had incurred nearly $5,500 in limo rides at the 2006 Juno awards in Halifax. [NDP says Conservative MP hid limo expenses, May 8th 2008, ctv news [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080507/quebec_monarchy_080507/20080507?hub=Politics] ] .

References

*

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.bevoda.ca/ Bev Oda Official Site]
* [http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=39a65c4b-9038-463b-a6ba-a22d94707191&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience Parliament Webpage]