Election 2015 - Meet the candidates (Dauphin - Swan River - Neepawa)

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Published on Thursday, August 27, 2015

Banner Staff

The Neepawa Banner

Until the federal election on October 19th, the Neepawa Banner will be talking to the candidates about the issues that matter to local voters. This week we begin with the candidate profiles. Check back as we ask the candidates for their views on a new topic each week.

Name: Robert Sopuck

Party: Conservative Party of Canada

Home: Sandy Lake

Political experience: The incumbent, Sopuck was first elected in a by-election in November 2010. He was re-elected in the 41st federal election, held May 2011. 

For almost five years, he has been a member of the Standing Committee for Environment and Sustainable Development and the Standing Committee for Fisheries and Oceans. In addition, Sopuck served as the Chair of the Manitoba Regional Caucus. 

From 2011 to 2013, Sopuck served as Chair of the Canada-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group.

Biography: Robert Sopuck received his Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) from the University of Manitoba and Master of Science  from Cornell University. From 1976 to 1979, he was the District Biologist for the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and then a Fisheries Biologist for the Province of Manitoba.  

From 1988 to 1996 he coordinated the sustainable development initiative for the Province of Manitoba and in 1996, he took a position with the Pine Falls Paper Company as Director of Environmental Programs. 

In 1998 he moved back to his farm in the Sandy Lake area, where he currently resides. He was the vice-president of Policy (Western Canada) for the Delta Waterfowl Foundation from 2000 to 2009 and the Director of the “Smart Green” environmental policy project and the “Rural Renaissance Project” for the Frontier Centre for Public Policy. Sopuck has had extensive experience in agricultural and rural policy analysis and development.

In October 2007 Sopuck was appointed by Canada’s Minister of the Environment to the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

He and his wife, Caroline, live on their 480 acres of land in the Sandy Lake area. They have two children and three grandchildren.

Name: Kate Storey

Party: Green Party of Canada

Home: Grandview

Political experience: A long-time member of the Green Party, Storey first ran for the party in the 2006 general election.  She spearheaded a National Green Agriculture and Food Policy paper which was well received. She has testified before Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food on behalf of farm families and a sustainable rural economy.

Biography: Storey is an organic farmer, wildlife habitat specialist and manager from Grandview. In 1987 Kate and her husband Doug moved their four young children to his family farm and over the years, they learned to work with nature and have developed the farm into a sustainable organic grain and cattle business and an ecological reserve.

Storey is a graduate of the University of Manitoba with a science degree in Botany and an interest in nature and natural farming systems. Kate worked in wildlife research, focusing on the effect of human activity on the habitat of Manitoba’s endangered woodland caribou herd and later worked as a habitat specialist for the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Storey is now the president of the Manitoba Organic Alliance. She has been an advisor to the National Farmers Union and a director on the MB Rural Adaptation Council, the Farm and Rural Stress Line and the MB Organic Marketplace Association.

Name: Inky Mark

Party: Independent

Home: Dauphin

Political experience: Inky Mark sat as the area’s federal Member of Parliament from 1997 until 2010. Prior to entering federal politics, Mark served one term as a councillor and one term as mayor in Dauphin. Sitting as a member of the Canadian Conservative Party, Mark resigned from his seat in 2010 for an unsuccessful run to become the mayor of Dauphin.

As an MP, Mark held positions on a number of committees including Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, Citizenship and Immigration,  Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. 

Biography: Inky Mark was born in Taishan, China, and moved to the community of Gilbert Plains as a child. He came to Canada with his mother to join Mark's father and grandfather who had immigrated earlier.

Mark has a Bachelor of Arts from Brandon University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Manitoba. He worked as a high school teacher and small businessman before entering politics.

He and his wife Lynda live in Dauphin.

Name: Ray Piché

Party: Liberal Party of Canada

Home:  Onanole

Political experience: In 1998, Ray Piché was elected and served as a councillor for the Town of Emerson.

Biography: Ray Piché is an avid outdoorsman and a bilingual small business owner. He joined the RCMP at the age of 21 and was stationed in Regina and Ottawa before settling in Manitoba in 1986. His time in Manitoba included postings in Emerson, Brandon, Wasagaming, Minnedosa and Pukatawagan.  When in Pukatawagan, Piché was given one of the community’s highest honours, which recognized him as an outstanding community member.

In 2006, Piché retired from the RCMP.  Since his retirement, he and his wife Leita, who grew up in Neepawa, have opened a number of small businesses at CFB Shilo. Currently, he works with the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba as a Licencing and Permit Adviser.

Piché has worked closely with members of Canada’s military and received the 2014 Brandon Salutes Award for unfailing and enthusiastic support of the military community. He also received the 2010 CFB Shilo Business Award of Excellence for his work on the base. Piché is a member of the Shilo and Area Service Club and currently serves as the Chief Steward of Local 425 of the Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union.

Name: Laverne Lewycky

Party: NDP

Home: Dauphin

Political experience: Federal Member of Parliament for the Dauphin riding from 1980 to 1984. He served as the party’s Multiculturalism critic from 1981 to 1984. He served on  committees including: the Constitution Committee; Special Committee on Participation of Visible Minorities in Canadian Society and standing committees on management and members' services; privileges and elections; agriculture; miscellaneous estimates and the special joint committee on official languages. 

Biography: Born in Dauphin, Lewycky has a background in sociology and communication studies. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with his B.A. (Hons.) and M.A. degrees. After losing his federal seat to the Progressive Conservative party in the 1984 election, he left national politics to do doctoral studies. He studied at McGill University, Carleton University and Providence Seminary 

As an educator, Lewycky has taught as a university and college professor in Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. As a consultant, he has worked as an internal communications advisor and an advanced communications officer with various federal government departments such as Health Canada and Canada Revenue Agency. He has published various chapters in books and peer reviewed journals, especially in the area of multiculturalism.

Lewycky lives in Dauphin with his wife, Lois (Reimer) Lewycky.