{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1946)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Janis G. Johnson | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OM|size=100%}} | image = | image_size = | office = Canadian Senator <br> from Manitoba | appointer = Brian Mulroney | predecessor = | successor = Mary Jane McCallum | term_start = September 27, 1990 | term_end = September 27, 2016 | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|4|27}} | birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | spouse = Frank Moores (1973–2005; his death) | party = Conservative | relations = | children = 1 | alma_mater = University of Manitoba (BA) | occupation = {{hlist|Businesswoman|public affairs consultant}} | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Janis {{langx|is|Guðrún|label=none|text=|italic=no}} Johnson''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OM}} (born April 27, 1946) is a retired Canadian politician who served as a senator, representing the province of Manitoba.
Serving her position for 26 years until her retirement, Johnson is the longest-serving senator of Manitoba.<ref>Dawkins, Glen. 2023 May 14. "[https://winnipegsun.com/news/provincial/broadcaster-rock-music-historian-and-longest-serving-senator-head-up-order-of-manitoba-list Broadcaster, rock music historian and longest-serving senator head up Order of Manitoba list]." ''Winnipeg Sun''. Retrieved 2023-07-22.</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Honourable Janis Gundrun Johnson, C.M. |url=https://www.nelliemcclungfoundation.com/150-trailblazers/honourable-janis-gundrun-johnson,-c.m. |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Nellie McClung |language=en}}</ref> She is also the longest-serving Conservative member of Senate, and was the first woman to serve as the national director of the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.<ref>"[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-senator-janis-johnson-retires-1.3774397 Conservative Senator Janis Johnson retires after 26 years]." ''CBC News''. 2016 September 16. Retrieved 2023-07-22.</ref>
==Early life and education== Janis {{langx|is|Guðrún|label=none|text=|italic=no}} Johnson was born in Winnipeg on 27 April 1946, to Doris Marjorie Blöndal and George Johnson. George was the Minister of Health and Public Welfare in the Manitoba Legislature, later becoming the province's 20th Lieutenant Governor.<ref name=ice>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/special/ourcityourworld/iceland/Faces-of-the-Icelandic-community-180696371.html|title=Faces of the Icelandic community|date=November 24, 2012|access-date=October 29, 2016|work=Winnipeg Free Press}}</ref> Her mother was of Icelandic ancestry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bookoflife.nihm.ca/bookoflife/JohnsonDrG_1.html|title=Johnson, The Honourable Dr. George & Doris|access-date=2016-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118024639/http://bookoflife.nihm.ca/bookoflife/JohnsonDrG_1.html|archive-date=2015-11-18|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Johnson attended Kelvin High School<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janis Johnson {{!}} Hall of Fame |url=https://kelvin.schoolhistory.club/recognition/janis-johnson |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=kelvin.schoolhistory.club |language=en |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723004906/https://kelvin.schoolhistory.club/recognition/janis-johnson |url-status=dead }}</ref> and the University of Winnipeg Collegiate, where she graduated in 1965.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=UWC Alumni Report: The Honourable Janis Johnson, C.M. (Class of 1965) {{!}} Collegiate {{!}} The University of Winnipeg |url=https://collegiate.uwinnipeg.ca/news/2023/06/uwc-alumni-report-the-honourable-janis-johnson-c.m-class-of-1965.html |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=collegiate.uwinnipeg.ca |archive-date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628211848/https://collegiate.uwinnipeg.ca/news/2023/06/uwc-alumni-report-the-honourable-janis-johnson-c.m-class-of-1965.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> She went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science with honours standing in 1968 from the University of Manitoba.<ref name=CBC/> She was also a leader of the university's students' union.<ref name=":0" />
==Career== After completing her degree in 1968, Johnson moved to Ottawa, where she was a youth policy advisor to the Robert Stanfield, then-leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. She went on to become policy advisor to the party president.<ref name=":0" />
From 1971 to 1979, Johnson worked closely with Frank Moores, helping to organize his campaign for Premier of Newfoundland, which led to the defeat of Joey Smallwood in 1971. (Johnson and Moores would later marry in 1973.)<ref name=":0" />
In 1979, she returned to Manitoba and became an advisor to Premier Sterling Lyon, whereafter she set up the first Progressive Conservative Women's Caucus of Winnipeg. She also worked as a freelance consultant in public affairs as well as being a lecturer in the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Continuing Education.<ref name=":0" />
In 1983, she served as Manitoba co-chair of Brian Mulroney’s successful campaign for national PC leadership, becoming the first woman to serve as the national director of the federal PC Party in September.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="CBC" />
In 1985, Johnson established a public policy and communications firm in Winnipeg, called Janis Johnson & Associates, which worked in the areas of women's health and equality, Indigenous affairs, and cultural policy.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="CBC" /> That year, she joined the Canadian National Railways board of directors, where she served until 1990; Johnson notably convinced CN to establish a head office daycare, a first in Canada's corporate sector.<ref name=":0" />
===Senate career=== In 1990, Johnson was appointed to represent the province of Manitoba in the Senate by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. She was a senior member of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Senate Committee on Energy, the Environment and Natural Resources, and Senate Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group.<ref name=WFP/>
Johnson's first speech in the Senate was about the Mulroney government's anti-abortion bill, which she voted against.<ref name=WFP/><ref>{{cite book|page=84|title=Abortion Politics, Women's Movements, and the Democratic State: A Comparative Study of State Feminism|first1=Dorothy E.|last1=McBride|first2=Dorothy M.|last2=Stetson|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199242658|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dX_nCwAAQBAJ}}</ref>
In 2014, Johnson became the Honorary Chair of Nature Canada's Women for Nature Initiative.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}
In 2015, Johnson was named among 30 senators in an audit of Senate expenses. She criticized the report, but later repaid the $22,706 it said she owed in questionable travel expenses, maintaining that they were legitimate and the report was incorrect.<ref name=CBC/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Manitoba-Senator-Janis-Johnson-repays-20K-in-flagged-expenses-insists-they-were-legitimate-308271961.html|title=Manitoba Senator Janis Johnson repays $20K in flagged expenses; insists they were legitimate|first=Mia|last=Rabson|work=Winnipeg Free Press|date=June 18, 2015|access-date=October 29, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegsun.com/2015/06/19/manitoba-senator-janis-johnson-repays-travel-expenses|title=Manitoba Senator Janis Johnson repays travel expenses|work=Winnipeg Sun|date=June 19, 2015|access-date=October 29, 2016}}</ref>
Johnson retired from the Senate on September 27, 2016, exactly 26 years after she was appointed. She was the longest-serving Conservative member of the Senate and Manitoba's longest-serving senator.<ref name=CBC>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-senator-janis-johnson-retires-1.3774397|title=Conservative Senator Janis Johnson retires after 26 years|publisher=CBC News|date=September 22, 2016|access-date=October 29, 2016}}</ref><ref name=WFP>{{cite web|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/sen-janis-johnson-leaves-upper-chamber-calls-final-years-very-dysfunctional-394500071.html|title=Manitoba's most veteran senator to depart|first=Mia|last=Rabson|work=Winnipeg Free Press|date=September 22, 2016|access-date=October 29, 2016}}</ref>
=== Volunteerism === Johnson has also been active in the volunteer sector. Active in the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, she founded the Gimli Film Festival in 2000, which she continues to chair.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="CBC" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Board of Directors |url=https://gimlifilm.com/board-of-directors/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |website=Gimli International Film Festival |language=en-CA |archive-date=23 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723013413/https://gimlifilm.com/board-of-directors/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
She was also a founding member of the Manitoba Special Olympics board and sat on the Canadian Special Olympics board for 10 years.<ref name=":0" /> Johnson has also served on the advisory board of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, as well as the board of directors of the University of Winnipeg, Prairie Theatre Exchange, and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web | url=https://janisjohnson.ca/about/ | title=Honourable Janis G. Johnson | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230723014917/https://janisjohnson.ca/about/ | archive-date=23 July 2023 }}</ref>
She also contributed to the founding of the Mature Women's Health Clinic (now the Women's Health Centre) and assisted in the development of Qaumajuq at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Order of Manitoba – Manitoba Lieutenant Governor |url=https://manitobalg.ca/awards/order-of-manitoba/ |access-date=2023-07-23 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Personal life== Johnson was the second wife of Frank Moores, whom Johnson worked closely with and helped to organize his (successful) campaign for Premier of Newfoundland in 1971.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/former-newfoundland-premier-frank-moores-dies-1.552590|title=Former Newfoundland premier Frank Moores dies|publisher=CBC News|date=July 10, 2005|access-date=October 29, 2016}}</ref>
The two married in 1973, and had one son, Stefan Moores, in 1975.<ref name=":0" />
==Awards and honours== Johnson is the recipient of many honours, including:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />
* Velia Stern Outstanding Student Award from the University of Manitoba (1968) * Queen's Silver (1977), Golden (2003), and Diamond (2012) Jubilee Medals * Doctor of Laws honorary degree from the University of Manitoba (2018) * Canada 125 Medal for Community Service (1993) * Special Olympics Award for Volunteerism (1994) * Business and Professional Women's Award (1995) * Winnipeg School Division 125th Anniversary Award (1996) * Outstanding Alumni Award from the University of Manitoba (2009)
In August 2000, she became one of the few Canadians to be awarded Iceland's Order of the Falcon by the Government of Iceland, for her efforts in promoting Canada–Iceland relations.<ref name="ice" /><ref name=":0" />
In 2022, Johnson was appointed to the Order of Canada,<ref name=":0" /> and in July 2023, was inducted into the Order of Manitoba.<ref name=":1" />
In 2014, she was the first Honorary Chair of Women for Nature, an initiative of Nature Canada, one of the country's leading nature and outdoors advocacy organizations.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * Website: [http://www.janisjohnson.ca www.janisjohnson.ca] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806020959/http://janisjohnson.ca/ |date=6 August 2014 }}{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=16157}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Janis}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Businesspeople from Winnipeg Category:Canadian senators from Manitoba Category:Canadian Lutherans Category:Conservative Party of Canada senators Category:Canadian people of Icelandic descent Category:Politicians from Winnipeg Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada senators Category:University of Manitoba alumni Category:Women members of the Senate of Canada Category:Women in Manitoba politics Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada Category:21st-century members of the Senate of Canada