{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1953)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = Karen Redman | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|size=100%}} | image = Karen Redman 2019.jpg | caption = Redman in 2019 | office = Chair of the Region of Waterloo | term_start = November 30, 2018 | predecessor = Ken Seiling | office2 = Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre | term_start2 = June 2, 1997 | term_end2 = October 14, 2008 | predecessor2 = John English | successor2 = Stephen Woodworth | birth_name = Karen Longo | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1953|1|8}} | birth_place = Kitchener, Ontario, Canada | party = Independent | other_party = Liberal (until 2014) | spouse = Warren Redman }}
'''Karen Redman''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC}} ({{nee}} '''Longo'''; born January 8, 1953) is a Canadian politician who currently serves as the chair of the Region of Waterloo. Previously, she was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2008, representing the riding of Kitchener Centre for the Liberal Party. She served as Chief Government Whip in the 2004 to 2005 Parliament, and was the Chief Official Opposition Whip in the 2006 to 2008 parliament. She was defeated in the 2008 federal election. She was elected to Waterloo Regional Council in the 2014 municipal election and has been the Waterloo Regional Chair since 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-regional-chair-municipal-election-results-2018-1.4874371|title=Karen Redman elected regional chair {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-10-24|language=en-CA}}</ref>
==Life and career== Redman was born in Kitchener, Ontario. After completing high school at Eastwood Collegiate Institute, Redman went on to graduate from the University of Waterloo, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1974. She subsequently worked as a writer, and was a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Learning Disabilities Association and the Canadian Federation of University Women. She has been an elder in Kitchener's St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church since 1991.
===Politics=== Redman served as a trustee on the Waterloo County Board of Education from 1988 to 1994, and was a city councillor for the Kitchener City Council and the Regional Municipality of Waterloo from 1994 to 1997.
She was first elected to parliament in the federal election of 1997, defeating former Progressive Conservative MP John Reimer by over 10,000 votes. She was re-elected by comfortable margins in the elections of 2000, 2004, and 2006.
Redman served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of the Environment from 2000 to 2003. She was named Chief Government Whip and sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on July 20, 2004, an important role in a minority government situation. Following the Liberal defeat in the 2006 election, she was named Chief Opposition Whip.
In the 2008 federal election, she lost to Stephen Woodworth of the Conservative Party of Canada by 339 votes.
On November 17, 2009, upon a reconstitution of the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition under Chief of Staff Peter Donolo, Redman was named Caucus Liaison, a role drawing on her "strong and deep ties with her former – and future – caucus colleagues."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/second-reading/andrew-steele/changes-in-ottawa/article1366394/singlepage/|title=Changes in Ottawa|work=The Globe and Mail|author=Andrew Steele|date=November 17, 2009|quote=The following is an email sent by new Ignatieff Chief of Staff, Peter Donolo.}}</ref>
Redman was renominated as the federal Liberal candidate for the riding of Kitchener Centre in the 2011 election, yet lost again to Conservative Stephen Woodworth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.therecord.com/sports-story/2562561-rae-swings-through-region-in-election-style-visit/|title=Rae swings through region in election-style visit|work=Waterloo Region Record|author=Brent Davis|date=September 10, 2010|access-date=November 9, 2015|quote=Rae was accompanied by Kitchener Centre Liberal candidate and former MP Karen Redman}}</ref>
She was elected to Waterloo Regional Council in the 2014 municipal election.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/regionalGovernment/karenredman.asp|publisher=Waterloo Region|title=Karen Redman biography|access-date=November 9, 2015|archive-date=November 14, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114195258/http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/regionalGovernment/karenredman.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2018 she successfully ran for and became the chair of the Waterloo Regional Council, receiving over 62% of the votes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/waterloo-regional-chair-municipal-election-results-2018-1.4874371|title=Karen Redman elected regional chair {{!}} CBC News|work=CBC|access-date=2018-10-24|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Election results== {| class="wikitable" |Colspan="2" align="center"|'''Waterloo Region - Regional Councillor for the City of Kitchener, 2014'''<ref>{{cite web |title=2014 Municipal Election Results: Regional Councillor |url=http://www.kitchener.ca/en/insidecityhall/resources/City_of_Kitchener_-_Official_Results_-_Certified.pdf |page=4 |publisher=City of Kitchener |access-date=2018-10-14 |archive-date=2017-08-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807045503/https://www.kitchener.ca/en/insidecityhall/resources/City_of_Kitchener_-_Official_Results_-_Certified.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{efn|Four positions available}} |- ! width="150px" | Candidate ! Votes |- |'''Karen Redman''' ||align=right| 28,616 |- |'''Tom Galloway''' ||align=right| 24,866 |- |'''Wayne Wettlaufer''' ||align=right| 17,471 |- |'''Geoff Lorentz''' ||align=right| 17,005 |- |Elizabeth Clarke ||align=right| 16,586 |- |Cameron J. Dearlove ||align=right| 14,439 |- |Greg Burns ||align=right| 8,331 |- |}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2011|percent=yes|change=yes|expenditures=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Stephen Woodworth |21,119 |42.40| +5.70|$84,217.49}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman|15,592 |31.30 | -4.64|$79,800.33}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Peter Thurley|10,742 |21.57 | +3.48| $38,822.94}} {{CANelec|CA|Green|Byron Williston|1,972|3.96 | -4.55|$4,298.33}} {{CANelec|CA|Independent|Alan Rimmer|199|0.40 | |$1,916.45}} {{CANelec|CA|Communist|Martin Suter|93|0.19 | -0.10|$502.09}} {{CANelec|CA|Marxist-Leninist|Mark Corbiere|92 |0.18 |–| none listed}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes/expense limit|49,809|99.58| $87,274.51}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots| 209| 0.42| +0.01| }} {{Canadian election result/total|Turnout|50,018| 63.15| +5.12| }} {{Canadian election result/total|Eligible voters|80,480|–|–| }} {{CANelec/hold|CA|Conservative|+5.17}} {{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2008|percent=yes|change=yes|expenditures=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Stephen Woodworth |16,480|36.69|+4.56|$75,291}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman|16,141|35.94|-7.32|$74,745}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Oz Cole-Arnal|8,152|18.08|-0.35|$26,622}} {{CANelec|CA|Green|John Bithell|3,818|8.51|+2.89|$2,612}} {{CANelec|CA|Independent|Amanda Lamka|215|0.47|–| }} {{CANelec|CA|Communist|Martin Suter|127|0.28|-0.26|$373}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes/expense limit|44,933|100.00|$84,756 }} {{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots| 183| 0.41|-0.05 }} {{Canadian election result/total|Turnout| 45,091| 57.03| -7.67}} {{CANelec/gain|CA|Conservative|Liberal| +5.94}} {{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2006|percent=yes|change=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman |21,715| 43.26|-3.8 }} {{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Steven Cage|16,131|32.13 | +4.6}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Richard Walsh-Bowers |9,250| 18.43| -0.9}} {{CANelec|CA|Green|Tony Maas|2,822| 5.62| +0.2}} {{CANelec|CA|Communist|Martin Suter|274| 0.54| }} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|50,192 | 100.00}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total rejected ballots| 232|0.46| }} {{Canadian election result/total|Turnout| 50,426| 64.70 }} {{end}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2004|percent=yes|change=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman |21,264|47.1|-5.7}} {{CANelec|CA|Conservative|Thomas Ichim|12,412|27.5|-12.4{{efn-la|Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.}}}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Richard Walsh-Bowers |8,717|19.3 |+12.4}} {{CANelec|CA|Green|Karol Vesely|2,450|5.4|}} {{CANelec|CA|Independent|Mark Corbiere|277|0.6|}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes| 45,120|100.0}} {{end}} {{notelist-la}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|2000|percent=yes|change=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman |23,511|52.8 |+4.8}} {{CANelec|CA|Canadian Alliance|Eloise Jantzi|11,603|26.1 |+6.2{{efn-la|Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.}}}} {{CANelec|CA|PC|Steven Daniel Gadbois|6,162|13.8 |-8.9}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Paul Royston|3,058|6.9 |-2.5}} {{CANelec|CA|Communist|Martin Suter|167|0.4| }} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|44,501 |100.0}} {{end}} {{notelist-la}}
{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1997|percent=yes}} {{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Karen Redman |23,089|48.0}} {{CANelec|CA|PC|John Reimer |10,960|22.8}} {{CANelec|CA|Reform|Ronald Albert Wilson|9,550|19.9}} {{CANelec|CA|NDP|Lucy Harrison|4,503|9.4}} {{Canadian election result/total|Total valid votes|48,102 |100.0}} {{end}}
==See also== * List of University of Waterloo people
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redman, Karen}} Category:1953 births Category:Canadian Presbyterians Category:Women members of the House of Commons of Canada Category:Kitchener, Ontario, city councillors Category:Liberal Party of Canada MPs Category:Living people Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Category:Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Category:University of Waterloo alumni Category:Women municipal councillors in Ontario Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians