{{Short description|Canadian politician}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Myrna Driedger | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=CAN|OM|size=100%}} | caption = | office = 30th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba | term_start = May 18, 2016 | term_end = November 9, 2023 | predecessor = Daryl Reid | successor = Tom Lindsey | office1 = Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Roblin<br><small>Charleswood 1998–2019</small> | term_start1 = April 28, 1998 | term_end1 = September 5, 2023 | predecessor1 = Jim Ernst | successor1 = Kathleen Cook | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1952}} | birth_place = Benito, Manitoba, Canada | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{Death-date and age|Month DD, YYYY|Month DD, YYYY}} (death date then birth date) --> | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | citizenship = | party = Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba | spouse = | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | parents = | alma_mater = Red River College Polytechnic | occupation = Nurse | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Myrna Driedger''' {{postnominals|country=CAN|OM}} (''{{respell|Mur|nə}}'' ''{{respell|Dree|jər}}'') (born 1952) is a former politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1998 to 2023, and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2016 to 2023.<ref name="members">{{cite web |url=https://www.gov.mb.ca/legislature/members/mla_bio_living.html#d |publisher=Legislative Assembly of Manitoba |title=MLA Biographies – Living}}</ref>
==Personal life== She was born in Benito, Manitoba, and was educated at Benito Collegiate, at the Winnipeg General Hospital School of Nursing, and at Red River Community College.<ref name="who" />
Before entering provincial politics, Driedger worked as a nurse for 23 years. She was CEO of Child Find Manitoba, and was co-chair of the province's Abuse Prevention Services Adult Advisory Committee. She has also participated in other groups that provide services to poor and vulnerable children. At one stage, she was Manitoba President of the Canadian Association of Neurological and Neurosurgical Nurses.<ref name="who" />
She is married to Helmut Driedger.<ref name="who">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AGpWnv0L61wC&pg=PA282 |title=Who's Who of Canadian Women, 1999–2000 |page=282 |last=Holmes |first=Gillian |year=1999 |ISBN=0920966551 |publisher=University of Toronto Press}}</ref>
==Politics== Driedger was elected to the provincial legislature in a 1998 by-election, in the upscale west Winnipeg riding of Charleswood.<ref>[http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/historic/31352044.html Winnipeg Free Press, June 4, 2003]</ref> A Progressive Conservative, Driedger defeated Liberal candidate Alan McKenzie by 2,767 votes to 1,524. She was subsequently named legislative assistant to the Minister of Family Services and the Minister of Health.
The Progressive Conservative government of Gary Filmon was defeated in the 1999 provincial election, although Driedger was re-elected in Charleswood by an increased margin. She was again re-elected in the 2003 election, defeating her leading opponent by over one thousand votes.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/charleswood-1.1111936 |title=Charleswood |work=Manitoba |publisher=CBC News}}</ref> Although the governing New Democratic Party made significant inroads in south-end Winnipeg in 2003, they were unable to do better than a third-place finish in Driedger's riding, due in part to the popularity of Manitoba Liberal Party candidate Rick Ross.
Driedger has participated in a panel seeking input on possible reforms to the province's ''Young Offenders Act'', and has also participated in programs for Indigenous children. In 2001, she visited France and Switzerland on a fact-finding mission concerning the health-care policies of these countries. In 2003, she advocated the establishment of a Manitoba Heart Institute to reduce waitlist times. She supports Medicare, but has also called for the introduction of further private health services to the province.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}
She campaigned for Conservative Party of Canada candidate Steven Fletcher in the federal election of 2004.
During her time in Opposition, Driedger was able to get five private members’ bills passed, including a date rape prevention bill; mandatory accreditation of all mammography machines; establishment of April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month; an act to celebrate the centennial of (most) Manitoba women getting the vote; and the founding of the Nellie McClung Foundation.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Honourable Myrna Driedger, MLA |url=https://www.nelliemcclungfoundation.com/150-trailblazers/honourable-myrna-driedger,-mla |access-date=2024-07-26 |website=Nellie McClung |language=en}}</ref>
Driedger has been involved with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) organizations for a number of years, eventually becoming the first Manitoban to chair CWP.<ref name=":0" />
She was re-elected in the 2007, 2011, 2016 and 2019 provincial elections.<ref name="members"/> In January 2023, she announced her retirement at the end of the legislature.<ref name="cbcDriedger">Ian Froese, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/myrna-driedger-veteran-tory-mla-won-t-election-1.6703346 "Veteran Tory MLA Myrna Driedger won't run in 2023 Manitoba election"]. CBC News, January 4, 2023.</ref>
== Honours and accolades == In 2023, she received the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Lifetime Achievement Award by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Order of Manitoba – Manitoba Lieutenant Governor |url=https://manitobalg.ca/awards/order-of-manitoba/ |access-date=2024-07-26 |language=en-US}}</ref>
Driedger was appointed as a member of the Order of Manitoba in 2024.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://manitobalg.ca/awards/order-of-manitoba/|access-date=June 25, 2024|title=Outstanding Manitobans Chosen to Receive the 2024 Order of Manitoba|publisher=Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba}}</ref><ref name=":1" />
==References== <References />
==External links== * http://www.myrnadriedger.com/ *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTRFNN17Tuc Candidacy announcement] for the 2016 Manitoba general election
{{Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Driedger, Myrna}} Category:1952 births Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians Category:Canadian nurses Category:Canadian women nurses Category:Canadian people of German descent Category:Living people Category:People from Parkland Region, Manitoba Category:Politicians from Winnipeg Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs Category:Red River College alumni Category:Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Category:Women legislative speakers Category:Women MLAs in Manitoba Category:Members of the Order of Manitoba Category:Canadian women's rights activists Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Category:Canadian women civil rights activists