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Steve Ashton
Steve Ashton
Manitoba Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation
	In office; April 9, 2015 – May 3, 2016
Premier	Greg Selinger
Preceded by	Ron Kostyshyn
Succeeded by	Blaine Pedersen
	In office; November 3, 2009 – December 22, 2014
Premier	Greg Selinger
Preceded by	Ron Lemieux
Succeeded by	Ron Kostyshyn
Manitoba Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
	In office; September 21, 2006 – September 14, 2009
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	Scott Smith
Succeeded by	Ron Lemieux
Manitoba Minister of Water Stewardship
	In office; November 4, 2003 – September 21, 2006
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	new portfolio
Succeeded by	Christine Melnick
Manitoba Minister of Labour and Immigration
	In office; June 25, 2003 – November 4, 2003
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	Becky Barrett
Succeeded by	Nancy Allan
Manitoba Minister of Conservation
	In office; September 25, 2002 – November 4, 2003
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	Oscar Lathlin
Succeeded by	Stan Struthers
Manitoba Minister of Transportation and Government Services
	In office; January 17, 2001 – September 25, 2002
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	new portfolio
Succeeded by	Scott Smith
Manitoba Minister of Highways and Government Services
	In office; October 5, 1999 – January 17, 2001
Premier	Gary Doer
Preceded by	new portfolio
Succeeded by	poltfolio abolished
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Thompson
	In office; November 17, 1981 – April 19, 2016
Preceded by	Ken MacMaster
Succeeded by	Kelly Bindle
President of the University of Manitoba Students' Union
	In office; 1978–1979
Personal details
Born	Steven John Ashton; February 29, 1956 (age 68); Surrey, England
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse	Hariklia Dimitrakopoulou-Ashton (1980–)
Children	Niki Ashton; Alexander Ashton
Alma mater	University of Manitoba; Lakehead University

Steven John Ashton (born February 29, 1956) is a British-born Canadian politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a long-serving member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba,^[1] and was a long-time cabinet minister in the New Democratic Party governments led by premiers Gary Doer and Greg Selinger.^[2] He resigned from cabinet on December 22, 2014 to challenge Selinger for the leadership of the party. Ashton was eliminated from the race, after finishing last on the first ballot at the 2015 NDP leadership convention. Selinger was re-elected party leader on the second ballot. In 2017, Ashton ran for Manitoba NDP leader, losing to Wab Kinew, who became premier in 2023.^[3]^[4]

Early life

Ashton was born in Surrey, England, the son of John Stewart Ashton and Nedra May Childs.^[5] His father was born in Wales.^[6] He moved with his family, including his brothers Martin and Alan,^[6] to Thompson, in northern Manitoba, at age eleven. He was educated at R. D. Parker Collegiate in that community, the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He was President of the University of Manitoba Students' Union in 1978–79 and has lectured in Economics for the former Inter Universities North in Thompson and Cross Lake.^[1]

Political career

Ashton was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1981 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Ken MacMaster by 72 votes in the constituency of Thompson. At the time of his first election, Ashton was involved in an INCO strike in the Thompson area as a member of the United Steelworkers of America; he was also the second youngest person ever elected to the Manitoba legislature at the time. He was re-elected in the 1986 election by a greater margin. Ashton did not serve in the cabinet of Howard Pawley.^[7]

The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1988, although Ashton won his own riding by a comfortable margin. He would later serve as House Leader for the NDP in opposition, and was easily re-elected in the provincial elections of 1990, 1995 and 1999.^[7] In 1995, he supported Lorne Nystrom's bid to lead the federal New Democratic Party.

Cabinet

When NDP leader Gary Doer became Premier of Manitoba in October 1999, Ashton was appointed Minister of Highways and Government Services. On July 4, 2000, he was charged with administration of the Gaming Control Act; his ministry was renamed as Transportation and Government Services on January 17, 2001. Following a cabinet shuffle on September 25, 2002, Ashton became Minister of Conservation (in which capacity he argued for national approval of the Kyoto Accord on climate change). On June 25, 2003, he was also made Minister of Labour and Immigration with responsibility for Multiculturalism and administration of the Worker's Compensation Act.^[2]

In 2003, Ashton supported Bill Blaikie's campaign to become leader of the federal NDP.

Ashton was re-elected in the 2003 election with over 82% of the vote in his constituency. On November 4, 2003, he was named as the minister in charge of Manitoba Water Stewardship,^[2] a department created after highly publicized water contamination tragedies in Walkerton, Ontario and North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

Ashton was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election and in September 2007 he was appointed Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister responsible for the Emergency Measures Organization.^[2]

On September 4, 2009, Ashton announced his candidacy to succeed Gary Doer as leader of the Manitoba NDP in the 2009 leadership election and ran on a platform advocating the party's return to its social justice and labour roots.^[7]^[8] Ashton placed second behind Greg Selinger with 34.2% of the vote.^[9]^[10]

Upon Greg Selinger's election as premier, Ashton was made Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation, with the added responsibilities of Emergency Measures and the administration of the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation Act. He also became the lead minister for Canada-Manitoba Infrastructure programs.^[2]

Ashton resigned from cabinet on December 22, 2014 to challenge Selinger in the 2015 Manitoba NDP leadership election, at which he was unsuccessful.^[11]

He returned to cabinet in April 2015 as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation and Minister responsible for emergency measures.^[2]

After thirty-four and a half years as an MLA, Ashton lost his seat to Progressive Conservative candidate Kelly Bindle in the April 19, 2016, provincial election.^[12]

In 2017, Ashton ran for Manitoba NDP leader, losing to Wab Kinew.

Personal life

In 1979, Ashton married Hariklia^[5] "Hari" Dimitrakopoulou, and the couple have two children.^[1] His daughter, Niki, is also a politician and is the federal NDP Member of Parliament for the riding of Churchill—Keewatinook Aski,^[13] while his son Alexander was elected chairman of the board of trustees for the School District of Mystery Lake.^[14] Ashton is also Secretary of the Canadian Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles, seeking the return of the treasured sculptures from Britain to Greece. He speaks Greek, and has written on the political culture of that nation.^[7]

Electoral results

2017 leadership convention


Candidate	Votes	%
Wab Kinew	728	74.3
Steve Ashton	253	25.7
Total Valid Votes	981	100.00

2015 leadership convention

First ballot


Candidate	Votes	%
Greg Selinger	612	36.02
Theresa Oswald	575	33.84
Steve Ashton	502	29.54
Total Valid Votes	1,699	100.00

Ashton eliminated. Releases his delegates, did not publicly endorse another candidate^[15]

2009 leadership convention

2009 New Democratic Party of Manitoba leadership election
Candidate	Votes	Percentage
Greg Selinger	1,317	65.75%
Steve Ashton	685	34.20%
Spoiled ballots	1	0.05%
Total	2,003	100.00%

Provincial results

v t e 2016 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Kelly Bindle	1,712	44.16	+15.86	$11,544.03
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	1,527	39.39	-29.14	$17,980.87
	Liberal	Inez Vystrcil-Spence	638	16.46	+13.28	$7,318.95
Total valid votes/expense limit			3,877	99.13		$32,545.00
Total rejected ballots			34	0.87	+0.39
Turnout			3,911	37.36	+0.64
Eligible voters			10,469
	Progressive Conservative gain from New Democratic		Swing		+22.50
Source: Elections Manitoba^[16]

v t e 2011 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	2,586	68.52	−5.38	$11,696.80
	Progressive Conservative	Anita Campbell	1,068	28.30	+18.17	$16,809.87
	Liberal	Ken Dillen	120	3.18	−12.79	$462.91
Total valid votes			3,774	99.53
Rejected and declined votes			18	0.47	-0.15
Turnout			3,792	36.72	−3.10
Registered voters			10,328
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-11.78

v t e 2007 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	3,036	73.90	-8.83	$9,356.43
	Liberal	Kenny Braun	656	15.97	+12.07	$7,377.03
	Progressive Conservative	Cory Phillips	416	10.13	-3.25	$688.99
Total valid votes			4,108	99.37
Rejected and declined votes			26	0.63	-0.05
Turnout			4,134	39.82	+2.28
Registered voters			10,382
	New Democratic hold		Swing		-10.45

^[17]

2003 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	3,291			$9,804.99
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Archer	532			$2,448.27
	Liberal	Myrle Traverse	155			$627.36
Total valid votes/Expense limit				100.0		$
Eligible voters			–
Source: Elections Manitoba^[18]^[19]

v t e 1999 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	3,793	70.99	+9.29	$7,846.00
	Progressive Conservative	Cecil Thorne	1,306	24.44	+1.94	$20,487.52
	Liberal	Pascal Bighetty	244	4.57	-11.22	$2,661.92
Total valid votes			5,343	99.42
Rejected and declined votes			31	0.58	+0.25
Turnout			5,374	54.40	−0.47
Registered voters			9,879
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.67

^[20]

1995 Manitoba general election: Thompson
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Steve Ashton	3,619	61.71	+1.78
	Progressive Conservative	Chuck Shabe	1,320	22.51	-7.36
	Liberal	Tim Johnston	926	15.79	+5.57
Total valid votes			5,865	100.00
Rejected votes			19
Turnout			5,884	54.87
Registered voters			10,724
Source: Elections Manitoba^[21]