Joyce Bateman

Joyce Bateman is a Canadian politician. She served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the electoral district of Winnipeg South Centre from 2011 to 2015.

Early and personal life

Joyce Bateman is a Chartered Accountant and prior to her election into Parliament, Bateman was a trustee on the Winnipeg School Board. She had been a Liberal for decades federally,^[1] though her membership had lapsed in 2009. She said that she opted to run as a Conservative due to misgivings with what she called the Liberals' "reckless" fiscal policy.^[2]

Bateman graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Honors Business Administration (from the Richard Ivey School of Business).^[3]

Bateman is married to Darrell Hancock and has two children.^[4]

Federal politics

In a move that was widely condemned by the larger scientific community, the Conservative government eliminated funding to the Experimental Lakes Area and issued layoff notices to dozens of staff and scientists.^[5] In a 2013, Ms. Bateman sent a flyer to constituents where she took credit for solving the problem the government created by transferring ownership of the ELA to the IISD and the provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. Supporters of the ELA were angered by her comments and claimed that taking credit, when it was the federal budget cuts that nearly resulted in its closure, was misleading. In an earlier flyer sent to constituents, Ms. Bateman claimed that the research the ELA conducts no longer aligns with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans’ priorities.^[6] The research conducted at the ELA has resulted in continent-wide policy shifts on acid rain, changes to the construction of hydroelectric dams, a ban on phosphorus in detergents and huge advancements in combating the algae that pollute Lake Winnipeg.^[5][6]

Bateman announced $860 thousand for the Composites Innovation Centre in Winnipeg to continue research looking for alternatives to plastic and fibreglass, such as wheat, hemp and flax fibres combined with resins.^[7]

In an April 2014 recorded message for a constituent, Joyce Bateman claimed that the Government of Canada was “not making cuts to the CBC” and that “from a government perspective we are giving them as much taxpayer money as they ever have received.”^[8] However, in 2011, the federal government announced that $115 million funding would be eliminated from the CBC budget over three years, with the final $45-million cut occurring in 2014.^[9] When asked, Joyce Bateman acknowledged that she was not entirely clear when she told the constituent that the federal government was not making any cuts to the CBC. Ms. Bateman's assistant clarified that she was trying to explain there were no newly announced cuts coming to the CBC.^[8]

During the 2015 federal election, Bateman participated in a debate on the economy held by Jewish advocate group B'nai Brith and was booed when she read off a list of Liberal candidates who she alleged were enemies of Israel. The list included Andrew Leslie, a retired Lieutenant General who led Canadian troops in Afghanistan.^[10][11] The moderator, Winnipeg Free Press columnist Dan Lett later wrote in his column that Bateman's behaviour was McCarthyesque and "creepy" because the list was read off very quickly and without any information backing its claims.^[11] Bateman refused to apologize afterwards, saying that she was "proud to be part of a party that stands firmly with Israel."^[10]

Bateman's riding had traditionally tilted Liberal, and reverted to form in 2015, when she was heavily defeated by former Liberal provincial MLA Jim Carr.^[12]

References

External links

• Official website
• Joyce Bateman – Parliament of Canada biography