Rowat’s contributions to be honoured

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This article was published 22/12/2016 (3464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Celebrating one of their own, politicians from throughout the province will convene at Shoal Lake Community Hall on Jan. 16 for a “gala evening” to mark the career of Leanne Rowat.

Rowat served as the Progressive Conservative MLA for the constituency of Minnedosa from 2003 to 2011 and the Riding Mountain constituency from 2011 to her 2016 retirement.

It’s a career she should be proud of, her long-time constituency president Wilf Taylor said, calling her an “extremely hard-working” MLA who always stood up for what she believed was right.

Despite spending her 13-year stint as an MLA in opposition, she still managed to push some pieces of legislation through, he said, citing this as no easy feat.

A testament to her achievements is the fact that Premier Brian Pallister has arranged to be a guest speaker at the banquet in her honour, Taylor said, citing it as a “bit of a coup” that they were able to secure him for the evening.

Pallister has been an important part of Rowat’s professional life, with Rowat crediting the premier with helping push her ideas and advocacy forward.

“He’s a friend first, the premier, and I’m really happy for him,” she reflected last week. “I think he’s going to be a good premier. He works really hard and is really passionate about the province.”

Grateful that her colleagues have gone through the effort of organizing a banquet in her honour, Rowat remains somewhat embarrassed about all this attention.

She initially discouraged the event, but has since decided to embrace it as a nice cap to a long career.

Proud of her accomplishments, she said that the life of a politician was not an easy one, especially while bringing up two young children.

This is where her husband, Brad, and support from her parents in Angusville proved valuable.

Still, having two young kids at home helped put things into perspective, she said, clarifying that knowing the family time she was giving up at home inspired her to push even harder for what she believed in to make a positive mark that would make it all worthwhile.

Rowat’s career in politics began as a political aide in the ’80s and progressed into Souris, where she served as the municipality’s economic development officer.

It was there that she linked up with MLA Harold Gilleshammer, who on his retirement encouraged her to run in his place.

After some soul searching, she decided to take the plunge.

Her first kick of the can proved a very tight political race.

A rural woman with two small kids proved a difficult sell among many voters, she said, relaying that she was also relatively unknown in her constituency and had to prove to people that she had the requisite experience.

After winning her first election, the subsequent ones were much easier because she had a report card to share with voters.

“I’m a fighter,” she said. “I have no issues standing up in the house and challenging the premier or anyone else on things I think are important to my communities.”

One case in particular that sticks out involved a child with epilepsy who was denied medical expenses related to a trip they required for specialized treatment in Montreal.

Rowat remembers meeting with the minister of health, asking questions in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and having the affected family meet with the minister before finally getting the “yes” they needed.

“I don’t know how many times I said ‘I’m not going away,’” she recalled with a laugh.

Her “fighter” status served her well over the years, during which she succeeded in moving four pieces of legislation forward, which Taylor clarified as being rare accomplishments for an opposition member.

Her most recent piece of legislation put forward universal hearing screening for newborns, and another set out to improve grandparents’ access to their grandchildren in cases where there’s a family breakdown.

Every once and a while, those who have been positively affected by these pieces of legislation refer to Rowat as their “angel,” which she said always hits her hard and validates some of the more difficult times she went through as an MLA.

Other pieces of legislation put forward by Rowat initiated the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day and the Neurofibromatosis Awareness Month.

Rowat decided about a year prior to this spring’s election that it was time to retire.

Health issues and the increased scale of her retooled constituency of Minnedosa to Riding Mountain were contributing factors, however, the decision was more closely tied to her need to spend time with family and to experience different facets of life.

She and husband Brad live at Lake of the Prairies near Roblin.

After serving the public in various political capacities for the past few decades, Rowat still has an itch to help out her community and plans on working part-time somewhere and filling out some of the rest of her free time through volunteerism.

For now, though, she’s been content with spending time with family, cooking, golfing and has plans to do some ice fishing.

Her 13-year political career is one that Rowat said she will always look back on with fondness.

“It’s been a great journey,” she said, pausing for a moment of reflection. “A wonderful ride.”

For more information on the Jan. 16 gala evening, call or text Riding Mountain MLA Greg Nesbitt at 204-365-7771. Tickets are $100.

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