Leah Gazan was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre in October 2019. She is a member of Wood Mountain Lakota Nation, located in Saskatchewan, Treaty 4 territory.
Leah is currently the NDP Critic for numerous portfolios, including: Indigenous Affairs; Crown Indigenous Relations; Arctic Sovereignty; Women and Gender Equity; Children, Families and Social Development; People with Disabilities; Post-Secondary Education, Skills and Training; Prairies Economic Development; and Environment. Gazan is a leader in local, national and international human rights advocacy.
In 2022, Leah made history when the House of Commons unanimously passed her motion recognizing residential schools as an act of genocide—the first such acknowledgment in Canada. In 2023, she achieved another historic milestone with unanimous consent for her motion to declare the ongoing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit Individuals a Canada-wide emergency. Leah then worked alongside families, survivors and advocates to call for the establishment of a Red Dress Alert System to notify the public when an Indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing, so they can be brought back to their loved ones safely. There is currently a Red Dress Alert Pilot in Manitoba, which will inform the national alert system. This critical progress was made possible by the tireless efforts of families, survivors, and advocates, supported by Leah’s leadership in Parliament.
She has also tabled several bills in the House of Commons upholding human rights, including Bill C-223 to develop a national framework for a guaranteed livable basic income, in fulfillment of Call for Action 4.5 of the Final Report of the National Inquiry into MMIWG, along with Bill C-254 to add to the Criminal Code the incitement of hate through residential school denialism.
In 2016, Leah joined NDP MP Romeo Saganash on a national tour to promote Bill C-262, to affirm the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canadian law. In 2021, under Bill C-15, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was cemented into Canadian law, marking fundamental progress in the advancement of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
In the 45th Parliament, Leah worked with labour leaders to table Bill C-247, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code, which would repeal Section 107 and protect workers’ right to strike from back-to-work legislation. Bill C-247 has received support from labour leaders nationwide.
Leah's work in parliament has led to tremendous investment in Winnipeg Centre, which has included delivering funding to organizations that provide Indigenous-led support, addiction and mental health support, reproductive healthcare, and youth-serving organizations.
Her unwavering commitment has earned her national and international recognition, including a place on MacLean's Power List for her influence on Canada's political agenda. She was also honoured by Chatelaine Magazine's 2024 Doris Anderson Award for her groundbreaking work on the Red Dress Alert System.
As an educator, advisor, and media contributor, Leah Gazan has been deeply engaged with issues and organizing in Winnipeg’s core for nearly three decades. Gazan has spent her life working for human rights on the local, national, and international stage. In 2026, Leah was featured in A New Democratic Party: The Comeback of the Left edited by Martin Lukacs, where she underscored unapologetic politics as being the only path forward. Leah was also interviewed for Niiggaan Sinclair and Sean Carleton's Truth Before Reconciliation: Confronting Residential School Denialism, on her parliamentary work toward legislating protection for residential school survivors. Peggy Nash's book, Women Winning Office: An Activist's Guide to Getting Elected, included an interview with Leah on her experience and motivation toward running as a Member of Parliament, and how to build a better world through public office.
Her contributions in Winnipeg have both shaped our understanding of our collective struggles and strengths and helped move us towards justice. As president of the Social Planning Council between 2011- 2015, Gazan organized and pushed policy in support of an end to poverty, addressing violence against women and girls, finding solutions for housing insecurity and homelessness, ensuring fair wages, community-based actions addressing addictions and proper supports for mental health.
Gazan was a prominent Winnipeg lead during Idle No More, articulating the movement to the Winnipeg public. Gazan also co-founded the #WeCare campaign aimed at building public will to end violence against Indigenous women and girls.