Anita Neville is a proud Manitoban, a dedicated community leader, and a respected public servant.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ms. Neville began her career as a program development consultant at the Winnipeg Core Area Initiative. Later on, she worked as Director of WORKFORCE 2000, a provincial skills training program, and Director of the Winnipeg Core Area Initiative Employment and Training Program. She was a Lay Bencher for the Law Society of Manitoba and has been actively involved in the Winnipeg Jewish Child and Family Service.
A long-time member of the Winnipeg School Division Board of Trustees, Ms. Neville served for five years as Chair of the Board and on several of its standing and ad hoc committees, including as Chair of the Finance Committee and Chair of the Task Force on Race Relations. She also sat on the Board of Rossbrook House, a neighbourhood drop-in centre for children and youth in Winnipeg, and is a former member of the City of Winnipeg’s Community and Race Relations Committee. She was a member of the Manitoba Public Utilities Board from 2013 to 2018 and of the Board of Directors of Congregation Shaarey Zedek from 2012 to 2022. Ms. Neville has been an active supporter of Equal Voice, an organization that promotes the election of more women to all orders of Canadian government, as well as the Institute for International Women’s Rights – Manitoba and the Arab Jewish Dialogue. She currently sits on the Steering Committee of Operation Ezra and the Boards of Directors of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada and the Manitoba Interfaith Immigration Council.
In 2000, Ms. Neville was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing her community of Winnipeg South Centre. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006, and 2008. During her time in the House of Commons, she championed issues that matter to Manitobans, supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, and advanced initiatives benefiting Indigenous Peoples, most notably on the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. In 2003, she played an important role in the establishment of Holocaust Memorial Day by Parliament.
In 2005, Ms. Neville served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Minister responsible for Status of Women. She also served on numerous committees, parliamentary associations, and parliamentary groups, including the Standing Committee on National Defence and the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. She was Chair of the Standing Committee on the Status of Women from 2004 to 2005 and Vice-Chair of the Canada-Israel Interparliamentary Group from 2009 to 2010.
Ms. Neville holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in political science and history from the University of Manitoba.