Svend Robinson

Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician.

Prior to coming out as gay, Robinson was married to Patricia Fraser, his high-school girlfriend, from 1972 to 1975.

Robinson was the NDP MP for ridings in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, British Columbia, the third-largest city in British Columbia.

Robinson proposed that the day also be designated as "Chile Day", to mark the overthrow of Chilean president Salvador Allende's democratically elected government on September 11, 1973.

Neither proposal was accepted.

He was called to the British Columbia Bar as a barrister and solicitor in 1978, and practised law with Robert Gardner and Associates until his election to the House of Commons in May 1979.

He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, who represented suburban Vancouver-area constituencies of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP).

He is noted as the first member of Parliament in Canadian history to come out as gay while in office.

As the longest-serving British Columbia MP of his time, in office from 1979 to 2004, Robinson is notable for having been the first Canadian MP to come out as gay, in the spring of 1988.

A strong environmentalist, he engaged in peaceful civil disobedience to block logging of old-growth forests at Lyell Island in Haida Gwaii in 1985 and at Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island in 1993.

For the latter action, he was sentenced to 14 days of imprisonment.

Robinson was also an outspoken advocate of the rights of aboriginal peoples both in Canada and internationally.

He stood at barricades with the Penan people in Sarawak, Malaysia and was condemned by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

He was adopted into the Haida Nation, and given the Haida name "White Swan" by Haida elder Ada Yovanovich.

He was the only openly LGBT member of the Canadian House of Commons until Bloc Québécois MP Réal Ménard came out in 1994.

Robinson is known for his negative views on American foreign policy, especially towards Cuba, his challenge of corporate power, his criticism of Israel, and his strong support for Palestinian leaders.

He was a long-time activist in the anti-apartheid movement and was a member of the official Canadian delegation to the 1994 South African election.

Robinson has also been critical of the Chinese government for its treatment of political dissidents and for its policies in Tibet.

He was a founder of the Canadian wing of Parliamentarians for East Timor.

He was active in international parliamentary groups, including serving as rapporteur and chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Parliamentary Assembly Human Rights and Development Committee.

Robinson was a leader in the movement for the right to physician-assisted death, fighting for the right of well-known ALS patient Sue Rodriguez to choose when to end her life with the assistance of a physician.

He was ultimately present at her bedside at the time of her physician-assisted death.

Robinson ran to succeed Audrey McLaughlin as leader of the NDP at the 1995 NDP leadership convention.

He won the first ballot, and had won regional primaries in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.

Ahead of the second ballot between himself and Alexa McDonough, Robinson noticed last-place candidate Lorne Nystrom's delegates were moving disproportionately to McDonough.

Realizing that McDonough would likely pick up enough support from Nystrom's delegates to eliminate any realistic chance of him winning, Robinson conceded to McDonough before the second ballot.

On a motion by Robinson, McDonough was acclaimed as leader.

On December 31, 1997, Robinson was injured in a hiking accident on Galiano Island, breaking his jaw and ankle.

Robinson was involved in the New Politics Initiative, an effort to build a new progressive political party in Canada closely linked with social movements and labour, and the NDP's renewal process, although he remained committed to the party after the NPI's defeat at the 2001 general convention in Winnipeg.

He was an early and strong supporter of former national NDP Leader Jack Layton.

In 2003, Liberal Senator Jerry Grafstein suggested that September 11 be designated as "America Day" to commemorate the American victims of September 11, 2001.

Party leader McDonough briefly removed Robinson's portfolio over Middle East issues in 2002 for comments he made criticizing the Israeli government for alleged war crimes in Jenin.

One of his earliest political activities was leading a group of NDP MPs who heckled former US President Ronald Reagan while he was speaking at the House of Commons in support of the Strategic Defense Initiative and aid to the Contras.

In 2004, he pled guilty to stealing an expensive ring and decided not to run in the June 2004 election.

At the time, he was one of the longest-serving members in the House of Commons, having been elected and re-elected for seven consecutive terms.

In the 2019 Canadian federal election, Robinson was the NDP candidate for the riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, but lost to the Liberal incumbent Terry Beech by 1,560 votes.

Robinson was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, of Danish descent, to Edith Jensen and Wayne Robinson.

His father opposed the Vietnam War and brought his family to live in Canada.

Robinson attended high school at Burnaby North Secondary.

He later obtained a law degree from the University of British Columbia, and completed post-graduate work in international law at the London School of Economics.