LAURIE JOHN SWARDFAGER

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LAURIE JOHN SWARDFAGER August 10, 1951 - August 3, 2015 Laurie was adopted into a caring and loving family (Anne and Walter) and was forever grateful for the opportunity provided by family surroundings. An extensive extended family completed the childhood experience and one could not have asked for a better early life. Laurie was very devoted to Anne who was important to him throughout his life. School was never a chore for Laurie who excelled throughout high school and made many friends at St. James Collegiate through Major Work and school politics. Laurie had a passion for politics. He attended Older Boys' Tuxis Parliament at the Manitoba Legislature; in 1972 he worked to change its name to "Youth Parliament" to include young women as full members and he served as its Premier in 1973. At a Liberal Party meeting in Manitoba Laurie made a motion to add "sexual orientation" to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as prohibited grounds for discrimination. which was taken to Ottawa and enacted in 1996. Sadly, at a young age, Laurie himself was a victim of hate, suffering a head injury that upset the course of his life. However, partly due to his activism, young Canadians now grow up in a safer and more inclusive society. Laurie worked at various jobs in Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Vancouver. In his mid-life Laurie thrived in Vancouver working at income tax services where he made many fond memories of walking the city and of the nightlife. He would tell you that the rain there isn't like it is here.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 08, 2015