| Audrey Gordon | |
| Office: | Manitoba Minister of Health |
| Term Start: | January 18, 2022 |
| Term End: | October 17, 2023 |
| Premier: | Heather Stefanson |
| Predecessor: | Portfolio renamed |
| Successor: | Uzoma Asagwara |
| Office1: | Manitoba Minister of Health and Seniors Care |
| Term Start1: | August 18, 2021 |
| Term End1: | January 18, 2022 |
| Premier1: | Brian Pallister Kelvin Goertzen Heather Stefanson |
| Predecessor1: | Heather Stefanson |
| Successor1: | Portfolio renamed |
| Office2: | Minister of Mental Health, Wellness and Recovery |
| Term Start2: | January 5, 2021 |
| Term End2: | January 18, 2022 |
| Premier2: | Brian Pallister Kelvin Goertzen Heather Stefanson |
| Predecessor2: | Portfolio established |
| Successor2: | Sarah Guillemard |
| Office3: | Member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for Southdale |
| Predecessor3: | Andrew Smith |
| Successor3: | Renée Cable |
| Term Start3: | September 10, 2019 |
| Term End3: | September 5, 2023 |
| Party: | Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba |
| Residence: | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
Audrey Gordon is a Canadian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 2019 to 2023, representing the electoral district of Southdale as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba.[1] Alongside Jamie Moses and Uzoma Asagwara, she was one of the first three Black Canadian MLAs elected in the 2019 Manitoba general election.[1]
At the 2016 general election, Gordon stood in the central Winnipeg constituency of Fort Rouge. She came in second place to Wab Kinew, who later became leader of the Manitoba NDP, narrowing the NDP majority in the district; Manitoba Liberal Party leader Rana Bokhari, who did not have a seat at the time of the election, ran third in this riding.
At the 2019 general election, Gordon was elected in the southeastern Winnipeg constituency of Southdale.[2]
In August 2020, Gordon was victim of a racist attack when a bench with her image on it was defaced with graffiti.[3] [4]
In May 2021 Springs Church, of which Gordon is a member, held an in-person graduation event. This was in defiance of restrictions meant to curb the spread of COVID-19. Gordon eventually commented on the event in a Facebook post, adding: "I have read several posts stating that I was present at the Springs graduation ceremony. To my knowledge, no evidence has been provided to substantiate this claim."[5] Her Facebook page was later deactivated.
In November 2021, Gordon was criticized for offering "thoughts and prayers" to Manitobans who had their surgeries cancelled and placed on a waitlist of over 130,000 postponed procedures.[6] As of December 7, the delayed procedure backlog has surpassed 152,000[7] and on December 8 health officials announced that they would look at cancelling additional surgical procedures as ICU beds are required for new COVID-19 patients that are being admitted to hospitals.[8]
Gordon received further criticism from the opposition and in the media after a third of the nurses in the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) program resigned in March 2023.[9] When confronted by the opposition, Gordon shifted the blame to "health system leaders" in the bureaucracy despite this being under her portfolio, bringing on more outcry over her leadership.[10]