Masse. Manitoba Tanya Parks (Elmwood—Transcona) Parks was born and resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is the owner of Distant Caravans in the Forks Market region, has volunteered for UNICEF and Folklorama, and has produced fashion shows for Winnipeg charities. Parks has been Chair of the Manitoba Liberal Party Women's Association and director of the Manitoba Provincial Liberal Women's Association. She supported Michael Ignatieff's 2006 bid to become Liberal Party leader, and also endorsed Marie Poulin's bid to become party president. Garry McLean (Portage—Lisgar) McLean was born on September 22, 1951, at Manitoba's Dog Creek Indian Reserve. He has a Social Services Certificate from Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, and worked a social worker for over twenty years. McLean has been a Band Councillor and General Manager at the Lake Manitoba First Nation, and was once a political advisor to former Manitoba Grand Chief Rod Bushie. In 1996, he argued that government assistance programs were not adequately addressing the cost of food shipments to northern Manitoba. According to McLean, many northern families on social assistance were unable to pay their monthly food bills and were forced into cycles of debt as a result (Winnipeg Free Press, 15 November 1996). To address the problem, he co-founded the First Nations Buying Group and arranged bulk purchases for isolated First Nations groups across the country. In September 2002, McLean was hired by the Vickar Community Chev Olds car dealership in Winnipeg as a liaison with First Nations consumers (WFP, 7 February 2003). McLean was one of three aboriginal candidates for the Liberal Party in Manitoba in the 2006 election (Canadian Press, 5 January 2006). He received 4,199 votes (11.39%), finishing a distant second against Conservative incumbent Brian Pallister. Wes Penner (Provencher) Penner received 6,077 votes (15.84%), finishing second against Conservative incumbent Vic Toews. Parmjeet Singh Gill (Winnipeg North) Gill is a prominent member of Winnipeg's Sikh community. He holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees from Panjab University in Chandigarh, Punjab, India. He is the fundraising chairperson for the Manitoba Sikh Cultural and Seniors' Centre, and in 1988 helped to found the Sikh Volunteers Association, which operates blood drives. He also operates a Subway restaurant and small trucking company (WPF, 2 January 2006). He was forty-four years old in 2006. Gill joined the Liberal Party in 1989, and gave active support to Rey Pagtakhan's election campaigns. He originally supported Allan Rock's abortive