Linda West - Private Life and Career

Private Life and Career

West has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laurentian University and a Master of Business Administration specializing in Health Care from the University of Toronto. She also holds a Ph.D. from Washington International University, an institution that is not accredited by any educational oversight body in Canada or the United States of America. West's Ph.D. credentials became a source of controversy during the 2006 federal election.

West was executive director of the James Bay General Hospital from 1992 to 1995, and of the Winnipeg River Health District from 1995 to 1997. From 1997 to 2000, she was executive director of labour relations for Manitoba Health. She has also been a health policy consultant for the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and has taught nursing and business at the University of Manitoba. West is the author of a book entitled, Trends and Issues in Health Care.

In 2003, West helped organize a conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba on the role of women in politics. She received a Women of Distinction Award from the Winnipeg YMCA-YWCA in 2004, and was later chosen as the local director of Equal Voice, a group that promotes the increased participation of women in political life. In 2006, she helped organize a rebuilding effort in New Orleans for Habitat For Humanity.

In July 2007, West was hired as executive director for employment services in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region's Human Resources Department. She was named acting vice-president of Human Resources in August of the same year, and became vice-president in December. West left employment with the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region on 21 February 2008. West also became vice-president of Human Resources with the Actyl Group, a recruitment agency that provides Canadian placements to migrant workers from the Philippines, in 2007. She argued in 2008 that Canada needs overseas recruitment to counter a domestic labour shortage.