Deborah Grey
|
|
Deborah Cleland Grey (born July 1, 1952) is a former Canadian Member of Parliament, who represented the Alberta riding of Edmonton North for the Conservative Party of Canada.
Born in Vancouver, she pursued studies in Sociology, English and Education at Burrard Inlet Bible Institute, Trinity Western College and the University of Alberta. She then worked as a teacher in a number of rural Alberta communities until 1989, when she won a byelection, becoming the first Reform MP.
She was the party's sole elected MP until the general election of 1993, when the party elected 52 MPs. Following that election, she served as Caucus Chair and Deputy Parliamentary Leader until March of 2000, when the Reform Party was folded into the Canadian Alliance. When Preston Manning stepped down as Leader of the Official Opposition to contest the Alliance leadership race, Grey was appointed interim leader of the Alliance, and Leader of the Official Opposition, the first woman to hold that position. She held the post until Stockwell Day was elected to the House of Commons in September of that year. Following that, she once again served as Caucus Chair and Deputy Parliamentary Leader.
Grey resigned those posts on April 24, 2001 in protest against Day's leadership. In July of that year, Grey and 11 other Canadian Alliance MPs, including Chuck Strahl, quit the Canadian Alliance to sit as the Democratic Representative Caucus (DRC). In September 2001, the DRC formed a coalition caucus with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, and Grey served as chair of the PC-DRC caucus.
In April 2002, following the election of Stephen Harper as Alliance leader, Grey rejoined the Alliance caucus, and in December 2003, the Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives ratified an agreement to merge into the Conservative Party of Canada. Grey was co-chair, with former PC leader Peter MacKay, of the new party's first leadership convention in March 2004.
Grey is married to Lewis Larson; they wed on August 7, 1993.
Grey did not run as a candidate in the Canadian federal election, 2004.
| Preceded by: Preston Manning | Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons | Succeded by: Stockwell Day |
| Preceded by: John Loney, Liberal |
Members of Parliament from Edmonton North | Succeeded by: Riding merged into Edmonton—St. Albert |
| Preceded by: John Dahmer, PC |
Members of Parliament from Beaver River | Succeeded by: Electoral District abolished in 1996 |
| Preceded by: Preston Manning (Reform Party of Canada) | Canadian Alliance Leaders | Succeeded by: Stockwell Day |