Gary Doer
|
|
Gary Doer (March 31, 1948-) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He has been the province's Premier since 1999, leading a New Democratic Party government.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Doer worked as a Deputy Superintendent at the Vaughan Street Detention Centre before entering political life. He was also the President of the Manitoba Government Employees Union for seven years.
Doer was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in 1986, for the north Winnipeg riding of Concordia. He joined the government of Premier Howard Pawley on April 17, 1986, serving as Minister of Urban Affairs. Subsequently, he was given the additional portfolios of Minister of Crown Investments and Minister of the Manitoba Telephone System (February 4, 1987), Minister responsible for the Accountability of Crown Corporations (August 19, 1987), and Minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act (September 21, 1987).
Pawley's government was sustained by a bare majority in the house, and was defeated on March 8, 1988 when a disgruntled NDP backbencher voted with the opposition on a motion of non-confidence. Pawley resigned as NDP leader the next day, and set the date for a general election.
The New Democratic Party's convention to determine a successor for Pawley was scheduled for March 30, in the middle of the campaign. Doer, supported the party establishment and organized labour, narrowly defeated Len Harapiak to become the party's new leader. (See New Democratic Party of Manitoba leadership conventions.)
Doer became leader of the Manitoba NDP at a time when the party was experiencing record levels of unpopularity. The Pawley government had increased auto insurance premiums very significantly, and had been forced to raise taxes following a failed investment by the Manitoba Telephone System in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in the loss of millions of dollars.
Doer later claimed that the party had fallen to 6% support in its internal polling. This may be an exaggeration, but the NDP's unpopularity at the time was genuine, and was recognized by the party leadership. It was partly for this reason that Doer did not swear himself in as Premier, seeking to distance himself from the outgoing Pawley government.
The NDP won 12 seats (out of 57) in the 1988 election. Progressive Conservative leader Gary Filmon was able to form a minority government, with the Liberals under Sharon Carstairs as the official opposition. Doer, re-elected in Concordia by a reduced margin, was not personally blamed for the loss and remained as party leader.
Filmon's government called another election in 1990. They won a majority, but Doer's New Democrats recovered their standing to 20 seats and replaced the Liberals as the official opposition. The NDP further increased its standing to 23 seats in 1995, and might have won the election had it not been for the unpopularity of Bob Rae's NDP government in neighbouring Ontario.
In 1999, the previously moderate Filmon government announced that it would take a right-wing policy turn if elected to a fourth mandate. This announcement was greeted with suspicion by many Manitoba voters, and allowed Doer (himself running as a moderate) to present his party as a safe alternative. In a campaign that was considered "too close to call" until polling day, the NDP won 32 seats against 24 for the Tories and 1 for the Liberals. More than eleven years after first declining the option, Doer was sworn in a Premier on October 5, 1999.
Doer's government has been moderate and pragmatic in tone, and free of the more dramatic sort of reforms undertaken by previous NDP governments, though it has continued the NDP's traditional support of organized labour. Manitoba's economy has remained prosperous, and its 4.8% unemployment rate (2004 figure) is the lowest in the country. Auto insurance rates are also significantly lower in Manitoba than in any other Canadian province.
In 2003, Doer supported Manitoba MP Bill Blaikie's campaign to lead the federal New Democratic Party.
Doer's government was elected to a second mandate in 2003, receiving 35 seats and 49.39% of all votes cast (an impressive total in a three-party system). Doer was personally re-elected in Concordia with support from over 75% of the electorate.
Doer emerged as a defender of Manitoba's internet pharmaceutical industy in early 2005, opposing efforts by the federal government to shut down the practice.
| Preceded by: Gary Filmon | Premier of Manitoba 1999- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |