Peter Stoffer
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Peter Arend Stoffer (born January 6, 1956 in Heerlen, Limburg, Netherlands) is a Canadian politician.
Stoffer is currently a member of the New Democratic Party in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Sackville -- Eastern Shore. He representedSackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore after the 2000 elections and in 1997 he represented the riding of Sackville—Eastern Shore. (Riding changes are due to redistribution.) Stoffer is a former manager. Stoffer is the current NDP critic of Fisheries and Oceans, Shipbuilding, Seniors, Veterans’ Affairs, Amateur Sport. He is a former critic of Canada Post Corporation, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, National Defence, and Veterans Affairs.
Stoffer is a populist, is considered to be on the right of the party and has been an advocate of Third Way policies championed by Tony Blair.
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Elections
In 1997 he was first elected on former leader Alexa McDonough’s coattails, Peter Stoffer barely won his seat, winning by a mere 56 votes. Subsequently however Stoffer increased his margin of victory and in 2004 his plurality was over 6000 votes, he is the only Nova Scotia NDP MP elected in 1997 to have retained his seat, other than McDonough. An unapologetic populist, Peter Stoffer’s popularity is attributed to firm commitment to the wants and needs of his constituents first and foremost, and his friendly nature
On Parliament Hill
In Ottawa on Parliament Hill, Peter Stoffer has been consistently voted “Most Fun MP to work for” by The Hill Times and is known for the “All Party, Party” – a non-partisan fundraiser for Canadian military families.
From time to time, Stoffer’s views have been known to clash with NDP positions and rumours continually surface about him crossing the floor to the Liberals. He is however critical of any MP's who cross the floor as that goes against the wishes of constituents when they voted; as such he had repeatedly introduced a private members bill banning party hopping by Members of Parliament.
2003 Leadership
During the 2003 NDP leadership race, Stoffer was the campaign co-chair to Lorne Nystrom, a former long serving NDP MP from Saskatchewan. Days before the leadership convention, Stoffer let it be known to the media his second ballot intention was to move to support Manitoba MP Bill Blaikie. While, Nystrom was viewed as a long shot to begin with, many attribute Stoffer’s comments to killing any hope Nystrom had of winning over delegates at the convention, as his campaign co-chair was already talking about switching allegiances. At the convention, Toronto city councillor Jack Layton was elected on the first ballot. Inside party circles rumour that Peter Stoffer and Jack Layton have been known to butt heads on many policy issues, particularly on issues concerning the Canadian Forces. Publicly however, Stoffer has been a team player and is supportive of the current NDP leader.
| Preceded by: electoral district created in 1996 |
Members of Parliament from Sackville—Musqoudoboit Valley—Eastern Shore (formerly Sackville—Eastern Shore) | Succeeded by: (incumbent) |
External Links
- Peter Stoffer's Homepage (http://www.peterstoffer.ca)
- New Democratic Party of Canada (http://www.ndp.ca)
- Elections Canada: Sackville--Eastern Shore (Nova Scotia) (http://www.elections.ca/scripts/pss/Map.aspx?L=e&ED=12008&EV=99&EV_TYPE=6&PC=&Prov=NS&MapID=&QID=-1&PageID=13)