Jack Penner
Encyclopedia
Jack Penner is a politician in Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...

 from 1988 to 2007, and served in the cabinet of Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...

 Premier
Premier
Premier is a title for the head of government in some countries and states.-Examples by country:In many nations, "premier" is used interchangeably with "prime minister"...

 Gary Filmon
Gary Filmon
Gary Albert Filmon, PC, OC, OM is a Manitoba politician. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the 19th Premier from 1988 to 1999.-Early life and municipal career:...

.

Penner was born in Halbstadt, Manitoba, and worked as a farmer both before and after entering politics. He has served as President of the Keystone Agricultural Producers, the Rhineland Pioneer Centre, and the Rhineland Agricultural Society along with other related organizations. Penner also worked for West Park Motors in Altona
Altona, Manitoba
Altona is a predominantly Mennonite town in southern Manitoba about 100 km south-west of Winnipeg and 133 km north of Grand Forks, North Dakota. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Rhineland. Much of the surrounding area is devoted to farming and agriculture-based business. Its...

, Manitoba, for 12 years.

Penner was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1988 general election
Manitoba general election, 1988
The Manitoba general election of April 26, 1988 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It resulted in a minority government...

, in the rural riding of Rhineland in the province's southeastern region. He received 5166 votes, against 1059 for his closest opponent, Liberal
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...

 Walter Hebert. Penner was subsequently returned for the riding of Emerson in the provincial elections of 1990
Manitoba general election, 1990
The Manitoba general election of September 11, 1990 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which took 30 out of 57 seats...

, 1995
Manitoba general election, 1995
The Manitoba general election of April 25,1995 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 31 seats out of 57...

, 1999
Manitoba general election, 1999
The Manitoba general election of September 21, 1999 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada....

 and 2003
Manitoba general election, 2003
The Manitoba general election held on June 3, 2003 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 35 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with twenty seats...

, each time by a significant margin. He reportedly considered running for the federal Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 in 1996, but ultimately declined.

When Gary Filmon was sworn in as Premier on May 9, 1988, he made Penner his Minister of Natural Resources, with responsibility for the Natural Resources Development Act. On April 21, 1989, he was shifted to the Ministry of Rural Development. Penner was dropped from cabinet on February 5, 1991, and was not re-appointed thereafter.

Recently, Penner has become an active spokesman for farmers affected by the BSE
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...

 crisis, which has kept the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

border closed to Canadian beef. On May 19, 2004, he was the leaning Progressive Conservative spokesman for an all-party parliamentary resolution on the issue.

He did not seek re-election in 2007.
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