Reform Party candidates, 1993 Canadian federal election
Encyclopedia
The Reform Party of Canada
fielded candidates in every Canadian
province except Quebec
in the 1993 federal election
. Fifty-two candidates were elected. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.
Lincoln
Andy Sweck was born in Hamilton
, and is of Polish
and Ukrainian
background. He has a Bachelor's Degree
from McMaster University
, and joined Stelco
as a graduate trustee in 1978. At the time of his political career, he was a senior supervisor for the company. He joined the Reform Party in 1991, and was a founding member of its Hamilton Mountain
constituency association. He ran for the party in Lincoln in the 1993 federal election
, and finished second against Liberal
Tony Valeri
.
Sweck ran against prominent national politician Sheila Copps
in a 1996 by-election
. His campaign was marked by controversy: one day after he was chosen as a candidate, Sweck fired Terry Ott as his campaign manager. Ott later claimed that he was dismissed at the behest of the party's national executive, who were seeking to take over the local campaign. Sweck rejected this explanation, and said that he simply did not believe Ott was the most qualifed person for the position. Ott also said that the nomination meeting had been rigged in Sweck's favour; both Sweck and the defeated candidate denied this.
Sweck sought to focus attention on Copps's record, and particularly her party's broken promise on eliminating Canada's Goods and Services Tax
. He also called for reforms to the Young Offenders Act
, such that persons as young as ten could be charged with committing violent crimes. He finished fourth, in what was considered a disappointing result for the party, and returned to private life.
Nickel Belt
Janice Weitzel was a supply teacher. She received 5,604 votes (12.70%), finishing third against Liberal
candidate Ray Bonin. Her campaign was generally regarded to have taken votes from the second-place New Democratic Party
, and to have indirectly helped the Liberals.
Ottawa—Vanier
Dancey holds a Master of Arts
degree (1981) from the Occidental Institute of Chinese Studies in Miami
, Florida
. He was thirty-nine years old during the election, and operated a foster home for emotionally disturbed children (Ottawa Citizen, 7 October 1993). He promoted fast expansion of Highway 16 and improved air links with the United States, and rejected suggestions that the Reform Party's plans to reduce the national civil service would cause significant unemployment rises in Ottwa (Citizen, 7 October 1993).
He received 3,830 votes (7.89%), finishing third against Liberal
incumbent Jean-Robert Gauthier
. He campaigned for the party's nomination in a 1995 by-election in Ottawa—Vanier, but lost to Kevin Gaudet (Ottawa Citizen, 7 January 1995).
Dancey wrote opinion-editorials on behalf of the Reform Party during the 1990s, arguing in support of "territorial bilingualism" (Montreal Gazette, 18 July 1994) and criticizing affirmative action
programs as discriminatory (Ottawa Citizen, 23 July 1995). During the 1999 provincial election
, he accused the labour movement of promoting violence at Queen's Park (Ottawa Citizen, 1 June 1999).
Parkdale—High Park
Primeau is a graduate of Southeastern College in Lakeland
, Florida
, and is listed as holding Bachelor of Arts
and Master of Arts
degrees. He is a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and has been an Evangelical Christian minister. He is also a business consultant, and is the owner and co-founder of eSO’L Connection Inc.
Primeau has advocated "Short-Term Mission" strategies for church groups. has worked extensively in foreign missions, and once hosted his own television program (Toronto Star, 22 October 1993). He was thirty-four years old at the time of the 1993 election, and lived in Mississauga. He received 6,647 votes (16.16%), finishing second against Liberal
incumbent Jesse Flis
.
Primeau has published two books. The first, entitled "Mission_Shift", is a theological work which has been described as "deal[ing] with the implications of post-modernity, biblical context, and the dynamics of cross-cultural communication for successful and effective ministry". The second, "Leader_Shift", focuses on leadership issues. Primeau is the owner founder president of Leader_Shift Inc., which has serviced the Reform Party in the past. He now lives in western Canada.
Parry Sound—Muskoka
Jim Newman worked on campaigns for the Liberal Party of Canada
during Pierre Trudeau
's leadership and joined the Reform Party in 1992. He was a real estate broker in Sundridge
in 1993 and was president of the Eagle Lake Revolver Club. He received 13,022 votes (28.19%), finishing second against Liberal candidate Andy Mitchell.
As of 2010, Newman is leader of a small national organization called the Canadian Firearms Institute.
Scarborough Southwest
Millard was a high school teacher and counsellor. He called for "greater certainty in criminal sentencing", and said he would work for the "integration of immigrants into society" (Toronto Star, 22 October 1993). At one all-candidates meeting, he argued that immigration levels to Canada were too high and should be cut in half. This remark was criticized by other candidates, and particularly by New Democrat
Steve Thomas (Toronto Star, 19 October 1993). He received 8,314 votes (21.21%), finishing second against Liberal
incumbent Tom Wappel
.
, but lost to John A. Gamble
, a former Progressive Conservative
Member of Parliament
(MP) who was once an executive member of the World Anti-Communist League
(Toronto Star, 1 April 1993). Gamble was later expelled from the party. Running in St. Paul's, Chaplin received 5,727 votes (11.20%), finishing third against Liberal
candidate Barry Campbell.
Portage—Interlake
Sawatsky was a businessman from Oak Bluff, dealing in mobile homes. He received 9,801 votes (27.48%), finishing second against Liberal
candidate Jon Gerrard
.
Sawatsky later served on the Reform Party's national council. In 1996, he argued that most Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
Members of the Legislative Assembly
supported the Reform Party rather than the Progressive Conservative Party
at the federal level. Two years later, he said that he could not envision a merger of the two federal parties.
In 2000, Sawatsky nominated Brian Pallister
as a federal candidate for the Canadian Alliance
party, a successor to Reform.
Winnipeg South
Hughes graduated from the University of Manitoba
's Faculty of Agriculture
in 1978, and was a farmer for ten years. He also began working as a pastor, and received a degree from Providence Theological Seminary in 1988. He is senior pastor of Church of the Rock Inc. as of 2004,http://google.com/search?q=cache:HVXclIL7AEoJ:www.churchoftherock.ca/used%2520pages/indexNov03.html+%22Mark+Hughes%22+Winnipeg&hl=en and was a prominent organizer of Winnipeg
's March for Jesus (Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 2000).
Hughes was thirty-six years old during the 1993 election (Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 1993). He created controversy in the campaign by arguing that a Reform government would give provinces more leeway in approving medical user fees, privately-run hospitals and contracting-out of services (Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1993). When challenged as to whether or not the Reform party was a vehicle for the religious right, he responded, "Evangelicals feel at home. But there is a broad spectrum of every kind of faith - well, I don't see any Sikh
s - but it's far from a right-wing religious party." (Globe and Mail, 28 December 1992). He received 14,822 votes (28.33%), finishing second against Liberal
candidate Reg Alcock
.
Hughes has been a vocal opponent of gay rights. In 1996, he launched a petition drive against a federal bill including sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act (Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1996). He also spoke against openly gay
Winnipeg mayoral candidate Glen Murray in 1998, opposing what he described as "the values behind [Murray's] sexuality and the political agenda of those who share these same values" (Winnipeg Free Press, 13 November 1998).
Saskatoon—Clark's Crossing
Wesolowski was born and raised in Saskatoon
, Saskatchewan
, and holds Bachelor of Arts
degree from the University of Saskatchewan
and the University of Regina
. He is a police officer, and has been a member of the Saskatoon Catholic School Board since 1988.
Wesolowski was first elected to the Catholic School Board in 1988, and has been re-elected in every campaign since them. When campaigning for re-election in 1997, he argued that Catholic students would be at risk "both spiritually and academically" if the Catholic school system were to shift away from a denominationally-centred curriculum. (SSP, 20 October 1997). He also called for trustees to address the problem of poverty among students in the system.
While serving as trustee, Wesolowski has also made several unsuccessful bids for a seat on City Council. He targeted the Ward 3 incumbent in 1997 for voting against the police commission budget, and lost by only twenty-five votes. (SSP, 20 and 3 December 1997). He later campaigned for Ward 1 in 2000, seeking increases in the police budget and arguing that the city would have to hire more officers if it wanted to develop plans for community policing (SSP, 23 October 2000). He was again defeated. He has also lost bids for Ward 5 in 1994 and 2003 (SSP, 12 September 2000 + 23 October 2003).
Wesolowski supported affirmative action
programs for Saskatoon Catholic teachers in 2001, arguing that past policies had discriminated against women and aboriginals. He initiative was defeated (Regina Leader-Post, 5 September 2001).
He finished a close second against New Democratic Party
candidate Chris Axworthy
in the 1993 election. He later ran for the Reform Party's nomination in Wanuskewin for the 1997 federal election
, but lost to Maurice Vellacott
(Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 17 May 1997).
Brome—Missisquoi
Line Maheux
received 517 votes (1.38%), finishing fourth against Liberal Party
candidate Denis Paradis
. She later became a prominent strategist in the Reform Party and its successors, the Canadian Alliance
and the Conservative Party of Canada
.
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
fielded candidates in every Canadian
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...
province except Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
. Fifty-two candidates were elected. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.
LincolnLincoln (electoral district)Lincoln was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1883 and from 1904 to 1997. It was on the Niagara Peninsula in the Canadian province of Ontario...
: Andy Sweck
Andy Sweck was born in HamiltonHamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, and is of Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
background. He has a Bachelor's Degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
, and joined Stelco
Stelco
US Steel Canada is a steel company based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.-History:Several existing smaller steelworks combined and were incorporated as the Steel Company of Canada in 1910. Charles S...
as a graduate trustee in 1978. At the time of his political career, he was a senior supervisor for the company. He joined the Reform Party in 1991, and was a founding member of its Hamilton Mountain
Hamilton Mountain
Hamilton Mountain is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968. The riding is located in the Hamilton, Ontario region....
constituency association. He ran for the party in Lincoln in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, and finished second against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Tony Valeri
Tony Valeri
Tony Valeri, PC is a former Canadian politician. Valeri was the Canadian Government House Leader in Paul Martin's government from 2004 until 2006...
.
Sweck ran against prominent national politician Sheila Copps
Sheila Copps
Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997....
in a 1996 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
. His campaign was marked by controversy: one day after he was chosen as a candidate, Sweck fired Terry Ott as his campaign manager. Ott later claimed that he was dismissed at the behest of the party's national executive, who were seeking to take over the local campaign. Sweck rejected this explanation, and said that he simply did not believe Ott was the most qualifed person for the position. Ott also said that the nomination meeting had been rigged in Sweck's favour; both Sweck and the defeated candidate denied this.
Sweck sought to focus attention on Copps's record, and particularly her party's broken promise on eliminating Canada's Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
. He also called for reforms to the Young Offenders Act
Young Offenders Act
The Young Offenders Act was an act of the Parliament of Canada, granted Royal Assent in 1984, that regulated the criminal prosecution of Canadian youths...
, such that persons as young as ten could be charged with committing violent crimes. He finished fourth, in what was considered a disappointing result for the party, and returned to private life.
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 federal Canadian federal election, 1993 The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time... |
Lincoln Lincoln (electoral district) Lincoln was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1867 to 1883 and from 1904 to 1997. It was on the Niagara Peninsula in the Canadian province of Ontario... |
Reform Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party.... |
14,325 | 25.74 | 2/7 | Tony Valeri Tony Valeri Tony Valeri, PC is a former Canadian politician. Valeri was the Canadian Government House Leader in Paul Martin's government from 2004 until 2006... , Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative... |
| federal by-election, 17 June 1996 | Hamilton East | Reform Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party.... |
2,750 | 10.33 | 4/13 | Sheila Copps Sheila Copps Sheila Maureen Copps, PC is a former Canadian politician who also served as Deputy Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to April 30, 1996 and June 19, 1996 to June 11, 1997.... , Liberal Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative... |
Nickel BeltNickel BeltNickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the Greater City of Sudbury.Nickel Belt has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953.It consists of:...
: Janice Weitzel
Janice Weitzel was a supply teacher. She received 5,604 votes (12.70%), finishing third against LiberalLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate Ray Bonin. Her campaign was generally regarded to have taken votes from the second-place New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
, and to have indirectly helped the Liberals.
Ottawa—VanierOttawa—VanierOttawa—Vanier is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1935...
: Sam Dancey
Dancey holds a Master of ArtsMaster of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degree (1981) from the Occidental Institute of Chinese Studies in Miami
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. He was thirty-nine years old during the election, and operated a foster home for emotionally disturbed children (Ottawa Citizen, 7 October 1993). He promoted fast expansion of Highway 16 and improved air links with the United States, and rejected suggestions that the Reform Party's plans to reduce the national civil service would cause significant unemployment rises in Ottwa (Citizen, 7 October 1993).
He received 3,830 votes (7.89%), finishing third against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
incumbent Jean-Robert Gauthier
Jean-Robert Gauthier
Jean-Robert Gauthier, CM, O.Ont was a Canadian politician.A chiropractor by training, he entered politics as trustee on a local school board. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons to represent the riding of Ottawa East in the 1972 election as a Liberal Party Member of Parliament...
. He campaigned for the party's nomination in a 1995 by-election in Ottawa—Vanier, but lost to Kevin Gaudet (Ottawa Citizen, 7 January 1995).
Dancey wrote opinion-editorials on behalf of the Reform Party during the 1990s, arguing in support of "territorial bilingualism" (Montreal Gazette, 18 July 1994) and criticizing affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
programs as discriminatory (Ottawa Citizen, 23 July 1995). During the 1999 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, he accused the labour movement of promoting violence at Queen's Park (Ottawa Citizen, 1 June 1999).
Parkdale—High ParkParkdale—High ParkParkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....
: Lee Primeau
Primeau is a graduate of Southeastern College in LakelandLakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and is listed as holding Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
and Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
degrees. He is a member of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, and has been an Evangelical Christian minister. He is also a business consultant, and is the owner and co-founder of eSO’L Connection Inc.
Primeau has advocated "Short-Term Mission" strategies for church groups. has worked extensively in foreign missions, and once hosted his own television program (Toronto Star, 22 October 1993). He was thirty-four years old at the time of the 1993 election, and lived in Mississauga. He received 6,647 votes (16.16%), finishing second against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
incumbent Jesse Flis
Jesse Flis
Jesse Philip Flis is a former Canadian politician. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 1984, and from 1988 to 1997, as a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.Flis was born in Fosston, Saskatchewan...
.
Primeau has published two books. The first, entitled "Mission_Shift", is a theological work which has been described as "deal[ing] with the implications of post-modernity, biblical context, and the dynamics of cross-cultural communication for successful and effective ministry". The second, "Leader_Shift", focuses on leadership issues. Primeau is the owner founder president of Leader_Shift Inc., which has serviced the Reform Party in the past. He now lives in western Canada.
Parry Sound—MuskokaParry Sound—MuskokaParry Sound—Muskoka is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1949....
: Jim Newman
Jim Newman worked on campaigns for the Liberal Party of CanadaLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
during Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
's leadership and joined the Reform Party in 1992. He was a real estate broker in Sundridge
Sundridge, Ontario
Sundridge is a village in central Ontario, Canada, approximately 75 km south of North Bay, Ontario along Highway 11, on the shore of Lake Bernard. Sundridge is a tourist destination in both winter and summer, with boating and snowmobiling providing the main attraction. Algonquin Provincial Park is...
in 1993 and was president of the Eagle Lake Revolver Club. He received 13,022 votes (28.19%), finishing second against Liberal candidate Andy Mitchell.
As of 2010, Newman is leader of a small national organization called the Canadian Firearms Institute.
Scarborough SouthwestScarborough SouthwestScarborough Southwest is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons.On Toronto City Council, the southeast portion is represented by Gary Crawford. The northwest section is represented by Michelle Berardinetti.-Geography:It covers the...
: Aubrey Millard
Millard was a high school teacher and counsellor. He called for "greater certainty in criminal sentencing", and said he would work for the "integration of immigrants into society" (Toronto Star, 22 October 1993). At one all-candidates meeting, he argued that immigration levels to Canada were too high and should be cut in half. This remark was criticized by other candidates, and particularly by New DemocratNew Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
Steve Thomas (Toronto Star, 19 October 1993). He received 8,314 votes (21.21%), finishing second against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
incumbent Tom Wappel
Tom Wappel
Thomas William "Tom" Wappel is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons from 1988 to 2008, representing the Toronto riding of Scarborough West and its successor riding of Scarborough Southwest. He did not seek re-election in the 2008 general election.Wappel is a...
.
St. Paul's: Paul Chaplin
Chaplin was a retired businessman at the time of the election. He initially sought the Reform Party's nomination in Don Valley WestDon Valley West
Don Valley West is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. Its population in 2001 was 115,539....
, but lost to John A. Gamble
John A. Gamble
John Albert Gamble was a far-right Canadian politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Progressive Conservative in the 1979 federal election and re-elected in the 1980 election representing the riding of York North.He was a candidate at the 1983 Progressive Conservative...
, a former Progressive Conservative
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....
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) who was once an executive member of the World Anti-Communist League
World Anti-Communist League
The World League for Freedom and Democracy is an international anti-communist political organization founded in 1966 in Taipei, Republic of China , under the initiative of Chiang Kai-shek. It was founded with the aim of opposing Communism around the world through "unconventional" methods...
(Toronto Star, 1 April 1993). Gamble was later expelled from the party. Running in St. Paul's, Chaplin received 5,727 votes (11.20%), finishing third against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate Barry Campbell.
Portage—InterlakePortage—InterlakePortage—Interlake was a federal electoral district in the province of Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997....
: Don Sawatsky
Sawatsky was a businessman from Oak Bluff, dealing in mobile homes. He received 9,801 votes (27.48%), finishing second against LiberalLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate Jon Gerrard
Jon Gerrard
Jon Gerrard, PC, MLA is a politician and medical doctor in Manitoba, Canada. He was a Member of Parliament from 1993 to 1997, and was a secretary of state in the government of Jean Chrétien...
.
Sawatsky later served on the Reform Party's national council. In 1996, he argued that most Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
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:...
Members of the Legislative Assembly
Member of the Legislative Assembly
A Member of the Legislative Assembly or a Member of the Legislature , is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to the legislature or legislative assembly of a sub-national jurisdiction....
supported the Reform Party rather than the 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....
at the federal level. Two years later, he said that he could not envision a merger of the two federal parties.
In 2000, Sawatsky nominated Brian Pallister
Brian Pallister
Brian William Pallister is a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Portage—Lisgar in the Canadian House of Commons from 2000 to 2008. He previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1992 to 1997, and was a cabinet minister in the provincial government of Gary Filmon...
as a federal candidate for the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
party, a successor to Reform.
Winnipeg SouthWinnipeg SouthWinnipeg South is a Canadian federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1917 to 1979, and since 1988. It covers the south of the city of Winnipeg...
: Mark Hughes
Hughes graduated from the University of ManitobaUniversity of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
's Faculty of Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
in 1978, and was a farmer for ten years. He also began working as a pastor, and received a degree from Providence Theological Seminary in 1988. He is senior pastor of Church of the Rock Inc. as of 2004,http://google.com/search?q=cache:HVXclIL7AEoJ:www.churchoftherock.ca/used%2520pages/indexNov03.html+%22Mark+Hughes%22+Winnipeg&hl=en and was a prominent organizer of Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
's March for Jesus (Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 2000).
Hughes was thirty-six years old during the 1993 election (Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 1993). He created controversy in the campaign by arguing that a Reform government would give provinces more leeway in approving medical user fees, privately-run hospitals and contracting-out of services (Winnipeg Free Press, 7 April 1993). When challenged as to whether or not the Reform party was a vehicle for the religious right, he responded, "Evangelicals feel at home. But there is a broad spectrum of every kind of faith - well, I don't see any Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s - but it's far from a right-wing religious party." (Globe and Mail, 28 December 1992). He received 14,822 votes (28.33%), finishing second against Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate Reg Alcock
Reg Alcock
Reginald B. Alcock, PC was a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Winnipeg South in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2006 and was a cabinet minister in the government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. Alcock was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Early life and...
.
Hughes has been a vocal opponent of gay rights. In 1996, he launched a petition drive against a federal bill including sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act (Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1996). He also spoke against openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
Winnipeg mayoral candidate Glen Murray in 1998, opposing what he described as "the values behind [Murray's] sexuality and the political agenda of those who share these same values" (Winnipeg Free Press, 13 November 1998).
Saskatoon—Clark's CrossingSaskatoon—Clark's CrossingSaskatoon—Clark's Crossing was a federal electoral district in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997...
: Frederick Wesolowski
Wesolowski was born and raised in SaskatoonSaskatoon
Saskatoon is a city in central Saskatchewan, Canada, on the South Saskatchewan River. Residents of the city of Saskatoon are called Saskatonians. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344....
, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
, and holds Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
and the University of Regina
University of Regina
The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...
. He is a police officer, and has been a member of the Saskatoon Catholic School Board since 1988.
Wesolowski was first elected to the Catholic School Board in 1988, and has been re-elected in every campaign since them. When campaigning for re-election in 1997, he argued that Catholic students would be at risk "both spiritually and academically" if the Catholic school system were to shift away from a denominationally-centred curriculum. (SSP, 20 October 1997). He also called for trustees to address the problem of poverty among students in the system.
While serving as trustee, Wesolowski has also made several unsuccessful bids for a seat on City Council. He targeted the Ward 3 incumbent in 1997 for voting against the police commission budget, and lost by only twenty-five votes. (SSP, 20 and 3 December 1997). He later campaigned for Ward 1 in 2000, seeking increases in the police budget and arguing that the city would have to hire more officers if it wanted to develop plans for community policing (SSP, 23 October 2000). He was again defeated. He has also lost bids for Ward 5 in 1994 and 2003 (SSP, 12 September 2000 + 23 October 2003).
Wesolowski supported affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
programs for Saskatoon Catholic teachers in 2001, arguing that past policies had discriminated against women and aboriginals. He initiative was defeated (Regina Leader-Post, 5 September 2001).
He finished a close second against New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
candidate Chris Axworthy
Chris Axworthy
Christopher S. Axworthy is a Canadian politician.After teaching law at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie Law School, Chris Axworthy came to Saskatoon in 1984 as the founding Executive Director of the and as a Professor of Law at the University of Saskatchewan...
in the 1993 election. He later ran for the Reform Party's nomination in Wanuskewin for the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, but lost to Maurice Vellacott
Maurice Vellacott
Maurice Vellacott is a Canadian politician. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997, and is currently the Conservative Member of Parliament for the riding of Saskatoon—Wanuskewin in the province of Saskatchewan....
(Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 17 May 1997).
Brome—MissisquoiBrome—MissisquoiBrome—Missisquoi is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1925...
: Line Maheux
Line MaheuxLine Maheux
Line Maheux is a Canadian communications consultant and political strategist. At different times, she has worked for Preston Manning, Stockwell Day, Mike Harris, John Nunziata, and Stephen Harper.-Reform Party:...
received 517 votes (1.38%), finishing fourth against Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate Denis Paradis
Denis Paradis
Denis Paradis, PC is a politician and lawyer from the Canadian province of Quebec. He served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1995 to 2006 and was a minister in the governments of Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin...
. She later became a prominent strategist in the Reform Party and its successors, the Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
and the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
.