Brian Pallister

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Brian William Pallister

Incumbent
Riding	Portage—Lisgar
In office since	2000 election
Preceded by	Jake E. Hoeppner
Born	July 06, 1954 (age 52) Portage La Prairie
Residence	Portage la Prairie
Political party	Conservative
Profession(s)	Chartered financial analyst, public servant
Spouse	Esther Pallister

Brian William Pallister (born July 6, 1954) is a Canadian politician. He has represented the riding of Portage—Lisgar in the Canadian House of Commons since 2000. 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. Pallister is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Provincial politics 3 Leadership bid 4 Canadian Alliance MP 5 Conservative MP 6 Trivia 7 External links 8 Table of offices held 9 Electoral record 10 Footnotes

[edit] Early life and career

Pallister was born in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, and holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Education degrees from Brandon University. He worked as a high school teacher in rural Manitoba from 1976 to 1979, and later became a chartered financial consultant, serving as chair of the Canadian Insurance Agents Advisory Council (Sunlife).^[1] Pallister is also a skilled curler, and won a province-wide mixed curling championship in 2000.^[2] Pallister is also a member of the Rideau Curling Club in Ottawa. ^[3]

[edit] Provincial politics

Pallister began his political career at the provincial level, winning a by-election in Portage La Prairie on September 15, 1992 as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba. He entered the provincial legislature as a backbench supporter of the Filmon government, and pushed for balanced budget legislation.^[4] In 1993, he endorsed Jean Charest's bid to lead the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.^[5]

He was sworn in to cabinet on May 9, 1995 as Minister of Government Services. He oversaw reforms that eliminated almost 3,000 pages of statutory regulations, as part of a government campaign against red tape.^[6] He also presided over changes to the Manitoba Disaster Assistance Board, and oversaw flood claims within the province.^[7] He stepped down from cabinet on January 6, 1997 to prepare for his first federal campaign.

Pallister defeated Paul-Emile Labossiere to win the Progressive Conservative nomination for Portage—Lisgar in the 1997 federal election, and formally resigned his seat in the legislature on April 28, 1997.^[8] Considered a star candidate for the Progressive Conservatives, he nonetheless lost to Jake Hoeppner of the Reform Party by 1,449 votes.

[edit] Leadership bid

In 1998, Pallister campaigned for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservative Party on a right-wing platform designed to win back voters who had left the Tories for Reform.^[9] His supporters included former cabinet ministers Don Mazankowski and Charlie Mayer, Senator Consiglio Di Nino, and Jim Jones, the sole Progressive Conservative representative in the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario.^[10] He finished fourth on the first ballot of the 1998 Progressive Conservative leadership convention with 12.5% support, behind David Orchard, Hugh Segal, and the eventual winner, former Prime Minister Joe Clark. He left the contest a few days later, declining to endorse another candidate. Pallister said that Progressive Conservatives had "voted for the past", and had missed an opportunity to renew themselves.^[11]

There were rumours that Pallister would campaign to succeed Filmon as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives in 2000, but he did not declare himself a candidate.^[12]

[edit] Canadian Alliance MP

In July 2000, Pallister wrote an open letter to Joe Clark announcing his intent to run in the next federal election with a dual endorsement from the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance associations in Portage-Lisgar.^[13] The latter party was a successor to Reform, and emerged from the efforts of Reformers to merge with Blue Tory elements in the Progressive Conservative Party who were opposed to Clark's Red Tory leadership. Clark had previously rejected Pallister's proposal as a violation of the Progressive Conservative Party's constitution, and did not respond to the letter.^[14] As a result, Pallister left the Progressive Conservatives and joined the Alliance on August 17, 2000.^[15] He won his new party's nomination for Portage—Lisgar over Denis Desrochers and former MP Felix Holtmann, in a contest marked by some bitterness.^[16]

Pallister was elected to the House of Commons in the 2000 general election, defeating his nearest opponent by over 10,000 votes. The Liberal Party won a majority government, and Pallister served on the opposition benches. He did not openly endorse any candidate in the 2002 Canadian Alliance leadership election.

[edit] Conservative MP

The Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties merged on December 22, 2003, and Pallister became a member of the resulting Conservative Party of Canada. He initially considered launching a bid for the new party's leadership, but instead endorsed outgoing Alliance leader Stephen Harper for the position.^[17] He was easily re-elected in the 2004 election, in which the Liberals were reduced to a minority government. In July 2004, he was appointed to the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet as critic for the Minister of National Revenue.

Pallister gained increased national prominence in September 2005 after drawing attention to $750,000 worth of apparent spending irregularities in the office of David Dingwall, the Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Canadian Mint.^[18] Dingwall resigned after the accusations were made public, but later claimed that his expenditures were inaccurately reported and fell within official guidelines.^[19] An independent review completed in late October 2005 found only minor discrepancies in Dingwall's expenses, amounting to less than $7,000 in total. Pallister criticized this review as "little more than a whitewash", and argued that the auditors failed to include numerous ambiguous expenses in their findings.^[20]

Prior to the 2006 federal election, the Winnipeg Free Press reported that some Manitoba Progressive Conservatives were trying to persuade Pallister to challenge Stuart Murray for the provincial leadership.^[21] He did not do this, although Murray nonetheless resigned after 45% of the delegates at the party's November 2005 convention called for a leadership review. A subsequent Free Press poll showed Pallister as the second-most popular choice to succeed Murray, after fellow MP Vic Toews.^[22]

Pallister campaigned for re-election at the federal level, and was noncommittal about his provincial ambitions. When a reporter asked him why he would not elaborate his plans, he was quoted as saying that he was "copping what's known as a woman's answer [...] It's a sort of fickle kind of thing."^[23] Some considered this remark to be sexist, and he later apologized.

Pallister was easily re-elected in the 2006 campaign. Less than a week later, he announced his intention to consider running for the leadership of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives. The Conservative Party won a minority government in the election, and Pallister requested that Prime Minister-designate Stephen Harper not consider him for a cabinet portfolio while he was making his decision.^[24] On February 17, 2006, Pallister announced that he would not seek the provincial party leadership and would remain a federal MP.^[25] He currently serves as a government backbencher, and chairs the House of Commons standing committee on Finance.^[26]

Pallister advocated for increased train safety after a young resident of his riding died in a 2004 accident. In April 2006, the federal government required that all trains be equipped with reflective material to become more visible at night.^[27]

[edit] Trivia

• At 6'8", Pallister is the tallest member of the House of Commons.
• Pallister sang a parody of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part Two" in the House of Commons on October 3, 2005, during the "Statements by Members" session before Question Period. The adjusted lyrics attacked David Dingwall and the Liberal government. The Speaker ruled him out of order.^[28]

[edit] External links

• Conservative Party biography page

[edit] Table of offices held

Provincial Government of Gary Filmon
Cabinet Post
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Gerald Ducharme	Minister of Government Services (1995—1997)	Frank Pitura

Preceded by Jake Hoeppner	Member of Parliament for Portage—Lisgar 2000-present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Ed Connery	Member of the Manitoba Legislature for Portage La Prairie 1992-1997	Succeeded by David Faurschou

[edit] Electoral record

2006 federal election : Portage—Lisgar edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Conservative	(x)Brian Pallister	25,719	69.78	$44,321.83
	Liberal	Garry McLean	4,199	11.39	$13,875.88
	New Democratic Party	Daren Van Den Bussche	4,072	11.05	$2,450.07
	Green	Charlie Howatt	1,880	5.10	$4,073.82
	Christian Heritage	David Reimer	987	2.68	$9,372.57
Total valid votes			36,857	100.00
Total rejected ballots			123
Turnout			36,980	62.04
Electors on lists			59,609

2004 federal election : Portage—Lisgar edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Conservative	(x)Brian Pallister	22,939	65.93	$55,524.92
	Liberal	Don Kuhl	6,174	17.74	$70,773.27
	New Democratic Party	Daren Van Den Bussche	3,251	9.34	$13,159.49
	Christian Heritage	David Reimer	1,458	4.19	$12,986.64
	Green	Marc Payette	856	2.46	$649.69
	Communist	Allister Cucksey	117	0.34	$741.52
Total valid votes			34,795	100.00
Total rejected ballots			146	0.42
Turnout			34,941	57.35
Electors on lists			60,922

2000 federal election : Portage—Lisgar edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Canadian Alliance	Brian Pallister	17,318	50.31	$44,417.63
	Liberal	Gerry J.E. Gebler	6,133	17.82	$44,267.57
	Progressive Conservative	Morley McDonald	5,339	15.51	$16,872.28
	Independent	(x)Jake Hoeppner	3,558	10.34	$40,395.49
	New Democratic Party	Diane Beresford	2,073	6.02	$3,880.73
Total valid votes			34,421	100.00
Total rejected ballots			101	0.29
Turnout			34,522	61.56
Electors on lists			56,082

1997 federal election : Portage—Lisgar edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Reform	(x)Jake Hoeppner	13,532	40.25	$55,221
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Pallister	12,083	35.94	$52,473
	Liberal	Heather Mack	4,913	14.61	$14,412
	New Democratic Party	Glen Hallick	2,420	7.20	$9,391
	Christian Heritage	Martin Dewit	517	1.53	$2,674
	Canadian Action Party	Roy Lyall	159	0.47	$1,210
Total Valid Votes			33,624	100.00
Total Rejected Ballots			149	0.44
Turnout			33,773	60.63
Electors on lists			55,706

1995 Manitoba provincial election : Portage La Prairie edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	(x)Brian Pallister	3,977	51.36	$21,925.75
	Liberal	Bob Turner	2,117	27.34	$22,544.59
	New Democratic Party	Connie Gretsinger	1,519	19.62	$3,123.00
	Independent	Ralph Jackson	130	1.68	$0.00
Total valid votes			7,743	100.00
Rejected and discarded votes			21
Turnout			7,764	65.84
Registered voters			11,792

Manitoba provincial by-election, September 15, 1992 : Portage La Prairie edit
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Brian Pallister	3,226	51.56	$17,992.91
	Liberal	Helen Christoffersen	1,995	31.88	$12,952.25
	New Democratic Party	Ralph Jackson	648	10.36	$13,381.00
	Reform	Fred Debrecen	388	6.20	$0.00
Total valid votes			6,257	100.00
Rejected ballots			20
Turnout			6,277	53.81
Registered voters			11,665

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Manitoba. Provincial expenditures refer to individual candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

[edit] Footnotes