Lorne Nystrom
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The Honourable Lorne Edmund Nystrom, PC (born April 26, 1946) a Canadian politician, was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 2004, except for an interval from 1993, when he lost re-election, to 1997. At the time of his first victory he was the youngest Canadian ever elected to Parliament.
Born in Wynyard, Saskatchewan, he has run for the leadership of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) three times.
Nystrom placed third at the 1975 leadership convention for the party, losing to Ed Broadbent.
In 1989, Nystrom was charged with shoplifting an item worth $8 from an Ottawa Shoppers Drug Mart, but was found not guilty by the Court, as the Crown had failed to establish the necessary evidentiary burden to convict him.
In 1992, he was appointed to the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
In 1995, Nystrom was considered a leading contender for the leadership during the campaign, finishing first in the one-member, one-vote primary system. But at the delegated convention he finished third on the first ballot, behind Svend Robinson and Alexa McDonough, and was dropped. Although Robinson had finished first on that ballot, he conceded to McDonough before the second ballot as he felt that Nystrom's support would have gone almost entirely to McDonough, giving her the victory. (Reportedly, a number of Nystrom's labour delegates voted for McDonough, fearing a Robinson victory and reasoning that McDonough would be better placed than Nystrom to defeat Robinson on the final ballot.)
Nystrom ran for the NDP leadership again in the 2003 leadership election, placing third. He was defeated in the 2004 elections by newcomer Andrew Scheer, losing by 861 votes. He won the NDP nomination again in 2005, but was once again defeated by Scheer in the 2006 elections, this time losing by a wider margin of 2,740 votes.
| Preceded by: Simon De Jong, NDP. |
Member of Parliament for Regina—Qu'Appelle (formerly Qu'Appelle) (1997-2004) |
Succeeded by: Andrew Scheer, Conservative |
| Preceded by: federal riding created in 1966 |
Member of Parliament for Yorkton—Melville (1968-1993) |
Succeeded by: Garry Breitkreuz, Reform |
