Rafe Mair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rafe Mair (b. December 31, 1931) is a political commentator and former radio personality and politician in British Columbia, Canada.
Mair was born in Vancouver, BC where he worked as a lawyer for many years.
His political career began in 1975, when he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of the British Columbia Social Credit Party representing the riding of Kamloops. He held that seat until retiring from politics in 1981; the seat was taken over by Claude Richmond. Mair served as a cabinet minister in the government of Premier Bill Bennett under a variety of portfolios including health and education. During the patriation of the Constitution of Canada, he was BC's chief delegate on constitutional matters.
In 1981, he left government and has since served as a radio talk show host in Vancouver. In the early 1990s, he gained national notoriety and support alike for his role as an outspoken opponent of both the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional accords.
Despite high ratings, his show was cancelled by CKNW in 2003, and he was subsequently hired at 600 AM, an oldies station, to start a morning talk show. This job ended in late 2005, but he plans to continue his career elsewhere. He remains active as a regular columnist for a chain of community newspapers, the online magazine The Tyee and often appears nationally as a political commentator.
He is an avid fisherman and he has become an outspoken critic of salmon farming in BC. This often puts him at odds with former political colleagues and makes him allies with former political enemies such as the New Democratic Party of British Columbia.
Although he has traditionally been considered a political conservative, Mair's views have always been moderate on certain issues, notably the environment and social welfare. Disillusioned with the three mainstream Canadian parties, he has lately become a significant supporter of the Green Party urging people to vote for them in recent federal and provincial elections. Though he shies away from endorsing entire parties, he still supports individual candidates, most recently including New Democrat candidate Svend Robinson in Vancouver Centre[1].
Mair has authored several books on Canadian politics, including his memoirs.
[edit] Selected Works
- Canada, is anyone listening? (1998) ISBN 1-55263-000-5
- Rants, raves and recollections (2000) ISBN 1-55285-145-1
- Rafe : a memoir (2004) ISBN 1-55017-319-7
- Hard talk (2005) ISBN 1-55017-374-X
- Over the Mountains: More Thoughts on Things that Matter (2006) ISBN 1-55017-371-5
