Allan Blakeney
Allan Emrys Blakeney , PC , OC , SOM , QC (born September 7, 1925 in Bridgewater , Nova Scotia , † April 16, 2011 in Saskatoon , Saskatchewan ) was a Canadian politician . He was Prime Minister of Saskatchewan Province from June 30, 1971 to May 8, 1982 . From 1970 to 1987 he was chairman of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP).
Profession and Provincial Politics
Blakeney grew up in the province of Nova Scotia. He studied law at Dalhousie University in Halifax and was one of the best students ever, which is why he received a Rhodes Scholarship . This enabled him to go to the University of Oxford , where he studied economics, modern history and philosophy. He also played ice hockey for the university team. In 1950 he returned to Canada and moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, where Prime Minister Tommy Douglas appointed him to the civil service.
In 1950 he married Molly Schwartz, who died unexpectedly seven years later. In 1959 Blakeney got a second marriage to Anne Gorham. He initially worked as a legal advisor for the provincial state-owned companies, then in a leading position in the Ministry of Finance. In 1960 he was elected to the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly and was a minister in the governments of Tommy Douglas and his successor Woodrow Stanley Lloyd . From 1964 his party was in the opposition.
prime minister
On July 4, 1970 Blakeney was elected as the new chairman of the NDP. In the elections on June 23, 1971, he led his party to victory, a week later he replaced Ross Thatcher as Prime Minister. Blakeney's economic policy was shaped by state intervention. His government promoted the establishment of state-owned companies for the raw materials industry, above all a company for the mining of potassium carbonate or potash. She also founded SaskOil , a state-owned oil and gas company . The aim of these measures was to diversify the province's one-sided agricultural structure.
At the national level, Blakeney played an important role in the debate about a new Canadian constitution . The Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau wanted to completely detach the constitution from its ties with Great Britain and introduce a Charter of Fundamental Rights . Blakeney spoke out against the charter because he was convinced that it would involve a shift in power from elected representatives to appointed judges. In lengthy negotiations, he was able to get the charter to contain a reservation clause with which the provinces can temporarily suspend certain rights.
further activities
The government of the NDP was confirmed with an absolute majority in 1975 and 1978, but suffered a defeat in the April 1982 elections against the strengthened progressive conservatives . Blakeney resigned his office as head of government on May 8, 1982 to Grant Devine and became opposition leader. Although the NDP received slightly more votes in the October 1986 elections, it received fewer seats due to distortions in the majority vote. On November 7, 1987 Blakeney resigned as party leader.
Blakeney also resigned his parliamentary mandate, took a two-year hiatus and was then visiting professor of constitutional law at the University of Saskatchewan . He sat on various boards and helped build democratic government structures in South Africa after the end of apartheid .
literature
- Gordon Barnhart : Saskatchewan Premiers of the Twentieth Century. Canadian Plains Research Center, Regina 2004. ISBN 0889771642 .
Web links
- Allan Blakeney ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
- Article Allan Blakeney in the Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan
Individual evidence
- ↑ Former Saskatchewan Premier Allan Blakeney dies. The Globe and Mail, April 16, 2011, accessed April 16, 2011 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blakeney, Allan |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Blakeney, Allan Emrys (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 7, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bridgewater , Nova Scotia |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 16, 2011 |
| Place of death | Saskatoon , Saskatchewan |