Brian Peckford

Alfred Brian Peckford (born August 27, 1942 in Whitbourne , Newfoundland ) is a Canadian politician .

biography

Peckford, who was initially a member of the Liberal Party , became a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) in 1969 and for its party grouping Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (PCP-NL) in 1972 a member of the House of Representatives of Newfoundland and Labrador (Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly) . At the same time he became a special assistant to the Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador Frank Moores .

In 1974, Prime Minister Moores appointed him Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and, after a cabinet reshuffle, in 1976, Minister of Mines and Energy. In addition, in 1978 he took over the office of Minister of Rural Development. Peckford, described by observers as self-confident and in some cases as bold, achieved national recognition when he negotiated and implemented the regulations for the province's oil and gas developments as minister of mines and energy . These were so drastic that the multinational oil companies stopped their explorations . However, Peckford took the position that sooner or later there would be demand for the province's deposits regardless of the cost, and in fact, near-shore exploration was resumed as early as 1979.

At the party congress of the PCP-NL he was elected on March 17, 1979 as the successor to the resigned Moores as chairman of the provincial party and took over from this on March 26, 1979 also the office of Prime Minister of Newfoundland and Labrador. Immediately afterwards he called out new elections, which took place on June 8, 1979 and in which the PCP-NL clearly defeated the Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador (LPNL) under its top candidate Don Jamieson . While the PCP-NL received 33 of the 52 parliamentary seats, the LPNL got the remaining 19 seats. Both parties were able to record gains, as the five members of the Newfoundland Reform Liberal Party were no longer represented in parliament.

During his election campaign, he promised more attention to the Labrador Peninsula , the mainland part of the province, and programs for the preservation and promotion of Newfoundland culture . As Prime Minister he introduced financial programs with a clear socio-political component. In addition, he waged a bitter battle with the liberals of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau over the right to control the marine resources of oil and fish off the coast of Newfoundland.

After the election of his conservative party friend Brian Mulroney as Prime Minister of Canada, Peckford continued the talks and in 1984 he succeeded in the so-called Atlantic Accord, which in his view gave Newfoundland a fair share of and control over the coastal marine resources.

After ten years in office, he resigned as prime minister of the province on March 22, 1989 and handed over the office to Thomas Rideout . This suffered with the PCP-NL in the provincial elections on April 20, 1989 but a defeat in which the Conservatives only received 21 of the 52 seats and the LPNL won 31 seats. Prime Minister was then on May 5, 1989 Clyde Wells of the Liberals.

After retiring from politics, Peckford worked in the private sector as the owner of a consulting firm .

Web links

• rulers.org