Gary Doer

Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Doer first joined the New Democratic Party in the 1970s, and worked for the party in the 1973 provincial election.

He discontinued his membership in 1975 to preserve the neutrality of his union, and was later courted by both the New Democrats and Progressive Conservatives to run for public office.

Doer became president of the Manitoba Government Employees' Association in 1979, and served in this capacity until 1986.

He also held prominent positions with the Manitoba Federation of Labour and the National Union of Public and General Employees, served as a director of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and became a governor of the University of Manitoba.

In 1983, he negotiated an agreement with the provincial government of Howard Pawley in which civil servants agreed to delay a wage increase in return for a guarantee of no layoffs or wage rollbacks.

The following year, he openly criticized Dennis McDermott's leadership of the Canadian Labour Congress.

He rejoined the NDP in 1986, and was a candidate in that year's provincial election.

Doer was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 1986 provincial election for the northeast Winnipeg division of Concordia.

He joined the government of Premier Howard Pawley on 17 April 1986, as Minister of Urban Affairs, and was given additional responsibilities as Minister responsible for the Manitoba Telephone System on 2 December of the same year.

Doer ordered a Royal Canadian Mounted Police probe of the MTS soon after his appointment, and worked to reform its practices following a failed investment in Saudi Arabia.

He soon developed a reputation as a "fixer", working as a trouble-shooter in difficult fields.

Doer was given further responsibilities as Minister of Crown Investments on 5 February 1987, and was later named as Minister responsible for the Accountability of Crown Corporations (19 August 1987) and Minister responsible for the Liquor Control Act (21 September 1987).

Seen as a rising star in the party, he was sometimes mentioned as a future leader.

The Pawley government was sustained by a narrow legislative majority after the 1986 election, and was defeated on 8 March 1988, when disgruntled backbencher Jim Walding voted with the opposition on a budget non-confidence motion.

Pawley resigned as NDP leader the next day, and called a new general election for 26 April.

Doer was the first declared candidate in the Manitoba New Democratic Party's 1988 leadership contest.

He was supported by cabinet ministers Vic Schroeder, Myrna Phillips, Muriel Smith, Leonard Evans, Jerry Storie and Wilson Parasiuk, and by federal Members of Parliament Rod Murphy and David Orlikow.

He also received an endorsement from the Manitoba Federation of Labour.

Doer emphasized his experience in managing large organizations, and called for pay equity legislation to be introduced within a year of his election.

He narrowly defeated rival candidate Len Harapiak on the third ballot of the party's leadership convention in Winnipeg.

He was not sworn in as premier, as the legislature had already been dissolved.

Doer became leader of the Manitoba NDP when the party was at a low ebb of popularity.

An internal poll before the election showed that they had only 6% popular support, and some NDP workers privately worried that they could lose all of their legislative seats.

Many believed Doer was their best hope for a recovery.

Support for the NDP increased to 19% during the leadership campaign, and to 23% after Doer was chosen as Pawley's successor.

The party nevertheless remained in third place, and faced an uphill struggle in the 1988 election.

Doer promised a $58 million tax cut, and opposed the federal government's free trade deal with the United States of America.

He indicated that he was open to the possibility of amending the Meech Lake Accord, a federal proposal for constitutional reform.

He also promised to build more community health centres, and supported home renovations for senior citizens and the disabled.

The NDP won 12 out of 57 seats, while the Progressive Conservatives under Gary Filmon won 25 seats and the Liberals under Sharon Carstairs jumped from one seat to twenty.

Doer previously served as the 20th premier of Manitoba from 1999 to 2009, leading a New Democratic Party government.

Since the end of his term as envoy to Washington, Doer has taken up a position as senior business advisor with the global law firm Dentons and was retained by the government of Alberta to lobby the Trump administration on the softwood lumber dispute.

Doer is a member of the Inter-American Dialogue.

Gary Doer was born to a middle class family in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

His background is German and Welsh.

He graduated from St. Paul's High School and went on to study political science and sociology at the University of Manitoba for one year where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, but left to become a corrections officer at the Vaughan Street Detention Centre.

He later rose to become deputy superintendent of the Manitoba Youth Centre.

Doer's work environment was not always safe: he once had to deal with a hostage taking situation, and was attacked with a baseball bat on another occasion.

He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016.