Stockwell Day

Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician who led the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

A provincial cabinet minister from Alberta, Day served as minister of labour, minister of social services, and treasurer under Premier Ralph Klein.

In the 1972 federal election he was the Social Credit candidate running against New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas in the riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands.

Day Sr. supported Doug Christie and was a member of the Western Canada Concept.

From 1978 to 1985, Day was assistant pastor and school administrator at the Bentley Christian Centre in Bentley, Alberta.

His school taught the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum.

In 1986, Day was elected to represent Red Deer North in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Progressive Conservative (PC), a position that he held until 2000.

In December 1992, newly elected Alberta premier Ralph Klein brought Day into cabinet as his minister of labour, a position in which he oversaw controversial changes in his ministry, including layoffs in the civil service.

In this role, Day was credited with working with all of Alberta's Public Service Unions to achieve an unprecedented 5 percent voluntary reduction in their collective agreements.

While Day was Minister of Labour, Alberta had the lowest number of days lost due to labour disputes of any province.

As Minister Responsible for the Worker's Compensation Board, Day oversaw the elimination of the Compensation Board's unfunded liability of $600 million.

This led to a general reduction in premiums for businesses and a general increase in workers' benefits.

In October 1994 Government House Leader was added to his responsibility.

In May 1996, Day was made Minister of Social Services, and in March 1997, he became Treasurer.

As Treasurer, Day oversaw a continued paying down of Alberta's debt while he cut taxes, instituting a flat tax rate in 1999.

In April 1999, while Day was still Treasurer, he wrote a letter criticizing Red Deer lawyer and public school board trustee Lorne Goddard for representing a defendant who was ultimately convicted on charges of possessing child pornography.

In the letter, Day suggested that Goddard's argument in court that the Canadian Constitution protected his client's right to possess child pornography implied that he himself believed that pedophiles have the right to own such materials, and that this further implies that he also must believe that teachers should have the right to pornographic images of their students.

In response, Goddard sued Day for defamation.

He successfully ran for leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance against former Reform Party leader Preston Manning, winning that position on July 8, 2000.

Following his election as leader, Day won the by-election to become the Member of Parliament for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia.

In the 2000 federal election, the Alliance under Day only made modest gains, increasing their seat count from 58 to 66.

A breakthrough in the East did not happen, and the Liberal Party under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien won a third consecutive majority government.

After the election, Day's leadership of the party was met with criticism, with a caucus revolt taking place.

Following the election, Day lost his role as leader, but continued to serve as an MP.

He then held several cabinet portfolios under Prime Minister Stephen Harper and was widely seen as a prominent voice for social conservatives within the Conservative Party.

The suit was eventually settled on December 22, 2000, in the plaintiff's favour.

In 2000, Day decided to run for leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance party.

After a heavily publicized campaign, Day came in first on the June 24 first ballot of the leadership election with about 44% of the vote, in front of former Reform Party leader Preston Manning and Ontario PC strategist Tom Long.

In the following runoff election against Manning, held on July 8, 2000, Day received 63.4%.

Looking for a way to get into Parliament, Day decided against running in his hometown riding of Red Deer, even though it was comfortably safe for the Alliance.

Instead, he ran in a by-election in the equally safe riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla, British Columbia after incumbent Reform/CA MP Jim Hart stood down in his favour—a standard practice in most parliamentary systems when a newly elected leader doesn't have a seat in Parliament.

Day won the by-election on September 11, 2000, arriving at his first news conference on a Jet Ski wearing a wetsuit.

A few weeks after Day entered the House of Commons, Jean Chrétien called a snap election for November 27, 2000, which would not give the newly formed Canadian Alliance time to consolidate itself.

Nonetheless, the new party went into the election with high hopes, as Day was expected to appeal far more to the crucial Ontario voters than his predecessors.

According to an Adjudication Order from the Office Of The Information And Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, an Alberta Government News Release of January 16, 2001 indicated that the total settlement cost for the suit was $792,064.40, including $60,000 in damages paid to the plaintiff, which costs were paid by Alberta taxpayers, although Day did eventually pay back the Alberta Government the $60,000 in damages out of his own pocket.

Additionally, Day later wrote a letter to a local paper in his riding as a Federal Member of Parliament expressing deep regret "that my former friend Lorne Goddard and his family, have been personally hurt."

On March 12, 2011, Day announced that he would not be seeking re-election in the 2011 federal election.

Day was born in Barrie, Ontario, the son of Gwendolyn "Gwen" (née Gilbert) and Stockwell Day Sr. He lived in a number of places in Canada during his youth, including Atlantic Canada; Ottawa, where he attended Ashbury College; and Montreal, where he graduated from Westmount High School.

He attended the University of Victoria and Vanguard College, then known as Northwest Bible College, in Edmonton, Alberta, but did not graduate from either.

His father, who was born in Montreal, was long associated with the Social Credit Party of Canada.