Robert Ghiz

Last updated

Kate Ellis
​
(m. 2006)​
Robert Ghiz
Robert Ghiz.jpg
Ghiz in 2010
31st Premier of Prince Edward Island
In office
June 12, 2007 –February 23, 2015
Children3
Parent Joe Ghiz (father)
Alma mater Bishop's University
OccupationPolitical adviser, banker
CabinetMinister Responsible for Intergovernmental Affairs (2007–15)
Minister Responsible for Acadian and Francophone Affairs (2007–15)
Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs (2007–15)

Robert Watson Joseph Ghiz (born January 21, 1974) is a Canadian politician who served as the 31st premier of Prince Edward Island [1] from 2007 to 2015. He is the son of the 27th premier, Joe Ghiz. [2]

Contents

Life and career

Ghiz was born and raised in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the son of Rose Ellen (born McGowan) and Joe Ghiz. He served in the Canadian Forces Primary Reserves, while attending high school in the early 1990s. He attended Bishop's University where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science; his father spoke at Ghiz's graduation.

Ghiz moved to Ottawa following his father's death from cancer, where he worked as a political aide for Deputy Prime Minister Sheila Copps before joining the Bank of Nova Scotia in 1998. In 2001 Ghiz joined the office of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien where he served as Atlantic Canada advisor before leaving to run for leader of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party in 2003. [1]

Politics

In 2003, Ghiz narrowly defeated former provincial Health Minister Alan Buchanan for the leadership of the party [3] and went on to win a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2003 provincial election. [4] The MLA for Charlottetown-Rochford Square (now Charlottetown-Brighton) served as Leader of the Official Opposition in the provincial legislature from 2003 to 2007.

Ghiz faced a controversy during the lead-up to the 2007 provincial election when he intervened in the nominating procedure in a rural electoral district northeast of Charlottetown. Ghiz refused to sign his party's nominating papers for the winning candidate who had made a controversial speech endorsing patronage. [5]

Ghiz led his party to power in the general election held on May 28, 2007, defeating Pat Binns after 11 years of Progressive Conservative government. [6] Ghiz won 23 of the 27 seats, reversing the standings in the legislature at the time of dissolution. Ghiz and his 11-member cabinet were sworn in on June 12, 2007. A 24th member was elected in October in a by-election held after the resignation of Pat Binns. [1]

Ghiz's election resulted in the second time in the history of Prince Edward Island that a father-son team both became premier; the other pair (also Liberal) being Thane Campbell (1936–1943) and Alexander B. Campbell (1966–1978). [7]

In early 2011, he was featured in an episode of CBC Television's Make the Politician Work . [8]

On October 3, 2011, the Ghiz Liberals were elected to a second term, winning 22 of 27 seats. The PEI Progressive Conservative party under the leadership of Olive Crane won the remaining 5 seats. [9]

Following the 2011 provincial election Ghiz announced that he would find a high-level position for Allan Campbell, who had lost his seat during the election. Campbell was later appointed Chief of Staff in the Premier's Office. [10]

On November 13, 2014, Ghiz announced he would be resigning as Premier as soon as the Liberal Party elected a new leader. [11] Ghiz resigned as Premier on February 23, 2015, and was succeeded by the new Liberal Party leader, Wade MacLauchlan. He resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island the next day. [12]

Life after politics

In June 2016, Ghiz joined the international law firm Gowling WLG in a business advisory role. [13] By November of the same year it was announced that he would step into the role vacated by former New Brunswick premier Bernard Lord when Ghiz was hired to take over the leadership as CEO of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association in the new year. [14] On May 3, 2023, the CWTA changed its name to Canadian Telecommunications Association. [15] [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2003 Prince Edward Island general election was held on September 29, 2003 to elect the 27 members of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The election was called on September 2 by Premier Pat Binns, who enjoyed a high level of popularity among voters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Edward Island Liberal Party</span> Political party in Canada

The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party, officially the Prince Edward Island Liberal Association, is a political party in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The PEI Liberals are affiliated with the federal Liberal Party of Canada.

Patrick George Binns, is a Canadian diplomat, the 30th premier of Prince Edward Island from 1996 to 2007 and Canadian Ambassador to Ireland from 2007 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Ghiz</span> Canadian politician and lawyer (1945–1996)

Joseph Atallah Ghiz was a Canadian politician and lawyer. He was the 27th premier of Prince Edward Island from 1986 to 1993, and was a justice of the Supreme Court of Prince Edward Island from 1995 until his death in 1996. He was the father of Robert Ghiz, the 31st premier of Prince Edward Island. Ghiz was the first premier of a Canadian province to be of non-European descent, since followed by Ujjal Dosanjh and Ghiz's son, Robert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2007 Prince Edward Island general election was held on May 28, 2007. It elected members of the Legislative Assembly of the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The incumbent Progressive Conservative government was defeated by the Liberal opposition after holding power for eleven years.

A provincial by-election was held in Prince Edward Island on October 15, 2007, to fill the vacancy in the Legislative Assembly riding of Belfast-Murray River. It was called by Premier Robert Ghiz on September 17, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Currie</span> Canadian politician

Douglas W. Currie is a Canadian politician who represented the electoral district of Charlottetown-Parkdale in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island as a member of the Liberal Party from 2007 until his resignation in 2017.

Richard Earle Brown is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2007 provincial election. He represented the electoral district of Charlottetown-Victoria Park as a member of the Liberal Party. His brother Philip Brown, is the current and 46th Mayor of Charlottetown.

Robert Vessey is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2007 provincial election and represented the electoral district of York-Oyster Bed as a member of the Liberal Party until 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2011 Prince Edward Island general election was held on October 3, 2011.

The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party, a political party in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island chooses its leadership by an open vote of party members at a convention called by the party executive when there is a vacancy in the leadership. The first convention was held when Alex W. Matheson sought reelection as leader in 1961.

Allen Roach is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in the 2011 provincial election. He represented the district of Montague-Kilmuir as a member of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party until his resignation after deciding not to run in the 2019 Prince Edward Island general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2015 Prince Edward Island general election was held May 4, 2015, to elect members of the 65th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. Under amendments passed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 2008, Prince Edward Island elections are usually held on the first Monday of October in the fourth calendar year, unless it is dissolved earlier by the lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island due to a motion of no confidence, or at the request of the premier. The current government had hinted that an election would be held "before Mother's Day" 2015, and such a dissolution would avoid any conflicts with the next federal election, expected to be held in October 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade MacLauchlan</span> Canadian politician

H. Wade MacLauchlan, is a Canadian legal academic, university administrator, politician and community leader. He served as the fifth president of the University of Prince Edward Island from 1999 to 2011, becoming president emeritus in 2012. He served as the 32nd premier of Prince Edward Island from 2015 to 2019. His government was defeated in the April 23, 2019 general election. MacLauchlan announced his intention to step down as Liberal leader on 26 April 2019, and completed his term as Premier on 9 May 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2019 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 66th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The vote in 26 of the 27 districts was held on 23 April 2019, while the vote for the member from Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park was deferred to 15 July due to the death of the Green Party's candidate. However, Charlottetown-Hillsborough Park still voted in a referendum on electoral reform. Natalie Jameson won the deferred election in the district.

A non-binding referendum on electoral reform was held in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island between 27 October – 7 November 2016. This was the second electoral reform referendum to be held in Prince Edward Island, following a vote to maintain the status quo in 2005. The referendum asked which of five voting systems residents would prefer to use in electing members to the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island. The referendum involved four counts under Instant-runoff voting rules and at the end, mixed member proportional representation was the majority choice with 55.03% support on the final ballot, with support of 52.42% of votes cast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Prince Edward Island electoral reform referendum</span> Canadian provincial referendum

A referendum on electoral reform was held on April 23, 2019, in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island – simultaneously with the 2019 provincial election – to determine if the province should adopt a mixed-member proportional representation voting system (MMP). A narrow majority voted to keep the existing first-past-the-post system. However, the referendum was not binding, as neither the yes or no side received majority support in 60% or more of the province's 27 electoral districts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2023 Prince Edward Island general election</span> Canadian provincial election

The 2023 Prince Edward Island general election was held to elect the members of the 67th General Assembly of Prince Edward Island on 3 April 2023. The election normally required by 2 October under Prince Edward Island's fixed election date legislation was called early by Premier Dennis King at his nomination meeting on 6 March.

The 2022 Prince Edward Island Liberal Party leadership election took place on November 19, 2022 to elect a new leader of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party. The contest was prompted by the resignation of Wade MacLauchlan, who stepped down after the party's poor showing in the 2019 general election, where it fell to third place. On September 23, 2021, the leadership election was postponed indefinitely, but on July 11, 2022, the new date was announced. On October 7, 2022 the party announced that Sharon Cameron, having been the only candidate to enter the race by the close of nominations, would be acclaimed as leader at the convention.

Sharon Emily Cameron is a Canadian politician and former civil servant, who served as the leader of the Prince Edward Island Liberal Party from November 19, 2022 to April 6, 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ghiz, Hon. Robert W.J." Telephone Directory. Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  2. ↑ "Ghiz Page". The Family Corner Store, A P.E.I. History. Government of Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  3. ↑ "Ghiz wins Liberal leadership". CBC News. 5 April 2003. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ghiz gets to work". CBC News. 7 April 2003. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  5. ↑ "New candidate for Liberals in Morell- Mermaid". CBC News. 10 March 2007. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "Robert Ghiz wins P.E.I. election, ending 11-year run by Pat Binns". The Guardian. 28 May 2007. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Ghiz, Robert W.J.". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  8. ↑ John Doyle, "Forget royal weddings. Give me the Queen of Punk". The Globe and Mail , January 22, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Ghiz wins 2nd term as P.E.I. premier". CBC News. 3 October 2011. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "Allan Campbell new chief of staff". CBC News. 11 October 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  11. ↑ "Robert Ghiz quits as PEI premier, may run federally". Toronto Star. 13 November 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Experienced faces make up Wade MacLauchlan cabinet". CBC News. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  13. ↑ Yarr, Kevin. "Robert Ghiz takes new job in law firm". CBC Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  14. ↑ Yarr, Kevin. "Former P.E.I. premier Robert Ghiz to lead wireless industry group". CBC Prince Edward Island. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Federal Corporation Information - 092056-8 - Online Filing Centre - Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada". Corporations Canada - Corporations - Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  16. ↑ "Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association Announces Rebrand to Canadian Telecommunications Association". Canadian Telecommunications Association. 3 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.