George Baker (Canadian politician)

The Honourable
George S. Baker
PC
The Honourable George S. Baker PC
Senator from Newfoundland and Labrador
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; March 26, 2002
Nominated by	Jean Chrétien
Appointed by	Adrienne Clarkson
Preceded by	Raymond Squires
Member of Parliament for Gander—Grand Falls
	In office; 1988–2002
Succeeded by	Rex Barnes
Minister of Veterans Affairs
	In office; 1999–2000
Preceded by	Fred Mifflin
Succeeded by	Ron Duhamel
Member of Parliament for Gander—Twillingate
	In office; 1974–1988
Preceded by	John Lundrigane
Succeeded by	First Member
Personal details
Born	small; September 4, 1942 (age 81); Newfoundland and Labrador
Died	small
Resting place	small
Political party	Liberal (until 2014); Independent Liberal; (2014-present)
Children	Annelle Baker, Averill Baker, Eli Baker, Joscelyn Baker, Michael Baker, and granddaughter Annelle.
Parent	small;
Occupation	Canadian Senator

For the Indian actor and politician, see George Baker (Indian Politician).

George S. Baker, PC (born September 4, 1942) is a Canadian politician and member of the Senate of Canada.

Baker was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1974 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Gander—Twillingate, in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was re-elected in every subsequent election (representing Gander—Grand Falls after 1988) until his appointment to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in 2002.

Although a popular and articulate MP, he was hurt by the tradition of appointing no more than one Canadian Cabinet minister from Newfoundland at a time, and by his reputation as a maverick who said what he thought rather than what the party leadership would like him to say. Fred Mifflin's and Brian Tobin's appointments to cabinet following the 1993 election meant Baker had to remain on the backbench. Tobin's resignation from the cabinet to become Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador opened the way for Baker to be appointed as Minister of Veterans Affairs. But when Prime Minister Chrétien lured Tobin back to Ottawa for the 2000 election, Baker was removed from Cabinet. He was appointed to the Senate in 2002.

On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Baker, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.^[1] According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators refer to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus even though they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.^[2]

Bloc Newfoundland controversy

In March 2009, as a Liberal Senator for Newfoundland and Labrador, he was the first among Newfoundland's federal parliamentarians to overtly call for the foundation of a new sovereigntist party, based on the Bloc Québécois, largely in response to the $1.7 billion cuts in equalization payments that represented no less than 20% of the province's budget, due to a change of how natural resources are factored in the calculation of equalization transfers.

This prompted a rebuke from the Prime Minister's office and political commentators in Toronto and Ottawa. Some Conservative MPs demanded that Michael Ignatieff kick him out of the Liberal caucus, that he refused to do. However, this action caused little outcry in his home province.

References

^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-removes-senators-from-liberal-caucus-1.2515273
^ "Trudeau's expulsion catches Liberal senators by surprise". Globe and Mail. January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

External links

[1] ttp://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-removes-senators-from-liberal-caucus-1.2515273

[expuls-2] "Trudeau's expulsion catches Liberal senators by surprise". Globe and Mail. January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

[1]

[2]

v t e Current members of the Senate of Canada
Presiding officers: Speaker: Raymonde Gagné Speaker pro tempore: Pierrette Ringuette
AB	■ LaBoucane-Benson ■ Simons ■ Sorensen ■ Tannas 2 vacancies
BC	■ Busson ■ Greenwood ■ Jaffer ■ Martin ■ Woo 1 vacancy
MB	■ Gagné ■ McCallum ■ McPhedran ■ Osler ■ Plett 1 vacancy
NB	■ Cormier ■ Hartling ■ Kingston ■ McNair ■ Poirier ■ Quinn ■ Richards ■ Ringuette ■ Ross 1 vacancy
NL	■ Manning ■ Marshall ■ Petten ■ Ravalia ■ Wells ■ White
NS	■ Aucoin ■ Bernard ■ Cordy ■ Coyle ■ Cuzner ■ C. Deacon ■ Greene ■ Kutcher ■ MacDonald ■ Prosper
ON	■ Al Zaibak ■ Ataullahjan ■ Black ■ Boehm ■ Boniface ■ Boyer ■ Burey ■ Cardozo ■ Clement ■ Dasko ■ M. Deacon ■ Dean ■ Harder ■ Lankin ■ McBean ■ Moncion ■ Moodie ■ Oh ■ Omidvar ■ Pate ■ R. Patterson ■ Senior ■ Varone ■ Yussuff
PE	■ Downe ■ Francis ■ MacAdam ■ Robinson
QC	■ Audette ■ Bellemare ■ Brazeau ■ Carignan ■ Dagenais ■ Dalphond ■ Forest ■ Galvez ■ Gerba ■ Gignac ■ Gold ■ Housakos ■ Loffreda ■ Massicotte ■ Mégie ■ Miville-Dechêne ■ Oudar ■ Petitclerc ■ Saint-Germain ■Seidman ■ Smith ■ Verner 2 vacancies
SK	■ Arnot ■ Batters ■ Cotter ■ Klyne ■ Wallin 1 vacancy
Territories	NT ■ Anderson NU 1 vacancy YT ■ Duncan
■ Independent Senators Group (40) ■ Canadian Senators Group (17) ■ Progressive Senate Group (14) ■ Conservative (13) ■ Non-affiliated (12) vacant (9)

v t e Ministers of Veterans Affairs
Ministers of Soldiers' Civil Re-establishment (1918–28)	Lougheed Manion Béland Elliott Manion (acting) Morand (acting) Paquet King
Ministers of Pensions and National Health (1928–44)	King Ralston McLaren Sutherland Power Mackenzie
Ministers of Veterans Affairs (1944–present)	Mackenzie Gregg Lapointe Brooks Churchill Lambert Teillet Dubé Laing MacDonald McKinnon MacDonald Lamontagne (acting) Campbell Hees Merrithew Campbell McCreath Collenette Young Mifflin Baker Duhamel Pagtakhan McCallum Guarnieri Thompson Blackburn Blaney Fantino O'Toole Hehr O'Regan Wilson-Raybould Sajjan (acting) MacAulay Taylor