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Erin Weir

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Erin Weir
Member of Parliament
for Regina—Lewvan
In office
October 19, 2015 – October 21, 2019
Preceded byRiding Established
Succeeded byWarren Steinley
Personal details
Born1982 (age 41–42)
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Political partyCCF (2018–2019)
Other political
affiliations		NDP (2004–2018)
ResidenceRegina, Saskatchewan
Alma materUniversity of Regina
ProfessionEconomist
Websitewww.erinweir.ca

Erin Weir is a Canadian politician from Saskatchewan. From 2015 until 2019, he was Member of Parliament for the riding of Regina—Lewvan. Weir initially sat as a member of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) and was appointed the party's critic for Public Services and Procurement Canada. Before entering federal politics, Weir ran in the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election and was an economist with the Canadian section of the United Steelworkers union.

Weir was expelled from the NDP caucus on May 3, 2018 after a third party investigation into three claims of sexual harassment. Following his expulsion, he changed his affiliation to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the precursor to the NDP, and became the first CCF MP since 1961.[1]

Early life and career

Weir was born in 1982 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.[2] Weir holds three university degrees: a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Regina, a Master of Arts from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Public Administration from Queen's University.[3]

In May 2012 while Weir was an economist working with the United Steelworkers and presenting in front of the Parliamentary Finance committee, he was questioned by Conservative MP Randy Hoback – who asked "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the NDP party[sic]".[4] CBC and Maclean's made comparisons to McCarthyism based on this line of questioning from Hoback.[5][6]

Political career

In 2004, Weir ran in the federal riding of Wascana against Liberal finance minister Ralph Goodale as the New Democratic Party's candidate, but was defeated.[2]

2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election

Main article: 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election

In June 2012 a group of Canadian economists sent a public letter calling on Erin Weir to enter the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election.[7] Also a group of notable New Democrats including former NDP MP Dick Proctor and former NDP premier Howard Pawley of Manitoba created a "Committee to Draft Erin Weir".[8][9]

On September 7, 2012 Weir, then aged 30, announced he was entering the race.[10] He addressed the issue of his not having a seat by saying "I would see it advantageous as having a leader that is not tied down to Regina all the time and free to tour the province." He also made the comparison to Jack Layton and the federal NDP of the time.[11] Earlier that week, he had addressed his age saying the age of the candidate should not be the focus of voters and that "Public policy is more important,".[12]

He was one of four declared candidates including MLA Cam Broten, doctor Ryan Meili, and MLA Trent Wotherspoon.

His campaign was described by the media as organized[13] and one of the main political commentators in the province said the race was "highly competitive"[14] and "The fact they could all win is probably incentive for all four to run."[15]

On February 20, 2013, Weir withdrew from the leadership race and endorsed fellow candidate Ryan Meili.[16]

Federal politics

On April 11, 2014, Weir announced that he was seeking the NDP nomination in the new federal riding of Regina—Lewvan.[17] He was nominated on June 22, 2014, defeating former 2011 Palliser federal NDP candidate Noah Evanchuk. He was elected on October 19, 2015, prevailing over Conservative candidate Trent Fraser by 132 votes according to the results validated by the Returning Officer. Fraser initially requested a recount, but the request was later withdrawn.[18]

Weir was appointed the party's critic for Public Services and Procurement Canada in November 2015. He was also appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in December 2015.[2]

After the federal government announced a pan-Canadian price on carbon, Weir called for border adjustments to that pricing, pointing out that different carbon prices between countries can result in "carbon leakage". Weir's proposal was eventually adopted by Peter Julian, during his campaign for federal NDP Leader.[19] Weir was one of the first MPs to raise the issue of problems with the new federal payroll system called Phoenix. Civilian employees at the RCMP's "Depot" Division living in his riding brought them to his attention.[20]

Harassment Allegations

In February 2018, Weir was suspended from his caucus duties by party leader Jagmeet Singh pending an independent investigation made into sexual harassment allegations made against him. Weir was expelled from the NDP caucus on May 3, 2018[21] following his public comments to the media regarding the outcome of the sexual harassment investigation, and for revealing confidential information about a complainant. The investigation found that one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment were sustained by the evidence. As an independent member, Weir asked Speaker Geoff Regan to have his affiliation switched to the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the predecessor of the modern NDP.[1] As the House of Commons does not require that a party be registered with Elections Canada for the purposes of MPs declaring affiliation, the affiliation change was accepted and Weir became the first CCF MP since 1961.[1]

In May 2018, a group of 67 former NDP MPs and MLAs from Saskatchewan sent Singh a letter in support of Weir and calling for his reinstatement as an NDP MP.[22]

On September 6, 2018, it was publicly revealed that NDP Leader Singh had rejected Weir's request to rejoin the NDP during a meeting in June, despite Weir stating that he had worked with a personal trainer to understand the issues of the complaint.[23][24]

Singh also said that Weir will not be permitted to run as an NDP candidate in the 2019 federal election. Although Weir had announced that he intended to seek the party's nomination in Regina—Lewvan,[22] he retracted that statement, citing NDP Leader Singh's continued refusal for Weir to run for the party's nomination without appeal.[25]

On May 21, 2019, Weir announced he would not run for reelection.[26]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Erin Weir 16,843 35.21 −9.97 –
Conservative Trent Fraser 16,711 34.93 −8.94 –
Liberal Louis Browne 13,143 27.47 +19.27 –
Green Tamela Friesen 839 1.75 −1 –
Libertarian Wojciech K. Dolata 298 0.62 – –
Total valid votes/Expense limit – 100.0     $196,860.23
Total rejected ballots 181 0.38 –
Turnout 48,105 – –
Eligible voters 61,879
New Democratic hold Swing −9.97
Source: Elections Canada[27][28]
2004 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Ralph Goodale 20,567 57.2 +16.0 $43,226
Conservative Doug Cryer 8,709 24.2 −11.9 $57,802
New Democratic Erin Weir 5,771 16.0 −5.5 $29,783
Green Darcy Robilliard 928 2.6
Total valid votes 35,975 100.0
Total rejected ballots 80 0.2 −0.1
Turnout 36,055 63.1 +0.9

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the Canadian Alliance vote in 2000 election.

References

  1. ^ a b c Marotta, Stefanie (May 11, 2018). "Erin Weir declares himself a member of the CCF - a party that no longer exists". CBC News. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Erin Weir". lop.parl.ca. Library of Parliament. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  3. ^ https://ourspace.uregina.ca/bitstream/handle/10294/1128/Degrees_v18no2_Fall2006.pdf
  4. ^ http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/05/31/have-you-ever-been-a-member-of-the-ndp-party/
  5. ^ McGregor, Janyce (June 1, 2012). "'McCarthyism' at Commons finance committee? - Inside Politics". CBC News. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  6. ^ Wherry, Aaron (May 31, 2012). "'Have you ever been a member of the NDP party?'". Maclean's. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  7. ^ http://www.progressive-economics.ca/2012/06/19/our-own-erin-weir-would-make-a-great-sask-ndp-leader/
  8. ^ Mandryk, Murray (June 20, 2012). "MANDRYK: Erin Weir may kick-start NDP's leadership". Regina Leader-Post. Postmedia Network. Archived from the original on 2012-06-23. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  9. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-19. Retrieved 2012-06-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ^ "Weir joins race to lead Saskatchewan NDP". CBC News. September 7, 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-12.
  11. ^ http://www.newstalk650.com/story/erin-weir-running-sask-ndp-leadership/73935
  12. ^ http://metronews.ca/news/regina/357410/sask-ndp-look-for-new-leader/
  13. ^ https://leaderpost.com/news/GORMLEY+Assessing+leaders+would+leaders/7203980/story.html
  14. ^ https://leaderpost.com/news/must+leadership+right/7190667/story.html
  15. ^ http://www.globalsaskatoon.com/saskatchewan+ndp+talks+of+rebuilding+as+it+launches+search+for+new+leader/6442708309/story.html
  16. ^ Couture, Joe (February 20, 2013). "Weir drops out of Saskatchewan NDP leadership race, endorses Meili". The StarPhoenix. Postmedia Network.
  17. ^ http://www.punditsguide.ca/tag/open-seats/
  18. ^ "Recount ended for Regina-Lewvan, NDP win stands". CBC News. 2015-10-30. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  19. ^ "Regina MP's carbon levy proposal gets support from NDP leadership candidate". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
  20. ^ https://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/local-mps-at-heart-of-phoenix-controversy
  21. ^ Tunney, Catharine (May 3, 2018). "MP Erin Weir expelled from NDP caucus after harassment investigation". CBC News. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  22. ^ a b Ballingall, Alex (September 12, 2018). "Saskatchewan MP Erin Weir to seek NDP nomination in Regina despite being kicked out of the party". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
  23. ^ "Sask. NDPers blast Singh's refusal to reinstate Erin Weir into caucus | CBC News". CBC. September 6, 2018. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  24. ^ Harris, Kathleen (September 6, 2018). "Jagmeet Singh rejects Erin Weir's bid to return to caucus | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  25. ^ https://www.erinweir.com/election2019
  26. ^ "Regina MP Erin Weir won't run again". CBC News. May 21, 2019. Retrieved May 21, 2019.
  27. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Regina—Lewvan, 30 September 2015
  28. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
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