- Floyd Laughren
Infobox_Politician
name = Floyd Laughren
small
caption =
birth_date =October 3 ,1935
birth_place = Shawville,Quebec
residence = Sudbury,Ontario
office = MPP for Nickel Belt
term_start = 1971
term_end = 1998
predecessor =Gaston Demers
successor =Blain Morin
party = New Democratic Party
religion =
occupation = economist, college professorFloyd Laughren (born
October 3 ,1935 in Shawville,Quebec ) is a formerpolitician inOntario ,Canada . He sat in theLegislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of theOntario New Democratic Party , and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government ofBob Rae .Laughren's childhood was far removed from the corridors of financial power. His hometown of Shawville was low-income and culturally isolated, rigidly
anglophone andProtestant working-class in afrancophone region. Laughren's father, a farm labourer, was said to have been illiterate.Laughren was educated at
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute andYork University . Before entering politics, he taught Economics atCambrian College in Sudbury.Laughren was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1971, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent
Gaston Demers by just under 2,000 votes in the Sudbury-area riding of Nickel Belt. He was re-elected without difficulty in the elections of 1975, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1990.Laughren was from left-wing of the party, and supported
Richard Johnston for the party's leadership in 1982. He was not initially an ally ofBob Rae , and was also a frequent rival of fellowNorthern Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP)Bud Wildman for keyshadow cabinet postings.According to journalist
Thomas Walkom , Laughren was planning to retire from politics before the 1990 campaign, and only ran again because the election was called before he could coordinate his departure. The NDP unexpectedly won a majority government, and Laughren was sworn in as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier onOctober 1 , 1990.As Finance Minister, Laughren was frequently criticized for presiding over a series of budget deficits (his 1991 budget proclaimed a deficit of almost ten billion dollars) without significant job creation. Laughren's defenders have noted that much of
North America was mired in a significant recession during this period, and that the outgoing Liberal government ofDavid Peterson significantly under-estimated expenditure costs in 1990. It has also been noted that Laughren's budgets after 1991 were generally focused on deficit-cutting measures.Despite his previous reputation for being on the left-wing of the party, Laughren emerged as a proponent of austerity measures and generally centrist policies during his time in government. He also became known as Bob Rae's closest ally in cabinet, notwithstanding their previous differences. Along with Rae, he supported the party's withdrawal from an earlier pledge to introduce public automobile insurance in the province in 1991. He also approved the introduction of
casino s to the province, and was a leading proponent of the Social Contract in 1993.As the province's first socialist Finance Minister, Laughren was nicknamed "Pink Floyd" by the right-wing
Sun Media tabloid newspapers. When LiberalRobert Nixon retired from the legislature in 1992, Laughren became its longest-serving member.The NDP government was defeated in the 1995 provincial election, although Laughren was able to retain Nickel Belt with a somewhat reduced majority. In 1996, he was the only New Democratic MPP from northern Ontario to support
Frances Lankin 's unsuccessful bid to replace Rae as party leader.He retired in 1998, accepting an appointment from the Progressive Conservative government of
Mike Harris to chair theOntario Energy Board . In thebyelection that followed Laughren's departure from the legislature,Blain Morin retained Nickel Belt for the NDP.Laughren now sits on the Board of Governors for
Laurentian University . In 2001, he received an honoraryDoctor of Laws degree from that institution. In 2006, he was appointed byGreater Sudbury mayorDavid Courtemanche to chair an advisory committee to review and recommend improvements to city services in the five-year-old amalgamated city. Laughren offered 34 recommendations for service improvements when he presented his final report onJanuary 10 ,2007 .Laughren's wife Jeanette (née Gossen), whom he married in 1962, passed away on August 26, 2007. [ [http://www.northernlife.ca/News/LocalNews/2007/08-28-07-laughren.asp?NLStory=08-28-07-laughren "Wife of politician supported causes with steely determination"] , "Northern Life",
August 28 ,2007 .]References
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