Rod Bruinooge

Infobox CanadianMP | name=Rod E. Bruinooge


term_start=2006 election
term_end=
predecessor= Reg Alcock
birth_date=birth date and age|1973|05|06
birth_place=Thompson, Manitoba
death_date=
death_place=
profession= Entrepreneur, executive director, film producer
party=Conservative
party colour=CPC
residence=Winnipeg, Manitoba
riding=Winnipeg South
footnotes=
term_start2=
term_end2=
spouse=Chantale Bruinooge
successor2=|

Rod E. Bruinooge (born May 6, 1973) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and filmmaker. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Winnipeg South in the 2006 federal election, and is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. Bruinooge is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and is an Aboriginal Canadian of Métis descent.

Early life and career

Bruinooge was born in Thompson, Manitoba, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Manitoba. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2004/riding/226/ Canada Votes 2004, "Canadian Broadcasting Corporation", Winnipeg South riding profile] ] He attended the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's 1993 leadership convention as a youth delegate, supporting Kim Campbell. [John Douglas, "Campbell slips in Manitoba", "Winnipeg Free Press", 13 June 1993, Canadian Wire Stories. His name is erroneously listed as "Ron Bruinooge".] Bruinooge became chief executive and president of Abject Modernity Internet Creations Ltd. in the late 1990s, and worked as a consultant. [Simon Avery, "Canada's video gamers take 'mature' tack", "National Post", 13 May 1999, C01/front.]

Bruinooge has served as a director of the River View Health Centre and the Manitoba Children's Museum, and has done organizational work for the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film and Video Festival and the North American Indigenous Games.

"The Stone"

Bruinooge developed an internet game/mystery entitled "The Stone" in 1995, and launched it as a consumer product in 1997. The game was strongly influenced by the Publius Enigma, a conceptual mystery involving hidden messages in the cover art of Pink Floyd's "The Division Bell" (1994). "The Stone" was profiled by "Forbes Magazine" in 1999, and has been featured in other international journals.

In September 2004, Bruinooge and co-director Scott Jaworski released a film entitled "Stoners", [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432097/ IMDB Entry: Stoners] ] covering the activities of an internet gaming community that emerged around "The Stone". ["The Stone", website [http://www.thestone.com/] ] The film features several tracks from "The Division Bell" in its soundtrack, used with Pink Floyd's permission. ["Creator of online game", "Winnipeg Free Press", 21 September 2004, D4.]

Bruinooge started the Winnipeg International Film Festival in 2005, and was its executive director until February 2006. [ [http://www.winnipegfilmfest.com Winnipeg International Film Festival website, 2005 listing.] ] The festival including a screening of "Stoners" during its first year. Some in Winnipeg's arts community believed it was inappropriate for Bruinooge to screen his own film, particularly when other directors were required to pay a submission fee. [ [http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/06/10/Arts/WinnipegFilm_050610.html Winnipeg Film Fest fuss] , Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 June 2005, 11:37 report, accessed 15 June 2008.]

Politician

;Candidate

Bruinooge was a frequent candidate for public office before his election in 2006. He first sought the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination for Riel in 2002, but withdrew when it became clear that the nomination date would be in flux for some time. [Mia Rabson, "Tories look for answers in membership dispute", "Winnipeg Free Press", 2 November 2002, A6.]

He later campaigned as the Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South in the 2004 federal election. One of his more creative campaign advertisements was a self-directed, fifteen-second promotional film entitled "Big Tobacco", which compared Paul Martin's efforts at government renewal to misleading tobacco advertising. The spot ran as a preview for Shrek 2 in some Winnipeg theatres. [Frank Landry, "Campaign trailers", "Winnipeg Sun", 26 May 2004.]

Bruinooge was one of only three aboriginal candidates to run for the Conservative Party in the 2004 election. The Conservative Party has sometimes been depicted as hostile to aboriginal interests, and at one point in the campaign Bruinooge and party leader Stephen Harper were the targets of a protest by aboriginal activists, including David Chartrand of the Manitoba Métis Federation. [Len Kruzenga, "Listen to natives, not just their leaders", "National Post", 15 July 2004, A18.] Bruinooge finished second in the election against Liberal incumbent Reg Alcock.

Bruinooge sought the Conservative nomination for Winnipeg South for a second time in the spring of 2005, but lost to rival candidate Hugh McFadyen by a narrow margin. [Bill Redekop, "Tory stronghold claimed by mayor's former aide", "Winnipeg Free Press", 19 October 2005, B3.] A few months later, he was defeated by McFadyen a second time in a contest for the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Fort Whyte. [ [http://winnipeg.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=mb_fort-whyte-20051019 "McFadyen to represent Tories in Fort Whyte", CBC Manitoba, 19 October 2005, 07:55 report.] ] Once again, McFadyen won by a very narrow margin.

McFadyen resigned his federal nomination when he chose to run provincially, and Bruinooge was chosen as the Conservative candidate in his place. His candidacy was endorsed on January 18, 2006 by Vote Marriage Canada, a group which opposes same-sex marriage. ["Vote Marriage Canada announces fifty pro-marriage candidates in the Prairie Provinces and the N.W.T." (official press release), "Canada NewsWire", 08:40 report, 18 January 2006.] Although Bruinooge is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, that organization endorsed Reg Alcock. [Leah Janzen, "Alcock the target for years", "Winnipeg Free Press", 25 January 2005, A12.]

Bruinooge defeated Alcock by 111 votes on election day, in what most political observers described as a significant upset. Bruinooge was aided by a national trend toward his party, as well as by Alcock's decision to spend most of his time canvassing with Liberal candidates in other ridings. [Daniel Lett, "Winnipeg South/Reg Alcock", "Winnipeg Free Press", 24 January 2006, B7.]

;Member of Parliament

The Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 election. In early February 2006, Bruinooge was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. He was the only Aboriginal member of the Government benches until Rob Clarke was elected on the St Patrick's Day Byelections of 2008. In January 2007, he represented his government in signing a deal with Siemens that was designed to increase aboriginal employment. ["Canada's new government signs agreement with Siemens to increase Aboriginal employment and economic opportunities" [Government press release] , "Canada NewsWire", 24 January 2007, 12:05 report.]

At the Assembly of First Nations General Assembly in Nova Scotia in July 2007, Bruinooge described the Paul Martin government's Kelowna Accord on aboriginal investment as nothing more than an "expensive press release". This statement was strongly criticized by Assembly of First Nations leader Phil Fontaine. ["Tory comments on Kelowna anger First Nations leaders", "Kitchener-Waterloo Record", 13 July 2007, D10.] In the same month, Bruinooge vocally supported the Harper government's efforts to place Canada's Indian Act under the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some native groups have argued that the Human Rights Act's focus on individual rights will undermine the communal rights of aboriginal communities. [Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition parties team up to block Native bill", "National Post", 26 July 2007, A4; Meagan Fitzpatrick And Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition MPs delay Tory plan for native rights", "National Post", 27 July 2007, A4.]

In January 2008, Bruinooge said that the Harper government was considering adapting provincial funding models in British Columbia and Alberta to address education and child-welfare programs in Manitoba. [Mia Rabson, "MP offers options for children on welfare", "Winnipeg Free Press", 19 January 2008, A9.]

Table of offices held

External links

*
* [http://www.bruinooge.ca Official website]
* [http://www.thestone.com The Stone - Official website]

Electoral record

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

Footnotes

Some biographical information is taken from Bruinooge's official website.