- Brian Coburn
Brian Coburn (born in Cumberland,
Ontario ) is apolitician in Ontario,Canada . He sat in theLegislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2003, representing the riding ofCarleton--Gloucester (renamed asOttawa--Orléans ) for the Progressive Conservative Party. Coburn was acabinet minister in the government ofMike Harris andErnie Eves .Coburn was educated at
Brock University in St. Catharines. A small businessman, he served for ten years as theMayor of Cumberland. Coburn also served on the Board of Governors forAlgonquin College in Ottawa. As mayor, he earned a reputation for fiscal prudence.Coburn was elected for Carleton--Gloucester in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal
Rene Danis by over 6,000 votes. This was considered a major upset. The riding had been solidly Liberal for many years, and most observers thought Danis would win an easy victory. Coburn's win may be attributed to personal popularity and a local issue: many residents saw construction workers fromQuebec as a threat to local employment, and voted Tory to protest the situation.After sitting as a backbencher for two years, Coburn was appointed to the government of Mike Harris as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on
February 8 ,2001 .In 2002, Coburn endorsed Ernie Eves to succeed Mike Harris as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. When Eves became
Premier onApril 15 ,2002 , he named Coburn Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing with responsibility for Rural Affairs. OnFebruary 25 ,2003 , Coburn was moved to the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation.Coburn carried the banner of an increasingly unpopular party into the 2003 provincial election. The presence of Quebec workers was no longer an issue, and many local residents were angered by increased energy rates under the Harris and Eves governments. Despite gaining endorsements from several local newspapers, Coburn lost to Liberal
Phil McNeely , another municipal politician, by about 4,500 votes.In 2004, he endorsed
Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario PC Party.Judge Coburn was appointed as a Citizenship Judge for Ottawa, Ontario in October 2006.
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