Arthur Hanger (born February 19, 1943) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. Hanger is a former member of the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

, having represented the riding of

Calgary Northeast Calgary Northeast was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2015. It is an urban riding in the city of Calgary. History This riding was created in 1987 from Calgary ...

from 1993 until his retirement in 2008. He was elected as a member of the

Reform Party of Canada The Reform Party of Canada (french: Parti réformiste du Canada) was a right-wing populist and conservative federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 1987 to 2000. Reform was founded as a Western Canada-based protes ...

(1993–2000) and the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...

(2000–2003) before the present-day Conservatives were re-formed. Born in

Three Hills Three Hills is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It takes its name from the three somewhat-larger-than-normal hills to its north. History Three Hills post office dates from 1904. Three Hills was incorporated as a village in 1912, the year ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Hanger is a former officer of the

Calgary Police Service Calgary Police Service (CPS) is the municipal police service of the City of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is the largest municipal police service in Alberta and third largest municipal force in Canada behind the Toronto Police Service and the Mont ...

Early political career

Hanger came to the House of Commons when he won the largest plurality of votes in Calgary Northeast in the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it was one of the most eventful elections in Canada's hist ...

. He was seen as one of the more radical members of the Reform Party, with these views culminating in March 1996 when he announced that he supported corporal punishment and had booked a trip to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

to investigate its use of

caning Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or ha ...

in deterring crime. After public outcry and criticism from within the party, the trip was cancelled. Hanger was the

Official Opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''th ...

critic for Citizenship and Immigration (2001–2004), with special responsibility for Foreign Credentials (2004). He was a former Chief Official Opposition critic for

National Defence National security, or national defence, is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as p ...

(1997–2001) and Opposition critic for the Solicitor General (1995–1997). He was vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in the 38th Parliament, and vice chair of the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs in the 36th Parliament. He served as a member of various other Parliamentary committees during his career as an MP. In the summer of 2001, Hanger was the first Alliance MP to be suspended from caucus for criticizing the leadership of

Stockwell Day Stockwell Burt Day Jr. (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician who led the Canadian Alliance from 2000 to 2001, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. A provincial cabinet minister from Alberta, Day served as minister ...

. However, he did not become a member of the

Democratic Representative Caucus The Democratic Representative Caucus, also called the Democratic Representative Association, was a parliamentary group in the 37th Canadian Parliament consisting of Members of Parliament who left the Canadian Alliance in 2001 in protest against t ...

, as he accepted the September 10, 2001, reinstatement offer that was made to all the dissident MPs. On March 31, 2004, he was the only Conservative MP in the House of Commons to join with 18

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (BQ; , "Québécois people, Quebecer Voting bloc, Bloc") is a list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism and the promotion of Quebec sovereignty movement, Que ...

MPs to vote against the referral of the Older Adult Justice Act to the Standing Committee on Justice. The move was in contrast to the support the bill garnered from virtually all members of his own party, as well as the governing Liberals and the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

. Hanger provided no comment about why he voted against this law.

Chair of Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights

During the first two sessions of the 39th Parliament he served as chair of the

Standing Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

on Justice and Human Rights, and also chaired the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Hanger announced on October 10, 2007, that he would retire at the next election, which was held in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanger, Art 1943 births Living people Canadian Alliance MPs Canadian Lutherans Conservative Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta People from Kneehill County Politicians from Calgary Reform Party of Canada MPs 21st-century Canadian politicians Politicians affected by a party expulsion process