William Martin Sveinson (July 7, 1946 – December 17, 2020) was 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 ...

professional poker player and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Sveinson served as a

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. He was first elected under the

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and represented the riding of

Regina North West Regina North West was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. It was located in Regina. The riding was created prior to the 1967 election out of parts of Regina North and Regina West. It was ab ...

. Sveinson crossed the floor in 1983 and was, for a time, the only

(MLA) for the

Saskatchewan Liberal Party The Saskatchewan Liberal Party is a liberal political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was the provincial affiliate of the Liberal Party of Canada until 2009. It was previously one of the two largest parties in the provin ...

, but he was ousted from the party in 1985 as a result of apparent disagreements between Sveinson and

Ralph Goodale Ralph Edward Goodale (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021. Goodale was first elected in 1974 as the member of Parliame ...

(then leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal party) over legislative questioning tactics. Oral questions during question period were a tactic used by opposition members to question the government. An oversight allowed Sveinson to continue with his oral questioning preventing an orderly closure to question period thus stopping the business of the house. The rules allowed question period to continue indefinitely. The purpose was to force the government to settle with constituents who had financial promises from the provincial government unfulfilled. Sveinson continued to sit as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

MLA until he joined the

Western Canada Concept Party of Saskatchewan The Western Canada Concept Party of Saskatchewan was a provincial political party that was the Saskatchewan, Canada branch of the Western Canada Concept, a federal political party that advocated the separation of the four western provinces of Cana ...

in 1986. The WCC had no members in the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

at that time. The WCC advocated the separation from Canada of the four western provinces (

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

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 ...

and

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

). He subsequently convinced Progressive Conservative MLA,

Lloyd Hampton Lloyd Edward Hampton (June 18, 1941 – 2011) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 1982 to 1985, as a Progressive Conservative member for the constituency of Canora. He was briefly affiliated ...

to join him in Opposition. This gave the WCC two seats in the legislature, enough to receive official party standing, and therefore a research budget paid for by the Legislature. Official party status gave the two members research funding to provide effective opposition. Subsequently, the rules were changed to prevent future use of this tactic. The WCC was split over whether to accept the two new members: the party leader supported accepting them, while the party president was opposed. After a few months, Sveinson and Hampton were expelled from the party. His political tenure ended with the 1986 provincial election. Sveinson died on December 17, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sveinson, Bill Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan MLAs Canadian people of Icelandic descent 1946 births 2020 deaths Western Canada Concept politicians Western Canadian separatists