Denis Rocan (born February 14, 1949) is a politician in

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 ...

, Canada. He was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba (french: Assemblée législative du Manitoba) is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at provincial gener ...

from 1986 to 2007, and served as speaker of the assembly from 1988 to 1995. Rocan was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, but became an independent in 2007.

Life

Rocan was born to a

French-Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...

family in

Somerset, Manitoba Somerset is an unincorporated community recognized as a local urban district in the Municipality of Lorne within the Canadian province of Manitoba that held village status prior to January 1, 2015. Somerset has a clinic, gas station, restaurant ...

and was raised in north-end Winnipeg. He is also

métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which derives ...

by background and a direct descendant of

Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière (25 December 1778 in Trois-Rivières, Quebec – 7 September 1855 in Saint-Boniface, Manitoba) was a French-Canadian trapper employed in the fur trade by the Hudson's Bay Company in Rupert's Land. Lagimodière ...

and

Marie-Anne Gaboury Marie-Anne Lagimodière (née Gaboury; 15 August 1780 – 14 December 1875) was a French-Canadian woman noted as both the grandmother of Louis Riel, and as the first woman of European descent to travel to and settle in what is now Western Canada ...

. He was educated at Sacré-Coeur in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Somerset Collegiate and Otterburne College. He is fluently bilingual in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and French. Rocan worked as a farmer before entering political life, and also operated a building and moving company and a grain business. He is a

Shriner Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

and a

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, as well as a member of the

Royal Canadian Legion The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization (veterans' organization) founded in 1925. Membership includes people who have served as military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, Royal ...

. He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election, winning the rural, southern constituency of Turtle Mountain. Rural seats in southern Manitoba are generally considered safe for the Progressive Conservative party, and Rocan was elected by more than 2,000 votes over his nearest opponent. 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 ...

won the election, and Rocan served as a member of the opposition. Rocan was re-elected over

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate Ross McMillan in the 1988 election, though his majority was cut to about 600 votes. The Progressive Conservatives emerged from this election with a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

, and Rocan was appointed as

speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

of the assembly by

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of governm ...

Gary Filmon Gary Albert Filmon (born August 24, 1942) is Canadian politician from Manitoba. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the 19th premier of Manitoba from 1988 to 1999. Political care ...

on July 21, 1988. He was the first Franco-Manitoban to serve as speaker for the provincial assembly. Support for the Liberal Party declined in the 1990 provincial election, and Rocan was easily re-elected in the redistributed constituency of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

. He won the constituency a second time in the 1995 election, but was not re-appointed as speaker and served for the next four years as a backbench supporter of Filmon's government. Rocan was respected by all parties in the legislature, and his tenure as speaker was free of the controversies over partisanship which plagued his successor, Louise Dacquay. Further redistribution brought Rocan into the riding of

Carman In Celtic mythology, Carman or Carmun was a warrior and sorceress from Athens who tried to invade Ireland in the days of the Tuatha Dé Danann, along with her three sons, Dub ("black"), Dother ("evil") and Dian ("violence"). She used her magica ...

for the 1999 provincial election. He was easily returned, and was re-elected again in the 2003 election. The Progressive Conservatives lost both elections to the New Democratic Party, and Rocan served as a member of the opposition. A former smoker, he supported premier

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's ambassador to the United States from 19 October 2009, to 3 March 2016. Doer previously served as the 20th p ...

's efforts to ban public smoking in 2003. Rocan supported his friend

Reg Alcock Reginald B. Alcock, (April 16, 1948 – October 14, 2011) was a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Winnipeg South in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2006 and was a cabinet minister in the government of Prime Minister Pa ...

in the federal elections of

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, despite the fact that Alcock is a

. On November 16, 2006, Rocan lost the Carman Conservative nomination to

Blaine Pedersen Blaine Pedersen is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2007 provincial election for the electoral division of Carman. Pederson is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. Pede ...

. On April 18, 2007, Rocan was removed from the Conservative caucus for supporting the NDP budget, which his party opposed. He considered running as an independent candidate in the 2007 election, but declined. Rocan later bought a small house in Arizona for the winter, becoming a long-haul trucker.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocan, Denis 1949 births Living people First Nations politicians Franco-Manitoban people Métis politicians Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba MLAs People from Pembina Valley Region, Manitoba 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian Métis people