David Nathan Alward (born December 2, 1959) is a Canadian

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 ...

, who served as the 32nd

premier of New Brunswick The premier of New Brunswick ( French (masculine): ''premier ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick'', or feminine: ''première ministre du Nouveau-Brunswick'') is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The ...

, 2010 to 2014. Alward has been a member of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an deliberative assembly, assembly with the authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country or city. They are often contrasted with the Executive (government), executive and Judiciary, ...

since 1999 and has been the leader of the

Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick The Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick is a centre-right, conservative political party in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The party has its origins in the pre-Canadian confederation Conservative Party that opposed the granti ...

. His party was defeated on September 22, 2014, and Alward resigned as

leader on September 23, 2014. On April 24, 2015, Alward was named Canadian consul general in Boston.

Early life

Alward was born in

Beverly, Massachusetts Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, and a suburb of Boston. The population was 42,670 at the time of the 2020 United States Census. A resort, residential, and manufacturing community on the Massachusetts North Shore, Beverly incl ...

. The son of a minister, Alward moved to

Atlantic Canada Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (french: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundlan ...

in his youth where he graduated from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

Nackawic, New Brunswick Nackawic is an unincorporated community in New Brunswick, Canada. It held town status prior to 2023. It is approximately 65 km west of the city of Fredericton on the east bank of the Saint John River. Nackawic, from the Malecite Nelgwaweege ...

. Alward received his

post-secondary education Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

in the United States at

Bryan College Bryan College is a private Christian college in Dayton, Tennessee. It was founded in the aftermath of the 1925 Scopes Trial to establish an institution of higher education that would teach from a Christian worldview. History During the Sco ...

Dayton, Tennessee Dayton is a city and county seat in Rhea County, Tennessee, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 7,065. The Dayton Urban Cluster, which includes developed areas adjacent to the city and extends south to Graysville. Da ...

Career

Alward worked as a

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

from 1982 to 1996 when he went into business on his own. He operates a hobby

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

where he raises purebred

Hereford cattle The Hereford is a British breed of beef cattle originally from Herefordshire in the West Midlands of England. It has spread to many countries – there are more than five million purebred Hereford cattle in over fifty nations worldwide. The bre ...

. He also volunteered as an

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics are ...

and lab instructor with the St. John Ambulance and as a firefighter with the

Meductic Meductic is a small village located along the Saint John River in southern New Brunswick, approximately 33 kilometres southeast of Woodstock. Meductic's mayor is Lance Royden Graham. History During the Expulsion of the Acadians, the village wa ...

Fire Department. He served on the board of directors of the Carleton Regional Development Commission and the New Brunswick Hereford Association. He served on the Centennial Elementary School Parent Advisory Committee, the School District 12 Stay-in-School Committee, and the local agricultural employment board. Alward is an active member of his Meductic Church, and a member of the Woodstock

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...

Political career

He was elected to the

, as a Progressive Conservative for the riding of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, in the 1999 election and re-elected in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. Following the 2003 election, he joined the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Aquaculture. On June 19, 2008, Alward became the first candidate in the 2008 Progressive Conservative leadership race. On October 18, 2008, he was elected leader of the party at the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick leadership convention in Fredericton. Alward beat his only opponent, Robert MacLeod, by a margin of 2,269 votes to 1,760.

Premier of New Brunswick

On September 27, 2010, Alward's Progressive Conservatives won 42 of 55 seats to form a majority government. He was sworn in as the premier on October 12, 2010. On May 13, 2011, his government passed the Ownership of Minerals Act. On December 3, 2012, he and Local Government Minister

Bruce Fitch Ralph Bruce Fitch is a Canadian politician, He represents Riverview in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick. Early life Born in Moncton, New Brunswick, he is the son of Dr. Ralph Fitch. In 1980, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degr ...

announced a cut in property taxes for businesses, farms, rental properties and cottages. On March 12, 2014, he and Natural Resources Minister

Paul Robichaud Paul Robichaud (born May 6, 1964 in Tracadie, New Brunswick) is a politician in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. He studied at the Shippagan, New Brunswick campus of the University of Moncton. A member of the Progressive Conservative Par ...

unveiled a new forest management plan, entitled "Putting our Resources to Work: A Strategy for Crown Lands Forest Management". This plan increased the annual allowable cut by 20%, and was endorsed by mill owner

Jim Irving Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James (given name), James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy (given name), Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * Jim (comics), ...

. Alward was defeated in the 2014 New Brunswick general election and announced his resignation as party leader on September 23, 2014. He resigned from the legislature on May 22, 2015, after accepting a federal appointment as Canada's

Consul General A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and renounced U.S. citizenship to take up the position.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alward, David 1959 births Living people American emigrants to Canada Canadian Baptists Naturalized citizens of Canada Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick Canadian people of English descent Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick People from Beverly, Massachusetts Premiers of New Brunswick Bryan College alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians