Elizabeth Jane Weir (born February 20, 1948) is a Canadian lawyer and politician in

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. She was elected leader of the

New Democratic Party of New Brunswick The New Brunswick New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique du Nouveau-Brunswick) is a social-democratic provincial political party in New Brunswick, Canada linked with the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). History Or ...

in June 1988 and became an opposition voice to the

Liberal government Liberal government may refer to: Australia In Australian politics, a Liberal government may refer to the following governments administered by the Liberal Party of Australia: * Menzies Government (1949–66), several Australian ministries under S ...

, which held all 58 seats in 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, ...

. Born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland, Weir was educated at the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario Waterloo is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is one of three cities in the Regional Municipality ...

and the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

. She has taught at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

and the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Americ ...

. Weir was first elected to the legislature in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

in the riding of

Saint John South Saint John South was a provincial electoral district in New Brunswick. It was created from the multi-member riding of Saint John Centre in the 1973 electoral redistribution, and was abolished in the 1994 electoral redistribution. Members of ...

where she defeated

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 ...

John Mooney by only 78 votes. In 1995, the riding became

Saint John Harbour Saint John Harbour is a large Harbour#Natural harbors, natural harbour on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of New Brunswick, Canada, and within the seaport city of Saint John, New Brunswick. Harbour description The harbour includes the follo ...

and she was re-elected in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

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 ...

. During that time, she was the sole New Democrat in the legislature. At the 2003 federal NDP convention at which

Jack Layton John Gilbert Layton (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on To ...

would be elected party leader, Weir sought the presidency of the federal party against re-offering incumbent

Adam Giambrone Adam Giambrone (born March 8, 1977) is a Canadian transportation consultant and retired politician who served on Toronto City Council from 2003 to 2010, representing Ward 18 Davenport. Giambrone served as the chair of the Toronto Transit Commiss ...

. Midway through the convention, Giambrone and Weir decided to seek a co-presidency. Many delegates balked, especially at the assumption that they could push through a sudden constitutional change in a party often dearly concerned with internal process. The joint ticket was withdrawn, and Weir placed second after Giambrone and ahead of a candidate from the NDP Socialist Caucus. On October 8, 2004, Weir announced that she would be stepping down from the leadership of the New Brunswick NDP but would stay on until a successor was chosen. She also pledged to run for re-election to the legislature in the next general election; however, she eventually reversed this pledge.

Allison Brewer Allison Brewer (born July 15, 1954) is a Canadian social activist and politician, and the former leader of the New Brunswick New Democratic Party. She has been particularly active in areas of lesbian and gay rights and access to abortion. She is o ...

was chosen as her successor at a September 2005 leadership convention and Weir resigned her seat from the legislature on October 13, 2005 to accept the appointment to be the first president and CEO of the new New Brunswick

crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

the

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency Efficiency New Brunswick (more formally the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency of New Brunswick) is a crown corporation in the Canadian province of New Brunswick responsible for energy efficiency grants to New Brunswickers. The first pres ...

. Weir was made a Member of the

Order of New Brunswick The Order of New Brunswick (french: Ordre du Nouveau Brunswick) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. Instituted in 2000 by Lieutenant Governor Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, on the advice of the Cabinet under Prem ...

in 2021.

References

*
Women MLAs, New Brunswick Legislative Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Elizabeth Lawyers in New Brunswick Women MLAs in New Brunswick Living people 1948 births Female Canadian political party leaders New Brunswick New Democratic Party leaders New Brunswick New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Belfast University of New Brunswick faculty University of Waterloo alumni University of Western Ontario alumni York University faculty Canadian women lawyers Members of the Order of New Brunswick 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians

See also

References