Erin M. K. Weir (born 1982) is a Canadian politician from
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
. From 2015 until 2019, he was
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for the riding of
Regina—Lewvan. Weir initially sat as a member of the federal
New Democratic Party (NDP) but was expelled from the party's caucus on May 3, 2018 after a third party investigation sustained three claims of sexual harassment.
Before entering federal politics, Weir ran in the
2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election
An election for the leadership of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party was triggered on November 7, 2011 following Dwain Lingenfelter's resignation after losing his seat in the 2011 election. The party selected its new leader on March 9, 2013 ...
and was an economist with the Canadian section of the
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
union.
Prior to his expulsion, Weir was appointed the NDP's critic for
Public Services and Procurement Canada.
Early life and career
Weir was born in 1982 in
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...
, Saskatchewan.
Weir holds three university degrees: a Bachelor of Arts from the
University of Regina
The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...
, a Master of Arts from the
University of Calgary
The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...
, and a Master of Public Administration from
Queen's University.
In May 2012 while Weir was an economist working with the
United Steelworkers
The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headquar ...
and presenting in front of the Parliamentary Finance committee, he was questioned by Conservative MP
Randy Hoback
Randy C. Hoback (born December 19, 1967) is a Canadian politician who was elected to represent the electoral district of Prince Albert in the 2008 Canadian federal election. He is a member of the Conservative Party. He was subsequently re-ele ...
– who asked "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the NDP party
ic.
CBC and
Maclean's
''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...
made comparisons to
McCarthyism based on this line of questioning from Hoback.
Political career
In 2004, Weir ran in the federal riding of
Wascana against Liberal finance minister
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 Parliamen ...
as the
New Democratic Party's candidate, but was defeated.
2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election
In June 2012 a group of Canadian economists sent a public letter calling on Erin Weir to enter the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership election. Also a group of notable New Democrats including former NDP MP
Dick Proctor
Dick Proctor (born February 12, 1941 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian political activist, former New Democratic Party (NDP) Member of Parliament, and a former journalist.
Career Politics
Proctor has been active with the NDP in a number of ...
and former NDP premier
Howard Pawley
Howard Russell Pawley (November 21, 1934 – December 30, 2015) was a Canadian politician and professor who was the 18th premier of Manitoba from 1981 to 1988. Prior to his premiership, Pawley served in various ministerial positions after his ...
of Manitoba created a "Committee to Draft Erin Weir".
On September 7, 2012 Weir, then aged 30, announced he was entering the race. He addressed the issue of his not having a seat by saying "I would see it advantageous as having a leader that is not tied down to Regina all the time and free to tour the province." He also made the comparison to Jack Layton and the federal NDP of the time. Earlier that week, he had addressed his age saying the age of the candidate should not be the focus of voters and that "Public policy is more important,".
He was one of four declared candidates including MLA
Cam Broten
Cameron Paul Broten (born April 29, 1978) is a Canadian politician. He represented the constituency of Saskatoon Massey Place in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2016 and served as the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democrat ...
, doctor
Ryan Meili
Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2 ...
, and MLA
Trent Wotherspoon.
His campaign was described by the media as organized and one of the main political commentators in the province said the race was "highly competitive" and "The fact they could all win is probably incentive for all four to run."
On February 20, 2013, Weir withdrew from the leadership race and endorsed fellow candidate
Ryan Meili
Ryan Meili (born April 11, 1975) is a Canadian physician and politician from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He previously served as the MLA for Saskatoon Meewasin from 2017 to 2022 and as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2018 to 2 ...
.
Federal politics
On April 11, 2014, Weir announced that he was seeking the NDP nomination in the new federal riding of
Regina—Lewvan. He was nominated on June 22, 2014, defeating former
2011 Palliser federal NDP candidate Noah Evanchuk. He was elected on October 19, 2015, prevailing over Conservative candidate Trent Fraser by 132 votes according to the results validated by the
Returning Officer
In various parliamentary systems, a returning officer is responsible for overseeing elections in one or more constituencies.
Australia
In Australia a returning officer is an employee of the Australian Electoral Commission or a state electoral ...
. Fraser initially requested a recount, but the request was later withdrawn.
Weir was appointed the party's critic for
Public Services and Procurement Canada in November 2015. He was also appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates in December 2015.
After the federal government announced a pan-Canadian price on carbon, Weir called for border adjustments to that pricing, pointing out that different
carbon price
Carbon pricing (or pricing), also known as cap and trade (CAT) or emissions trading scheme (ETS), is a method for nations to reduce global warming. The cost is applied to greenhouse gas emissions in order to encourage polluters to reduce the co ...
s between countries can result in "
carbon leakage
Carbon leakage occurs when there is an increase in greenhouse gas emissions in one country as a result of an emissions reduction by a second country with a strict climate policy.
Carbon leakage may occur for a number of reasons:
* If the emissi ...
". Weir's proposal was eventually adopted by
Peter Julian
Peter S. Julian (born April 16, 1962) is a Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party (NDP), representing the riding of New Westminster—Burnaby.
Personal life
Julian was born on April 16, 1962, in New Westminster, British Col ...
, during his campaign for federal NDP Leader. Weir was one of the first MPs to raise the issue of problems with the new federal payroll system called
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
. Civilian employees at the RCMP's "Depot" Division living in his riding brought them to his attention.
Harassment allegations
In February 2018, Weir was suspended from his caucus duties by party leader
Jagmeet Singh pending an independent investigation made into allegations made against him by fellow MP
Christine Moore. Weir was expelled from the NDP caucus on May 3, 2018 following his public comments to the media regarding the outcome of the harassment investigation, with the party alleging that Weir had revealed confidential information about a complainant. Party spokespeople indicated that investigation found that one claim of harassment and three claims of sexual harassment were sustained by the evidence. Weir characterized the investigation as having found that he probably sat or stood too close to people at social events and tried to talk to them when they didn't want to talk.
As an independent member, Weir asked
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 ...
Geoff Regan
Geoffrey Paul Regan (born 22 November 1959) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 36th Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) for ...
to have his affiliation switched to the
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), the predecessor of the modern NDP.
As the House of Commons does not require that a party be registered with
Elections Canada
Elections Canada (french: Élections Canada)The agency operates and brands itself as Elections Canada, its legal title is Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (). is the non-partisan agency responsible for administering Canadian federal electio ...
for the purposes of MPs declaring affiliation, the affiliation change was accepted and Weir became the first CCF MP since 1961.
In May 2018, a group of 67 former NDP MPs and
MLAs from Saskatchewan sent Singh a letter in support of Weir and calling for his reinstatement as an NDP MP.
They criticized the federal party’s investigation as a “fishing expedition” that solicited complaints about Weir missing social cues.
On September 6, 2018, it was publicly revealed that NDP Leader Singh had rejected Weir's request to rejoin the NDP during a meeting in June, despite Weir stating that he had worked with a personal trainer to understand the issues of the complaint.
Singh also said that Weir will not be permitted to run as an NDP candidate in the
2019 federal election. Although Weir had announced that he intended to seek the party's nomination in Regina—Lewvan,
he retracted that statement, citing NDP Leader Singh's continued refusal for Weir to run for the party's nomination without appeal.
On May 21, 2019, Weir announced he would not run for reelection.
Electoral record
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Erin
Canadian economists
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan New Democratic Party politicians
Politicians from Regina, Saskatchewan
Politicians from Saskatoon
New Democratic Party MPs
1982 births
University of Regina alumni
University of Calgary alumni
Queen's University at Kingston alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians
Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons
Politicians affected by a party expulsion process