Thomas "Tom" Gerald Rideout (born June 25, 1948) is a former Canadian politician who served as the fourth premier of Newfoundland from March 22, 1989 to May 5, 1989.

Life and career

Born in Fleur de Lys,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Rideout was first elected to the provincial

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

in the 1975 general election as a Liberal but left the party in 1980 to join the Progressive Conservative government of

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 ...

Brian Peckford Alfred Brian Peckford (born August 27, 1942) is a Canadian politician who served as the third premier of Newfoundland from March 26, 1979 to March 22, 1989. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Peckford was first elected as the ...

in its fight with

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

for control of offshore mineral resources. Rideout became minister of culture, recreation and youth in 1984 and became minister of

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

in 1985. With Peckford's retirement from politics in 1989, Rideout was chosen Tory party leader and thus became premier of Newfoundland. One month later at the 1989 provincial election, the Progressive Conservatives narrowly won a higher percentage of votes than the Liberal Party led by Clyde Wells, but the Liberals won the most seats and Wells replaced Rideout as Premier. Rideout remained

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

until October 1991 when he left politics for a federal appointment as a member of the

Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

. Rideout attempted a political comeback in the 1993 federal election, running as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Gander—Grand Falls, but was defeated by Liberal incumbent George Baker. In 1997, he obtained his law degree from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

, and was called to the Newfoundland bar in 1998. In 1999, he re-entered public life, and was elected as a Progressive Conservative Member of the House of Assembly for the district of

Lewisporte Lewisporte is a town in central Newfoundland, Canada, with a population of 3,288. It is situated in Burnt Bay which opens on to the Bay of Exploits. Lewisporte has a deep water port and related facilities that serve many communities in the re ...

. He was 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 ...

, when the PC Party formed the government. He was appointed Minister Responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and Minister of Works, Services & Transportation (the name of which was later changed to Transportation and Works). In addition to these portfolios, Rideout served as acting Minister of Health and Community Services from September 27 to October 1, 2004. On November 8, 2005, Rideout was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Deputy Premier. In the 2007 general election he switched districts and ran in Baie Verte-Springdale, the district he had represented in the House of Assembly from 1975 until 1991. On May 21, 2008, Rideout tendered his resignation as Deputy Premier, Government House Leader and Minister of Fisheries in the provincial government, in a dispute with the Premier's Office over road funding in his electoral district of Baie Verte-Springdale. On June 30, 2008, Rideout resigned from politics altogether, tendering his resignation as a Member of the House of Assembly. In 2017, Rideout endorsed

Ches Crosbie Chesley Furneaux "Ches" Crosbie, Q.C. (born 12 June 1953) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician. Crosbie was elected leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador on April 28, 2018 serving until March 31, 2021. ...

in the 2018 provincial PC leadership race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rideout, Thomas 1948 births Living people Deputy premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada Premiers of Newfoundland and Labrador Lawyers in Newfoundland and Labrador Leaders of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador Members of the Executive Council of Newfoundland and Labrador People from Newfoundland (island) Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs 20th-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian politicians