John Morris Duncan (born December 19, 1948) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. He served as a Member of the Parliament of Canada from 1993 to January 2006 and again from October 2008 until August 2015. On August 6, 2010, he was appointed to the

Canadian Cabinet The Cabinet of Canada (french: Cabinet du Canada) is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada. Chaired by the prime minister, the ...

Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency until his resignation on February 15, 2013 over his inappropriate written communication to the

Tax Court of Canada The Tax Court of Canada (TCC; french: Cour canadienne de l'impôt), established in 1983 by the '' Tax Court of Canada Act'', is a federal superior court which deals with matters involving companies or individuals and tax issues with the Governme ...

. He later returned to Cabinet as Chief Government Whip, and served in that capacity until the 2015 election, which saw both Duncan's own defeat and the defeat of the government.

Education

Born 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, ...

Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...

, and raised in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Duncan attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

and graduated with a B.Sc. F from their Faculty of Forestry in 1972. Duncan's first experience as an elected official was as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

in Ucluelet, British Columbia from 1982–83.

Entrance to politics

In the 1993 election, Duncan was elected as a member of the Reform Party. He has served in all that party's incarnations up until the 2006 federal election, when he lost his seat to Catherine J. Bell of the New Democratic Party by 630 votes. Duncan was the Conservative Party's Official Opposition Critic for Natural Resources. During that time he served on the Natural Resources Committee. He helped shape Conservative Party policy on west coast offshore oil and gas, softwood lumber trade and the pine beetle epidemic. While in parliament, he was a member of the "Restaurant Caucus" in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, a group of MPs who have interests in the restaurant industry. Duncan's Private Member's Bill C - 259 passed the 38th Parliament to receive Royal Assent to eliminate the excise tax on jewelry. Duncan made parliamentary history as the first MP to have a Private Member's bill related to cutting taxation pass. He won the Vancouver Island North Conservative Party nomination for the 2008 federal election and was elected with 45.78% of the vote. On December 2, 2008, the New Democratic Party asked the RCMP to investigate John Duncan's alleged secret recording of a private NDP conference. He had apparently received the invitation to participate by mistake, in place of NDP MP Linda Duncan who had "a similar email address". This happened within the context of the 2008–09 Canadian parliamentary dispute. On August 6, 2010, in a minor cabinet shuffle, he joined cabinet as

. Under the Harper government, several key bills with a direct effect on aboriginal communities have stalled. As a result, First Nations across Canada have embarked on a widespread and prolonged series of demonstrations under the banner of "

Idle No More Idle No More is an ongoing protest movement, founded in December 2012 by four women: three First Nations women and one non-Native ally. It is a grassroots movement among the Indigenous peoples in Canada comprising the First Nations, Métis ...

." In addition, Attawapiskat chief Theresa Spence began a fast in December 2012 to demand a meeting with Harper and a Crown representative. In response, Duncan wrote to Spence requesting she give up her hunger strike and meet with him. "I didn’t ask for Minister Duncan," Spence replied. "And I have dealt with him before. When I observe him, he doesn't have a mind of his own because, before he would answer a question, he would always look at his people. He's not the Prime Minister." On February 15, 2013, he resigned from his cabinet position as

after improperly advocating to a tax court on behalf of a constituent in June 2011, and was replaced by James Moore. He returned to cabinet in the more junior role as Minister of State and Chief Government Whip in July 2013. In the

2015 Canadian federal election The 2015 Canadian federal election held on October 19, 2015, saw the Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, win 184 seats, allowing it to form a majority government with Trudeau becoming the next prime minister. The election was held to elect ...

, Duncan sought reelection in the newly created riding of

Courtenay—Alberni Courtenay—Alberni is a federal electoral district in British Columbia. It encompasses a portion of B.C. formerly included in the electoral districts of Nanaimo—Alberni and Vancouver Island North. Courtenay—Alberni was created by the 2012 ...

, but was defeated by

Gord Johns Gord Johns (born November 29, 1969) is a Canadian businessman and politician. Since 2015, he has served as the New Democrat Member of Parliament for the federal electoral riding of Courtenay—Alberni in the House of Commons of Canada. He prev ...

of the NDP.

Electoral record

References

External links

Official site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, John 1948 births Living people Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Reform Party of Canada MPs Canadian Alliance MPs Conservative Party of Canada MPs People from Courtenay, British Columbia Politicians from Winnipeg University of British Columbia alumni Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada