John Winston Foran (born March 13, 1952) was a

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 ...

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 ...

and retired

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

. He was a member of

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

representing the electoral district of

Miramichi Centre Miramichi Centre was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific O ...

Early life

Foran was born in Newcastle, New Brunswick, Canada. He was a member of the local

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

and of the Newcastle

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

for four terms, including service as deputy mayor and acting

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

prior to Newcastle becoming a part of the City of Miramichi. When Miramichi became a city, Foran was made the

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of the Miramichi Police Force, having previously been the

chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the b ...

for Chatham.

Political career

He served on

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

town council from 1986 to 1995. Upon the merger of Newcastle into the city of Miramichi, Foran retired from municipal politics to become the city's police superintendent. A lifelong member of the

New Brunswick Liberal Association The New Brunswick Liberal Association (french: Association libérale du Nouveau-Brunswick), more popularly known as the New Brunswick Liberal ''Party'' or Liberal Party of New Brunswick, is one of the two major provincial political parties in New ...

, it was under that party's banner that Foran was elected to the legislature in the 2003 election. Foran served in the

parliamentary opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

shadow cabinet where he was critic for

Public Safety Public security or public safety is the prevention of and protection from events that could endanger the safety and security of the public from significant danger, injury, or property damage. It is often conducted by a state government to ensur ...

. He was re-elected in the 2006 election and became Minister of Public Safety, under Premier

Shawn Graham Shawn Michael Graham (born February 22, 1968) is a Canadian politician, who served as the 31st premier of New Brunswick from 2006 to 2010. He was elected leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party in 2002 and became premier after his party captur ...

. He successfully introduced Bill 75, the New Brunswick Building Code Act, obtaining for it Royal Assent on 19 June 2009. Wayne Mercer's courtroom draw notwithstanding, it remains in force. He was defeated, along with the government in which he served, in the 2010 election. He returned to municipal politics and was elected to Miramichi city council in 2012. He sought the Liberal nomination in the expanded riding of

Miramichi Bay-Neguac Miramichi Bay-Neguac (french: Baie-de-Miramichi-Neguac) is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick, Canada. It was formerly known more simply as Miramichi Bay. The riding was created from part of the multi ...

for the 2014 election but was defeated by Lisa Harris.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foran, John 1952 births Canadian police officers Living people Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick New Brunswick Liberal Association MLAs New Brunswick municipal councillors 21st-century Canadian politicians