Floyd Laughren
Encyclopedia
Floyd Laughren is a former politician
in Ontario
, Canada
. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party
, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier
in the government of Bob Rae
.
and Protestant working-class in a francophone
region. Laughren's father, a farm labourer, was said to have been illiterate.
Laughren was educated at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and York University
. Before entering politics, he taught economics at Cambrian College
in Sudbury.
, defeating Progressive Conservative
incumbent Gaston Demers
by just under 2,000 votes in the Sudbury-area riding of Nickel Belt
. He was re-elected without difficulty in the elections of 1975
, 1977
, 1981
, 1985
, 1987
and 1990
.
Laughren was from left-wing of the party, and supported Richard Johnston
for the party's leadership in 1982. He was not initially an ally of Bob Rae
, and was also a frequent rival of fellow Northern Ontario
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Bud Wildman
for key shadow cabinet
postings.
According to journalist Thomas Walkom, Laughren was planning to retire from politics before the 1990 campaign, and only ran again because the election was called before he could coordinate his departure. The NDP won a majority government and Laughren was sworn in as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier on October 1, 1990.
As Finance Minister, Laughren was frequently criticized for presiding over a series of budget deficits (his 1991 budget proclaimed a deficit of almost ten billion dollars) without significant job creation. Laughren's defenders have noted that much of North America
was mired in a significant recession during this period, and that the outgoing Liberal
government of David Peterson
significantly under-estimated expenditure costs in 1990. It has also been noted that Laughren's budgets after 1991 were generally focused on deficit-cutting measures.
Despite his previous reputation for being on the left-wing of the party, Laughren emerged as a proponent of austerity measures and generally centrist policies during his time in government. He also became known as Bob Rae's closest ally in cabinet, notwithstanding their previous differences. Along with Rae, he supported the party's withdrawal from an earlier pledge to introduce public automobile insurance in the province in 1991. He also approved the introduction of casino
s to the province, and was a leading proponent of the Social Contract
in 1993.
As the province's first socialist Finance Minister, Laughren was nicknamed "Pink Floyd" by the right-wing Sun Media
tabloid newspapers. When Liberal Robert Nixon
retired from the legislature in 1992, Laughren became its longest-serving member.
The NDP government was defeated in the 1995 provincial election
, although Laughren was able to retain Nickel Belt with a somewhat reduced majority. In 1996, he was the only New Democratic MPP from northern Ontario to support Frances Lankin
's unsuccessful bid to replace Rae as party leader.
government of Mike Harris
to chair the Ontario Energy Board
. In the by-election
that followed Laughren's departure from the legislature, Blain Morin
retained Nickel Belt for the NDP.
Laughren now sits on the Board of Governors for Laurentian University
. In 2001, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from that institution. In 2006, he was appointed by Greater Sudbury mayor David Courtemanche
to chair an advisory committee to review and recommend improvements to city services in the five-year-old amalgamated city. Laughren offered 34 recommendations for service improvements when he presented his final report on January 10, 2007.
Laughren's wife Jeanette (née Gossen), whom he married in 1962, died on August 26, 2007.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier
Deputy Premier of Ontario
The Deputy Premier of Ontario is the representative of the Premier of Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario when the current Premier is unable to attend functions executed by the Premier...
in the government of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
.
Background
Laughren's childhood was far removed from the corridors of financial power. His hometown of Shawville was low-income and culturally isolated, rigidly anglophoneEnglish Canadian
An English Canadian is a Canadian of English ancestry; it is used primarily in contrast with French Canadian. Canada is an officially bilingual state, with English and French official language communities. Immigrant cultural groups ostensibly integrate into one or both of these communities, but...
and Protestant working-class in a francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
region. Laughren's father, a farm labourer, was said to have been illiterate.
Laughren was educated at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. Before entering politics, he taught economics at Cambrian College
Cambrian College
Cambrian College is a college of applied arts and technology in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1967, and funded by the province of Ontario, Cambrian has campuses in Sudbury, Espanola and Little Current....
in Sudbury.
Politics
Laughren was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1971Ontario general election, 1971
The Ontario general election of 1971 was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, defeating Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
incumbent Gaston Demers
Gaston Demers
Gaston Joseph Clément Demers was a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Nickel Belt in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1971...
by just under 2,000 votes in the Sudbury-area riding of Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt (provincial electoral district)
Nickel Belt is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Ontario. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The district is located in Northern Ontario and includes much of the eastern and southern parts of the District of Sudbury, as well as most of Greater...
. He was re-elected without difficulty in the elections of 1975
Ontario general election, 1975
The Ontario general election of 1975 was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, 1977
Ontario general election, 1977
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, 1981
Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, 1985
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
, 1987
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
and 1990
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
.
Laughren was from left-wing of the party, and supported Richard Johnston
Richard Johnston
Richard Frank Johnston is a retired Canadian politician, educator and administrator.-Background:Johnston was educated at Trent University and worked there as an administrator and counsellor...
for the party's leadership in 1982. He was not initially an ally of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, and was also a frequent rival of fellow Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Bud Wildman
Bud Wildman
Charles Jackson "Bud" Wildman is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament from 1975 to 1999, representing the riding of Algoma, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:He was...
for key shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
postings.
According to journalist Thomas Walkom, Laughren was planning to retire from politics before the 1990 campaign, and only ran again because the election was called before he could coordinate his departure. The NDP won a majority government and Laughren was sworn in as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier on October 1, 1990.
As Finance Minister, Laughren was frequently criticized for presiding over a series of budget deficits (his 1991 budget proclaimed a deficit of almost ten billion dollars) without significant job creation. Laughren's defenders have noted that much of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
was mired in a significant recession during this period, and that the outgoing Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
government of David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
significantly under-estimated expenditure costs in 1990. It has also been noted that Laughren's budgets after 1991 were generally focused on deficit-cutting measures.
Despite his previous reputation for being on the left-wing of the party, Laughren emerged as a proponent of austerity measures and generally centrist policies during his time in government. He also became known as Bob Rae's closest ally in cabinet, notwithstanding their previous differences. Along with Rae, he supported the party's withdrawal from an earlier pledge to introduce public automobile insurance in the province in 1991. He also approved the introduction of casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s to the province, and was a leading proponent of the Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
in 1993.
As the province's first socialist Finance Minister, Laughren was nicknamed "Pink Floyd" by the right-wing Sun Media
Sun Media
Sun Media Corporation is the owner of several widely read tabloid and broadsheet newspapers in Canada and the 49 percent owner of Sun News Network...
tabloid newspapers. When Liberal Robert Nixon
Robert Nixon
Robert Fletcher Nixon is a retired politician in the province of Ontario, Canada. The son of former Premier of Ontario Harry Nixon, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 1962 by-election following his father's death...
retired from the legislature in 1992, Laughren became its longest-serving member.
The NDP government was defeated in the 1995 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, although Laughren was able to retain Nickel Belt with a somewhat reduced majority. In 1996, he was the only New Democratic MPP from northern Ontario to support Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin
Frances Lankin, PC is a former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister. On November 30, 2010, Frances Lankin was appointed by the province to co-chair, along with Dr. Munir Sheikh, a comprehensive review of social assistance in Ontario...
's unsuccessful bid to replace Rae as party leader.
Later life
He retired in 1998, accepting an appointment from the Progressive ConservativeProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
government of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
to chair the Ontario Energy Board
Ontario Energy Board
The Ontario Energy Board regulates natural gas and electricity utilities in the province of Ontario, Canada. This includes setting rates, and licensing all participants in the electricity sector including the Independent Electricity System Operator , generators, transmitters, distributors,...
. In the by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
that followed Laughren's departure from the legislature, Blain Morin
Blain Morin
Blain Kevin Morin is a Canadian politician and labour union organizer, who represented the Sudbury, Ontario riding of Nickel Belt from 1998 to 1999 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He was a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party....
retained Nickel Belt for the NDP.
Laughren now sits on the Board of Governors for Laurentian University
Laurentian University
Laurentian University , was incorporated on March 28, 1960, is a mid-sized bilingual university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada....
. In 2001, he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from that institution. In 2006, he was appointed by Greater Sudbury mayor David Courtemanche
David Courtemanche
David Courtemanche is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the former mayor of Greater Sudbury, having served one term from 2003 to 2006.-Background:...
to chair an advisory committee to review and recommend improvements to city services in the five-year-old amalgamated city. Laughren offered 34 recommendations for service improvements when he presented his final report on January 10, 2007.
Laughren's wife Jeanette (née Gossen), whom he married in 1962, died on August 26, 2007.