Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) was the 13th

premier of Saskatchewan The premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The current premier of Saskatchewan is Scott Moe, who was sworn in as premier on February 2, 2018, after winning the 2018 Saskatc ...

, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s. The p ...

from 2001 to June 6, 2009, when he was succeeded by Dwain Lingenfelter.

Early life and career

Calvert was born in

Moose Jaw Moose Jaw is the fourth largest city in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lying on the Moose Jaw River in the south-central part of the province, it is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javian ...

, Saskatchewan. In 1975, Calvert married Betty Sluzalo of

Perdue, Saskatchewan Perdue (; 2016 population: ) is a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan within the Rural Municipality of Perdue No. 346 and Census Division No. 12. Perdue is approximately west of Saskatoon on Highway 14. History Perdue inc ...

. He received his undergraduate degree in economics at 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 ...

. He originally was going to study law, but felt the calling to the ministry of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

. After attending the then-

Regina Campus The University of Regina is a 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 University of Saskatchew ...

and the St. Andrew's College seminary in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, 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 Hig ...

, he was ordained as minister of the

in 1976 and served as minister of several rural congregations. From 1979 to 1986, Calvert was the minister of the substantial pastoral charge of Zion United Church in Moose Jaw.

Entry into provincial politics

He entered provincial politics in the 1986 provincial election, running as a New Democrat on a platform of prohibiting the construction of a proposed

casino A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live enterta ...

in Moose Jaw. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan The Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan is the legislative chamber of the Saskatchewan Legislature in the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. Bills passed by the assembly are given royal assent by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, in the na ...

as the

Member of the Legislative Assembly A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...

(MLA) for the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

of Moose Jaw South. He was re-elected in the

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

and 1995 elections in the riding of Moose Jaw Wakamow. He did not run in the 1999 election, and was succeeded by Deb Higgins. Following the resignation of NDP leader and Premier

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. Early life Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...

, Calvert won the NDP leadership, and became premier on February 8, 2001. He was re-elected to the legislature in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election ( Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to ...

in Romanow's riding of Saskatoon Riversdale.

Premier of Saskatchewan

Calvert and the NDP narrowly defeated the centre-right opposition

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party is a centre-right political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Since 2007, it has been the province's governing party; both the party and the province are currently led by Premier Scott Moe. The party was est ...

in the 2003 provincial election. The NDP won 30 seats of the 58 seats in the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...

. During the campaign, Calvert apologized for an internal cartoon that had been leaked to the media. It depicted

leader Elwin Hermanson loading NDP sympathizers onto rail cars. The cartoon referred to speculation that, if elected, Hermanson would replace civil servants who were NDP supporters with Saskatchewan Party supporters.

B'nai Brith Canada B'nai Brith Canada ( ; BBC; from he, בני ברית, b'né brit, Children of the Covenant) is a Canadian Jewish service organization and advocacy group. It is the Canadian chapter of B'nai B'rith International. Mission The organization presen ...

stated that the cartoon "trivializes the crimes of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

and causes undeserved anguish to those who survived that evil regime". Calvert had a cameo appearance (as himself) in "Ruby Newsday", an episode of ''

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Re-runs still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, MTV, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The seri ...

'', a comedy series set in Saskatchewan. Calvert was also engaged in a war of words with federal Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott over how the clawback of

non-renewable resource A non-renewable resource (also called a finite resource) is a natural resource that cannot be readily replaced by natural means at a pace quick enough to keep up with consumption. An example is carbon-based fossil fuels. The original organic ma ...

revenues from the equalization formula as implemented in the 2007 federal budget. Calvert argued that the province would get less under the new federal formula. Calvert and his government were defeated in the 2007 provincial election, dropping to 20 seats while the

under

Brad Wall Bradley John Wall (born November 24, 1965), is a Canadian former politician who served as the 14th premier of Saskatchewan from November 21, 2007 until February 2, 2018. He is the fourth longest-tenured premier in the province's history. His so ...

won a majority government with 38. Federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * ...

spokesman

Brad Lavigne Brad Lavigne is a Canadian political and corporate communications strategist. In the 2015 federal general election, Lavigne was a Senior Campaign Advisor to the New Democratic Party of Canada. Prior to this role, Brad was a Vice President with H ...

later told reporters that the party had asked Calvert to consider standing as a candidate in the 2008 federal election. Calvert declined the offer, although he stated that he would work hard to assist the party's federal candidates.

Retirement from politics

Calvert announced his retirement as party leader on October 16, 2008. Dwain Lingenfelter was chosen to be his successor on June 6, 2009. From 2009 to 2018, Calvert was the principal at St. Andrew's College in Saskatoon. He is a member of the

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet u ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvert, Lorne 1952 births Living people Premiers of Saskatchewan Saskatchewan New Democratic Party MLAs Ministers of the United Church of Canada People from Moose Jaw Leaders of the Saskatchewan CCF/NDP Canadian Christian socialists Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Saskatchewan