William George Knight (born October 24, 1947) is a former senior executive and Member of Parliament (MP) in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

. Knight was born in Estevan,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. A teacher by profession, Knight was first elected as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

MP in a 1971

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

and was re-elected in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

. He represented the riding of Assiniboia,

until his defeat in the 1974 federal election by Liberal

Ralph Goodale Ralph Edward Goodale (born October 5, 1949) is a Canadian diplomat and retired politician who has served as the Canadian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom since April 19, 2021. Goodale was first elected in 1974 as the member of Parliam ...

. Knight attempted to return to Parliament from the same constituency in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

but was defeated by Progressive Conservative Lenard Gustafson. Knight served as principal secretary to both federal NDP leader

Ed Broadbent John Edward Broadbent (March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024) was a Canadian social democracy, social-democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1975 to 1989, and a Member of Parliament (Ca ...

and Saskatchewan Premier Allan Blakeney in the 1970s. In the 1980s he was federal secretary of the New Democratic Party and its chief electoral strategist. Knight joined the

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

movement in 1989 and, from 1995 to 2001, served as President and CEO of Credit Union Central of Canada, the central governing body for the credit union movement, and helped integrate services at credit unions cross the country. In 2001, Knight was named the first

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

of the

Financial Consumer Agency of Canada The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (, FCAC) is an agency of the Government of Canada that enforces consumer protection legislation, regulations and industry commitments by federally regulated financial entities. It also provides programs an ...

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

. His term ended in 2006.

References

External links

*
Electoral history of Assiniboia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Bill 1947 births Canadian bankers Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Saskatchewan New Democratic Party MPs People from Estevan 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada