Doug Martyn Lauchlan (February 18, 1931 – February 15, 2016) was a Canadian politician, minister and educator. From 1980 to 1982, he was the leader of the

Manitoba Liberal Party The Manitoba Liberal Party () is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late 19th century, following the province's creation in 1870. History Origins and early development (to 1883) Originally, there were no off ...

. Lauchlan was an ordained minister in the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (UCC; ) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholic Church in Canada. The United Chu ...

, and was the President of Mount Royal College in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

during the 1970s. He also worked as an advisor to Lloyd Axworthy. In 1979, Lauchlan was a federal Liberal candidate in the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

riding of

Calgary West Calgary West was a federal electoral district in Alberta, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1917 to 1953, and from 1979 to 2015. It was in the western part of the City of Calgary. The electoral district was or ...

. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative Jim Hawkes. On November 30, 1980, Lauchlan was elected leader of the

, defeating Hugh Moran by 493 votes to 300. The

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Liberals were in a precarious position in this period, holding only one seat in the provincial legislature (that of June Westbury, who replaced Axworthy in the by-election). With the electorate polarized between the Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats, the Liberals were unable to present themselves as a viable alternative. In the general election of 1981, Lauchlan finished a poor third in the riding of Wolseley and the Liberal Party was eliminated from the legislature for the only time in its history. Lauchlan resigned as party leader in 1982. Lauchlan subsequently returned to

, where he became executive director of the United Way. He then moved on to become the CEO of the Calgary Centre for Performing Arts, currently known as Arts Common, until his retirement ten years later. In 1988, he was recognized by the Canadian Speech Association as Speaker of the Year. He was also a director of the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta, Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the Performing arts, performing and fine arts, as well as leadership trai ...

, one of the founding members of the board of the Esther Honens Piano Festival, and the Calgary International Organ Festival. Lauchlan was married to Margaret for 57 years, until her death in 2011. They had 4 children. Doug Lauchlan died on February 15, 2016, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauchlan, Doug 1931 births 2016 deaths Manitoba Liberal Party candidates in Manitoba provincial elections Ministers of the United Church of Canada