Gregory Francis Thompson, (March 28, 1947 – September 10, 2019) was a Canadian politician who served six terms as a Member of Parliament (MP), and for one term he represented the district of

Saint Croix Saint Croix ( ; ; ; ; Danish language, Danish and ; ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an Unin ...

in the

New Brunswick Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick () is the deliberative assembly of the New Brunswick Legislature, in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. The assembly's seat is located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Fredericton. It was established i ...

, from 2018 until 2019.

Political career

Thompson was a high school history teacher at Fundy High School from 1975 to 1980. Thompson, a high school teacher, a businessman and financial planner was first elected to 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 ...

in the

1988 Canadian federal election The 1988 Canadian federal election was held on November 21, 1988, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 34th Canadian Parliament, 34th Parliament of Canada following the dissolution of the House on October 1. It was an electio ...

as a member of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

. He was elected in the riding of

Carleton—Charlotte Carleton—Charlotte was a federal electoral district in New Brunswick, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1997. The riding was created in the redistribution of electoral districts in 1966. It consisted ...

. His bid for re-election in the

1993 Canadian federal election The 1993 Canadian federal election was held on October 25, 1993, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons of the 35th Canadian Parliament, 35th Parliament of Canada. Considered to be a major political realignment, it ...

was unsuccessful and he was defeated by

Harold Culbert Harold William Culbert (16 May 1944 – 1 March 2005) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Culbert was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 1997. Culbert was born in Woodstock, New Brunswick and was once that commun ...

of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...

by fewer than 1,000 votes. Thompson however ran again in the next election and was re-elected in the riding of

Charlotte Charlotte most commonly refers to: *Charlotte (given name), a feminine form of the given name Charles ** Princess Charlotte (disambiguation) ** Queen Charlotte (disambiguation) *Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, a city * Charlotte (cake) ...

, where he defeated Culbert. Thompson was re-elected in the

2000 Canadian federal election The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 37th Canadian Parliament, 37th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal ...

in the riding of

New Brunswick Southwest New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

and again the

2004 Canadian federal election The 2004 Canadian federal election was held on June 28, 2004, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority but was able to continue ...

in the riding of St. Croix—Belleisle. Shortly before the 2004 election, he joined the new

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. He was re-elected in the 2006 federal election. In the 2008 federal election he was elected for a sixth term in the riding of

by garnering over 58% of the vote. During his time in parliament, he has served as the critic of Human Resources Development, the Treasury Board, Regional Development, Health, and Public Accounts, as well as critic of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. On February 6, 2006, he was appointed Minister of Veterans Affairs in

Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

. In April 2007, he and Harper told the press in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

that a Veterans' Bill of Rights would come into effect soon and there would be a new

ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

for veterans along with it. Thompson resigned from his position in Cabinet on January 16, 2010, because years of travel had worn him down and he wasn't looking forward to making a trip to New Zealand due to the length and time he had to invest in the trip. He also announced he would not run in the 2011 federal election.

Veterans Affairs privacy issues

In October 2010, Canada's Privacy Commissioner

Jennifer Stoddart Jennifer Stoddart (born 1949) was the sixth Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Early life and education Stoddart was born in 1949 in Toronto. In 1967 she graduated from Neuchâtel Junior College in Switzerland. Fluent in five languages, she studied ...

uncovered evidence that widespread privacy abuses had been occurring at

Veterans Affairs Canada Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC; ) is the department of the Government of Canada with responsibility for pensions, benefits and services for military veterans, former and current members of the Canadian Armed Forces and Royal Canadian Mounted Pol ...

. Among the cases where privacy issues were investigated is that in which highly personal information of an outspoken critic of Veterans Affairs, including confidential medical and financial information, was included in briefing notes prepared for then-minister Greg Thompson.

Provincial politics

In 2018 Thompson ran provincially under the Progressive Conservatives in the riding of

and won. He served as

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs () is the Minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada, Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations with the governments of the provinces and territories of Canada. T ...

until his death in September 2019.

Electoral record

References

External links