Peter W. Prebble (born September 13, 1950) is a Canadian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

. He was an elected representative in 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 ...

for 16 years between 1978 and 2007 and has been a longtime member of the

Saskatchewan Environmental Society The Saskatchewan Environmental Society (SES) is an environmental charity based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Founded in 1970 as a local volunteer organization, the Society's work has since expanded to encompass the entire province on a wide range o ...

Early life and education

Prebble was born in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England, the son of Reginald Allen Prebble. In 1961, Prebble and his parents, Reg and Trudy, moved to

Salmon Arm Salmon Arm is a city in the Columbia Shuswap Regional District of the Southern Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia that has a population of 19,432 (2021). Salmon Arm was voted the best community in British Columbia in 2019. Salm ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, where the family operated a dairy farm. They later relocated to

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island is an island Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. While it is the smallest province by land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

, where they operated a motel and cottages. Prebble completed a university degree in business administration and began working as a community development worker, but ultimately followed his parents to Saskatchewan, where he pursued a graduate degree in education. Prebble holds two Master's degrees from the

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

, one in Education and another in Sustainable Environmental Management.

Political career

Prebble had a long career 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 ...

member of the

Saskatchewan legislature The Saskatchewan Legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor as representative of the King of Canada, and the unicameral assembly called the Legislative Assembly. The legislature has existed since Saskatchewan was formed out of ...

, representing the constituencies of

Saskatoon Sutherland Saskatoon Sutherland was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. It was last contested in the 2011 provincial election before being dissolved into Saskatoon Silverspring-Sutherland and Saskatoon ...

from 1978 to 1982,

Saskatoon University Saskatoon () is the largest city in the 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 Yellowhead Highway, and has served as t ...

from 1986 to 1991, and

Saskatoon Greystone Saskatoon Greystone was a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, Canada. It was last contested in the 2011 provincial election before being dissolved into Saskatoon Churchill-Wildwood and Saskatoon Unive ...

from 1999 to 2007. He frequently contended with constituency boundary changes in a rapidly growing

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 ...

. Prebble staked a claim as the "comeback kid" of Saskatchewan politics, returning to the legislature after losing his seat on two occasions and unsuccessfully attempting a comeback out of retirement in 2011. He also served in the government's of three different premiers:

Allan Blakeney Allan Emrys Blakeney (September 7, 1925April 16, 2011) was a Canadian politician who served as the tenth premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982. Originally from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Blakeney moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, and worked in t ...

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. He was the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 1987 until his retirement in 2001. He was the Mem ...

, and

Lorne Calvert Lorne Albert Calvert (born December 24, 1952) is a Canadian politician who served as the 13th premier of Saskatchewan, from 2001 to 2007. Calvert served as leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Member of the Legislative Assembly ...

. Prebble was first elected in the 1978 provincial election in

. In the 1982 election he ran for re-election in the re-instated neighbouring district of

, but was defeated by

Rick Folk Richard Dale “Rick” Folk (born March 5, 1950, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian curler and former Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, where he represented the Progressive Conservative Party for one term from 1982 u ...

of the Progressive Conservatives. He ran again in the 1986 election, that time defeating Folk. After that riding was dissolved ahead of the 1991 election, Prebble ran in the new district of

that year, but was defeated by

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

leader

Lynda Haverstock Lynda Maureen Haverstock ( Ham; born September 16, 1948) is the former leader of the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, and served as the 19th lieutenant governor of Saskatchewan from 2000 un ...

. He did not run in the 1995 election. Following Haverstock's retirement, however, Prebble was re-elected in the 1999 election and served the district for two terms before retiring ahead of the 2007 election. Prebble distinguished himself in government early on when he became a vocal critic of his own party's

uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the earth. Over 50,000 tons of uranium were produced in 2019. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia were the top three uranium producers, respectively, and together account for 68% of w ...

policies; Prebble was the lone NDP MLA to vote against expanding mining activity in 1979, citing in particular concerns about the global nuclear arms race. Prebble later held a number of cabinet positions during his time in Lorne Calvert's government, where he championed sustainability and renewable energy. He acted as the Legislative Secretary for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation from 2006 to 2007. In this role he authored "Renewable Energy Development and Conservation in Saskatchewan," also known as the Prebble Report, which advanced dozens of recommendations on expanding energy conservation and renewable energy development in the province. Prebble helped launch an energy conservation office, which operated for six years before it was closed by the

Saskatchewan Party The Saskatchewan Party (SP or Sask Party) is a conservative political party in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The party was founded in 1997 by a coalition of former provincial Progressive Conservative ...

government following the 2007 election. He was encouraged to come out of retirement to run in Saskatoon Greystone again in the 2011 election. He did so, citing his concerns about the dismantling of environmental programs by the new

government and stating that he was "determined to reverse these decisions and... to build a renewable energy future in the province." However, Prebble lost to incumbent

Rob Norris Rob Norris is a former Canadian politician and retired government relations officer. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2016 as a member of the Saskatchewan Party, and formerly a member of the Saskatchewan ...

Post politics

In the mid-1990s, Prebble was the coordinator for Saskatoon Communities for Children. After his first retirement from politics in 2007, he acted as the director of energy and water policy for the

(SES). From 2012 to 2016 Prebble was the director of environmental policy for SES, a role in which he authored and co-authored numerous reports and articles on climate and energy policy. He remains a Board Member with SES. He also served as the President of the Board for the SES Solar Coop. Prebble has been a vocal critic of the Saskatchewan Party government's environmental and climate change policies. He has also been an advocate for ecosystem and wildlife preservation.

Electoral results

, - ,

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Dev ...

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 3,174 , align="right", 37.94 , align="right", -0.87 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 8,366 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 4,287 , align="right", 49.09 , align="right", +1.23 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 8,733 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 3,630 , align="right", 47.86 , align="right", +4.78 , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 7,585 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 4,009 , align="right", 37.94 , align="right", * , Prog. Conservative , Gary Hellard , align="right", 1,094 , align="right", 10.35 , align="right", * ,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, Leslie Cushion , align="right", 40 , align="right", 0.39 , align="right", * , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 10,565 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 3,400 , align="right", 44.38 , align="right", * , Prog. Conservative ,

, align="right", 2,744 , align="right", 35.81 , align="right", * , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 7,662 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - , Prog. Conservative , Rick Folk , align="right", 3.490 , align="right", 47.28 , align="right", * , style="width: 130px" ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 3,041 , align="right", 41.20 , align="right", * , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 7,381 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right", , - , style="width: 130px" ,

, Peter Prebble , align="right", 5,007 , align="right", 43.26 , align="right", * , Prog. Conservative , Bill Lane , align="right", 4,722 , align="right", 40.79 , align="right", * , - bgcolor="white" !align="left" colspan=3, Total !align="right", 11,574 !align="right", 100.00 !align="right",

References

External links

Saskatchewan Environmental Society Board
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prebble, Peter Living people 1950 births Saskatchewan New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Saskatoon 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan Sustainability advocates