Ron Lemieux, (born August 15, 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician, who was an elected member of the

Legislative Assembly of Manitoba The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba () is the deliberative assembly of the Manitoba Legislature in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly at List of Manitoba genera ...

from 1999 to 2016, and a former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player.

Biography

Born in Dauphin,

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 ...

, Lemieux was an ice hockey

defenceman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the l ...

and was selected by the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. The Penguins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), E ...

110th overall in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. Lemieux started with the

Dauphin Kings The Dauphin Kings are a Junior "A" ice hockey team from Dauphin, Manitoba, Canada. They are members of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), a part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) and Hockey Canada. The Kings were established i ...

of the

Manitoba Junior Hockey League The Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) is a Junior ice hockey, Junior 'A' ice hockey league operating in the Canadian province of Manitoba and one of nine member leagues of the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). The MJHL consists of thirt ...

, helping the Kings to the Manitoba championship in 1971–72. He played for the Green Bay Bobcats in the

United States Hockey League The United States Hockey League (USHL) is the top junior ice hockey league sanctioned by USA Hockey. The league consists of 16 active teams located in the Midwestern United States and Great Plains, for players between the ages of 16 and 21. Th ...

for the 1974–75 season (scoring seven goals and eighteen assists), but was never called up to the NHL. He later coached girls' hockey in Lorette, Manitoba and St. Adolphe. After leaving hockey, Lemieux received degrees in

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1979 and

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed. or BEd) is an undergraduate academic degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. A Bachelor of Education program typically lasts three to four years and combines both coursework and practical exp ...

in 1985 from the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW, or U of W) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers undergraduate programs in art, business, economics, education, science and applied health as well as graduate progra ...

. He completed post-baccalaureate work in education at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

. He worked as a teacher for several years, coaching various high school teams and holding positions in the teacher's association. In the provincial election of 1999, Lemieux was elected to the

Manitoba legislature The Manitoba Legislature is the legislature of the province of Manitoba, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the lieutenant governor of Manitoba, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada) and the unicameral assemb ...

for the rural riding of La Verendrye, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Ben Sveinson by 3,533 votes to 3,367. Lemieux's victory was something of an upset, as it occurred in a riding which had never before been won by the New Democratic Party or its social-democratic predecessors (despite having existed since 1879). On October 5, 1999,

Premier of Manitoba The premier of Manitoba () is the first minister (i.e., head of government or chief executive) for the Canadian province of Manitoba—as well as the ''de facto'' President of the province's Executive Council. In formal terms, the premier rec ...

Gary Doer Gary Albert Doer (born 31 March 1948) is a former Canadians, Canadian politician and diplomat from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He served as Canada's List of Canadian ambassadors to the United States, ambassador to the United States from 19 Octo ...

appointed Lemieux to be Minister of Consumer of Corporate Affairs, with responsibility for the Gaming Control Act. He was relieved of the latter responsibility on July 4, 2000; after a cabinet shuffle on January 17, 2001, he was appointed Minister of Culture, Heritage and Tourism with responsibility for

Sport Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...

. Lemieux later served as Minister of Education and Youth from September 25, 2002, until he was reassigned as Minister of Transportation and Government Services on November 4, 2003. In the 2003 election, Lemieux was re-elected with 58% of his riding's vote. In September 2006 he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation in Gary Doer's new cabinet. In November 2009, Premier

Greg Selinger Gregory Francis Selinger (born February 16, 1951) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 21st premier of Manitoba from 2009 until 2016, leading an NDP government. From 1999 to 2009 he was the Minister of Finance in the government o ...

named Lemieux as Minister of Local Government. He served in this capacity until October 2013, when he became Minister of Tourism, Culture, Sport and Consumer Protection. He did not seek a fifth term as MLA at the 2016 provincial election. Lemieux has described his political views as being closer to the "

New Labour New Labour is the political philosophy that dominated the history of the British Labour Party from the mid-late 1990s to 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The term originated in a conference slogan first used by the ...

" philosophy espoused by former

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

than to traditional

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...

. In 2003, he supported

Bill Blaikie William Alexander "Bill" Blaikie (June 19, 1951 – September 24, 2022) was a Canadian politician. He served as a member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2008, representing Elmwood—Transcona and its antecedent ridings in the House of Commons ...

's campaign to become leader of the federal

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 ...

. He was re-elected in the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2011 provincial elections.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemieux, Ron 1950 births Canadian ice hockey defencemen Dauphin Kings players Franco-Manitoban people Green Bay Bobcats players Sportspeople from Dauphin, Manitoba Living people Members of the Executive Council of Manitoba New Democratic Party of Manitoba MLAs Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian sportsperson-politicians from Manitoba Ice hockey people from Manitoba University of Winnipeg alumni University of Manitoba alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba 20th-century Canadian sportsmen