Sylvia Brustad (born 19 December 1966, in

Elverum Elverum () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Elverum ( ...

) is a former Norwegian politician for the Labour Party.

Education

Brustad graduated from high school in 1983, and attended the media courses at the

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

Ringsaker Municipality Ringsaker () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Br ...

until 1985. She then worked as a journalist, among other publications she worked for ''LO-aktuelt'', the news publication of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

Political career

Parliament

Brustad was elected to a county council seat in

Hedmark Hedmark () was a Counties of Norway, county in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, bordering Trøndelag to the north, Oppland to the west, Akershus to the south, and Sweden to the east. The county administration is in Hamar. Hedmar ...

following the local elections of 1987. In the 1989 election, she was elected to a seat in the

Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( ; ) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years based on party-list proportional represe ...

and left county politics.

Government

In cabinet Jagland which held office between 1996 and 1997, she was Minister for Children and Family Affairs. She was later Minister for Local Government and Regional Development in the

first cabinet Stoltenberg Stoltenberg's First Cabinet governed Norway between 17 March 2000 and 19 October 2001. The Labour Party cabinet was led by Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg Jens Stoltenberg (; born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician from the Labour Part ...

between 2000 and 2001. Following the electoral victory of the 2005 elections, Brustad became

Minister of Health and Care Services The Minister of Health and Care Services () is a Council of State (Norway), councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Health and Care Services (Norway), Ministry of Health and Care Services. Since 19 April 2024 the position has been ...

in the second cabinet Stoltenberg. She was moved to the post of Minister of Trade and Industry in June 2008 and left the government in October 2009. Brustad became known for her role as Minister for Child and Family Affairs in 1996 when a law restricting the opening hours of shops on Sundays, holidays and after nine in the evening was passed. Only stores smaller than 100 square metres were allowed to remain open, such shops were somewhat disparagingly nicknamed ''"Brustadbuer"'' ("Brustad shacks"), until the law was quietly repealed in 2003. Brustad herself claimed that she had not personally advocated the law, but that she was required to follow through on a decision within the Labour Party.Brustad angrer "Brustad-bua"
(Brustad regrets the ''Brustadbua'') Aftenposten 15 July 2002

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brustad, Sylvia 1966 births Living people People from Elverum Government ministers of Norway Ministers of children, equality and social inclusion of Norway Ministers of local government and modernisation of Norway Ministers of health and care services of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians Hedmark politicians County governors of Norway Women government ministers of Norway Ministers for children, young people and families 21st-century Norwegian women politicians 20th-century Norwegian women politicians Women members of the Storting Ministers of trade and shipping of Norway Members of the Storting 2001–2005 Members of the Storting 1993–1997 Members of the Storting 1997–2001 Members of the Storting 2005–2009 Members of the Storting 1989–1993