Antoon J. "Tony" Huntjens (born January 1, 1939, in

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) is a former

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

and

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

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 ...

. A resident of

St. Stephen, New Brunswick St. Stephen is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River around the intersection of New Brunswick Route 170 and the southern terminus of New Brunswick Route 3. The St. Croix River m ...

, where he taught

High School A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

for thirty-three years, he was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick 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. It was established in Saint John ''de jure'' ...

for the riding of Western Charlotte. In the fall of 1961, Huntjens became a Canadian citizen. He studied at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Teaching and a

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 ...

degree. He first became active in politics as a member of the Confederation of Regions Party of New Brunswick (CoR) and was the president of that organization and its candidate in Western Charlotte in the 1995 election. He placed third with 23.7% of the vote, just 162 votes short of the second place Progressive Conservative candidate but well behind the victorious

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. Following the 1995 election, which saw CoR slip from

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

to zero seats in the legislature, Huntjens joined the Progressive Conservatives and eventually became their candidate for the 1999 election again in Western Charlotte. This time he was successful, winning 51.0% of the vote to 44.9% for his Liberal opponent. Huntjens spent his first term as a

backbencher In Westminster system, Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no Minister (government), governmental office and is not a Frontbencher, frontbench spokesperson ...

but was re-elected in the 2003 election and joined the

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 ...

as Minister of Family and Community Services. Huntjens was forced to resign from cabinet on October 31, 2005 after he accidentally revealed the identity of an

autistic Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing di ...

man under the care of his department to a journalist on October 27. When Lord shuffled his cabinet on February 14, 2006 Huntjens was not included, though it was widely expected he would be, but Lord did announce that he would support Huntjens for

speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the legislature as the position became vacant when Lord named the incumbent speaker to cabinet. Huntjens did not become speaker, however, when he withdrew his name from contention when it became apparent that

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 ...

member

Michael Malley Michael "Tanker" Malley (born July 8, 1962) is a former Canadian politician in New Brunswick, Canada. He represented the riding of Miramichi-Bay du Vin in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1999 to 2006 and served as Speaker of the ...

was interested in the post, Malley's election saved the government from losing a voting member and thus created a great deal more flexibility in the standings of the legislature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntjens, Tony 1939 births Living people University of New Brunswick Canadian schoolteachers Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick MLAs Members of the Executive Council of New Brunswick People from St. Stephen, New Brunswick Dutch emigrants to Canada People from Limburg (Netherlands) 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick