Dan Crummell Explained

Dan Crummell
Honorific-Suffix:BA
Birth Place:Gander, Newfoundland
Residence:St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
Assembly1:Newfoundland and Labrador House of
Constituency Am1:St. John's West
Term Start1:October 27, 2011
Term End1:November 5, 2015
Predecessor1:Sheila Osborne
Successor1:Siobhán Coady
Office2:Minister of Service NL of Newfoundland and Labrador
Term Start2:October 9, 2013
Term End2:July 17, 2014
Predecessor2:Nick McGrath
Successor2:David Brazil
Spouse:Valerie Thomson

Dan Crummell is a Canadian politician in Newfoundland and Labrador, who represented the district of St. John's West in Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly from 2011 to 2015, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. In a 1995 by-election and the 1996 provincial election, Crummell was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the district of Gander.

Background

Crummell was raised in the town of Gander in central Newfoundland. He moved to St. John's to pursue his post-secondary education at Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), and completed an Arts degree with a major in Political Science and minors in English and History. During his time at MUN, Crummell served as the Executive Vice-President and later President of Memorial University's Council of the Students’ Union. Following his graduation he worked in sales and marketing with Molson Canada. He spent 25 years with the company, and spent 10 years as the Regional Sales Manager for Newfoundland and Labrador.[1]

Politics

Crummell first sought political office when he ran as the Progressive Conservative Party (PC) candidate in an October 10, 1995 by-election in the district of Gander. The by-election was called following the resignation of Liberal cabinet minister Winston Baker, who had held the seat since 1985. PC Party leader Lynn Verge admitted that it would be a tremendous upset if her party was able to take the seat from the Liberals in the by-election.[2] On election night Liberal candidate Gary Vey defeated Crummell by just 46 votes.[3] A provincial election was called only months later for February 22, 1996, and Crummell once again ran as the candidate for the PC Party in Gander. Gander mayor Sandra Kelly, who lost the Liberal nomination to Vey for the October by-election, was now the Liberal candidate for the district. Kelly defeated Crummell by over 700 votes, and the Liberal Party were re-elected to a majority government.[4]

Government backbencher

On July 18, 2011, Crummell defeated Glenn Moores to become the Progressive Conservative candidate in the district of St. John's West, for that year's provincial election.[5] In the October 11, election Crummell defeated New Democratic Party candidate Chris Pickard by less than 300 votes, while the Liberal candidate finished a distant third.[6] On October 24, 2012, Crummell was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills (Apprenticeship and Labour Market).[7]

In a November 2012, radio interview Crummell stated that he thought federal Intergovernmental Affairs minister Peter Penashue should do the honourable thing and resign from cabinet. Penashue, Newfoundland and Labrador's representative in the federal cabinet, was facing allegations of improper campaign spending and donations. Hours after Crummell made the comments on CBC's radio program On Point, he sent out an email saying that he was unaware that an official agent had been appointed to look into the issues with Penashue and that he thought it was important for the province to have representation in the federal cabinet.[8] Five months later Penashue resigned as minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and as the member of Parliament for Labrador, and announced he would run in a by-election after it was confirmed he had accepted ineligible donations in the 2011 election.[9] He was later defeated in a by-election.[10]

Cabinet Minister

On October 9, 2013, Premier Kathy Dunderdale appointed Crummell Minister of Service NL, in a major shuffle that saw him and MHA Steve Kent enter cabinet. Along with being named Minister of Service NL, Crummell was also Minister Responsible for the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission, Minister Responsible for the Office of the Chief Information Officer, and Minister Responsible for the Government Purchasing Agency.[11]

On July 17, 2014, Crummell was appointed Minister of Municipal and Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister Responsible for Fire and Emergency Services, and Registrar General.

On September 30, 2014, Crummell was appointed Minister of Environment and Conservation, Minister Responsible for the Multi-Materials Stewardship Board and Minister Responsible for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency.[12]

In the 2015 election, Crummell was defeated by Liberal Siobhán Coady.[13] [14]

2015-present

In 2018, following the election of Ches Crosbie as PC Leader; Crosbie appointed Crummell as his Chief of Staff in the Opposition Office. Crummell was replaced as Chief of Staff by former MP Bill Matthews that October.[15]

Electoral record

|-|-|NDP|Chris Pickard|align="right"|1,729|align="right"|37.4|align="right"||-|}

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}|NDP|Roy Locke|align="right"|268|align="right"|5.3%||-|}

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dan Crummell Profile . House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador . 13 October 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131025071924/http://www.assembly.nl.ca/members/cms/DanCrummell.htm . 25 October 2013 .
  2. News: Newfoundland Tories hope for Gander by-election upset. The Globe and Mail. 10 October 1995. A.8.
  3. Web site: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the Gander By-Election on October 10, 1995 . Elections Newfoundland and Labrador . 13 October 2011 .
  4. Web site: Mitchell. Wayne. Report of the Chief Electoral Officer on the General Election for the Forty-Third General Assembly February 22, 1996. Elections Newfoundland and Labrador. 13 October 2013. 40. https://web.archive.org/web/20141111231845/http://www.elections.gov.nl.ca/elections/ElectionReports/PDF/General.Elections/GEreport1996.pdf. 11 November 2014. dead. dmy-all.
  5. News: Crummell takes Tory race in St. John's West. 13 October 2013. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 July 2011.
  6. News: Plenty of new faces heading to Confederation Building. 13 October 2013. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 October 2011.
  7. Web site: Premier Appoints Parliamentary Assistant, Parliamentary Secretaries. Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. 13 October 2013. 24 October 2012.
  8. News: PC MHA retracts call for Penashue to step down. 13 October 2013. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 9 November 2012.
  9. News: Woods. Michael. Tory minister Peter Penashue resigns over election irregularities; will run in byelection. 19 March 2024. National Post. 14 March 2013.
  10. News: Antle. Rob. Liberals take Labrador, as Jones wins big over Penashue. 13 October 2013. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 13 May 2013.
  11. News: Bailey. Sue. Newfoundland Premier refreshes cabinet after rough first half of four-year term. 13 October 2013. The Globe and Mail. 9 October 2013.
  12. Web site: Premier Paul Davis Unveils New Cabinet, Innovative Approach .
  13. Web site: NDP Leader Earle McCurdy loses to Siobhan Coady. CBC News. 30 November 2015. 2 December 2015.
  14. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/provincial-election-candidates-1.3343999 "Full list of winners in Newfoundland and Labrador election"
  15. Web site: Former MP Bill Matthews takes over as Ches Crosbie's chief of staff . 5 October 2018 . 5 October 2018 . 6 October 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181006113723/http://ntv.ca/former-mp-bill-matthews-takes-over-as-ches-crosbies-chief-of-staff/ . dead .