| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| George Baker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Office3: | Minister of Veterans Affairs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primeminister3: | Jean Chrétien | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term Start3: | August 3, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term End3: | October 17, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor3: | Fred Mifflin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor3: | Ron Duhamel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Office4: | Secretary of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Primeminister4: | Jean Chrétien | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister3: | John Manley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term Start4: | August 3, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Term End4: | October 15, 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor4: | Fred Mifflin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor4: | Position abolished
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 4 September 1942 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | Dominion of Newfoundland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Party: | Independent Liberal (since 2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Otherparty: | Liberal (until 2014) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children: | Annelle Baker, Averill Baker, Eli Baker, Joscelyn Baker, and granddaughter Annelle. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Canadian Senator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
George S. Baker (born September 4, 1942) is a Canadian politician and former member of the Senate of Canada.
Baker was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1974 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Gander—Twillingate, in Newfoundland and Labrador. He was re-elected in every subsequent election (representing Gander—Grand Falls after 1988) until his appointment to the Senate by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson, on the recommendation of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, in 2002.
Although a popular and articulate MP, he was hurt by the tradition of appointing no more than one Canadian Cabinet minister from Newfoundland at a time, and by his reputation as a maverick who said what he thought rather than what the party leadership would like him to say. Fred Mifflin's and Brian Tobin's appointments to cabinet following the 1993 election meant Baker had to remain on the backbench. Tobin's resignation from the cabinet to become Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador opened the way for Baker to be appointed as Minister of Veterans Affairs.[1] [2] But when Prime Minister Chrétien lured Tobin back to Ottawa for the 2000 election, Baker was removed from Cabinet. He was appointed to the Senate in 2002.
On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Baker, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.[3] According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators refer to themselves as the Senate Liberal Caucus even though they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.[4]
Baker retired from the Senate upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on September 4, 2017.[5]
In March 2009, as a Liberal Senator for Newfoundland and Labrador, he was the first among Newfoundland's federal parliamentarians to overtly call for the foundation of a new sovereigntist party, based on the Bloc Québécois, largely in response to the $1.7 billion cuts in equalization payments that represented no less than 20% of the province's budget, due to a change of how natural resources are factored in the calculation of equalization transfers.
This prompted a rebuke from the Prime Minister's office and political commentators in Toronto and Ottawa. Some Conservative MPs demanded that Michael Ignatieff kick him out of the Liberal caucus, that he refused to do. However, this action caused little outcry in his home province.