LONGTIME TORY MLA WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION Politics Dale Graham decides to step aside after 21 years representing carleton ADAM HURAS LEGISLATURE BUREAU FREDERICTON – Longtime Tory MLA Dale Graham says he won’t seek re-election. Graham will retire from provincial politics 21 years after being first elected to the legislative assembly as a member of the Progressive Conservatives for Carleton North in a 1993 byelection. He was re-elected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2006 and 2010, representing the riding of Carleton. Graham’s tenure spans six different premiers, five lieutenant-governors, and eight different speakers – including himself. He is the second-longest active serving MLA. Only fellow Tory Bev Harrison, who first joined the legislature in 1978, has served more years. But Graham will retire as dean of the legislature – the member with the longest consecutive service. “I have so many people to thank, and I want to start by thanking those people who placed their trust in me to represent them as a member of our legislative assembly for the past 21 years,” Graham said in a written statement on Thursday evening.“When speaking to a political science class, I would often tell young people that a fellow doesn’t just get up one morning, put on a suit and tie and become a politician. “For me, and I imagine for a lot of my colleagues, it was not something that we saw coming from a long way off; and for me it was something that I could not have done alone.” Graham has previously held the posts of minister of supply and services, acting minister of environment and local government, minister of human resources, and minister responsible for Service New Brunswick. He was also named deputy premier in 1999. Graham, 63, is currently the legislature’s Speaker and chairs the Legislative Administration Committee. Born in Woodstock, he is a former restaurant and bake shop owner. Graham and his wife, Shelley Mc-Dougall, have four children and 10 grandchildren. He first ran in the 1991 provincial election, losing by 134 votes. “I can still see the tears in the eyes of a couple of older gentlemen who we came to realize took their politics and party support very serious,”Graham recalled on Thursday. “It made a huge impression on me. But the morning after the election, I was delivering fresh-baked muffins to the McCain cafeteria at seven o’clock in the morning. Life had to go on.” He added: “But in 1993, after a hard fought battle, I won the privilege of serving in the legislature in a byelection and as they say ‘the rest is history.’” In announcing his retirement, amongst a long list of names, Graham thanked his family and friend, Kaye Cain, who nominated him each of the seven times he sought re-election. “She’s one of my many good luck charms,” he said. “I have seen a lot of changes in the last two decades. “When I was elected, the Internet had only just been invented, gas was around 60 cents a litre, cellular phones were a five-pound bag. It was the year Nelson Mandela won his Nobel Peace prize. It was also the last year that the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup.” In announcing his retirement, Graham doesn’t indicate what his future holds. “It has been a wonderful career full of lots of challenges and lots of wonderful people,”he said. “For every tough cabinet meeting and every difficult decision, there was a strawberry social, church supper, charity barbecue, or some other opportunity to stay connected to the people who count on us to do the right things at the right time. “To my colleagues past and present it has been my privilege to know and work with you. It has been an awesome journey,and as we (me and my wife) retire,we look forward to what the future holds.”
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 10:13:20 +0000
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