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Bruce Hyer

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Bruce Hyer
Hyer in 2015
Deputy Leader of the Green Party of Canada
In office
January 27, 2014 – March 19, 2018
Serving with Daniel Green
LeaderElizabeth May
Succeeded byJo-Ann Roberts
Member of Parliament
for Thunder Bay—Superior North
In office
2008–2015
Preceded byJoe Comuzzi
Succeeded byPatty Hajdu
Personal details
Born
Bruce Tolhurst Hyer

(1946-08-06) August 6, 1946 (age 78)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Political partyGreen (since 2013)
Other political
affiliations
Spouse
Margaret Wanlin
​
(m. 1993)​
Children1
Profession
  • Ecologist
  • businessman

Bruce Tolhurst Hyer[1] (born August 6, 1946) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and ecologist. He is the former deputy leader of the Green Party of Canada and the former Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Superior North. Hyer was elected in the 2008 federal election, and re-elected with a wider margin in the 2011 federal election; on both occasions while standing for the New Democratic Party.

Early life

Hyer was born in Hartford, Connecticut, United States in 1946.[2] He graduated in 1964 from Hall High School, and was a Republican at the time.[3] In Willimantic, Connecticut he worked as a police officer, using his knowledge of Spanish to conduct outreach to the Hispanic community. After graduating from Central Connecticut State University, Hyer helped to create the Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection, where as a Senior Environmental Analyst, he worked on water and air pollution, land use planning, and was in charge of pesticide registration. He played a key role in banning DDT and many other of the "dirty dozen" chlorinated pesticides, and ended the spraying of non-selective chemical insecticides in unmanaged forests. At age 29, he moved to Canada to live in the wilderness 40 km (25 miles) west of Armstrong Station, Ontario.[4] Hyer lived for two years mostly off the land in the Canadian wilderness; first in a tipi and later in a log cabin he constructed himself.[5] In 1978 he moved to Thunder Bay, where he started a retail outdoor and camera store called WildWaters Wilderness Shop. He married Margaret Wanlin in 1993. Their son Michael was born in 1995.[4]

Early career

Hyer has had a number of vocations and avocations, including consultant, wilderness guide, log building and whitewater canoeing instructor, biologist, teacher (high school, college, university), bush pilot, and land use planner.

From the beginning of his days in Canada, Hyer acted as a biologist and entrepreneur in the Thunder Bay area, operating an ecotourist company with offices in Thunder Bay and Armstrong. As one of the early tourist operators in the area, Hyer also headed the North of Superior Tourism Board for many years. He received a Master of Science degree in Forestry from Lakehead University in 1997 for his scientific work on the effects of human disturbance on woodland caribou. This work was partially supported by Buchanan Forest Products Limited.[6] Throughout this period, Hyer worked as a consultant in biodiversity, wildlife biology, and ecotourism, including travelling to Japan in 2004 to work with the government of Akita Prefecture on the protection and ecotourism planning for of one of Japan's last undammed rivers, the Omonogawa.

Political career

Hyer began his professional political career in 2003. In the 2004 election, Hyer almost doubled the vote share received by the NDP and advanced their standing to second place. In the following election in 2006, Hyer came even closer, falling short of the Liberal incumbent Joe Comuzzi by only 408 votes. In 2008, Hyer was elected to the 40th Canadian Parliament with a 9% lead over the Liberals.

First term

After taking his seat in October 2008, Hyer started work on climate change legislation. On February 10, 2009, Hyer tabled Bill C-311[7] the Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-311) as his first private member's bill in the House of Commons of Canada. The bill was passed by the House of Commons in a minority Conservative government at 3rd Reading on May 5, 2010 with 149 votes for and 136 votes against.[8] It was defeated on November 16, 2010 by a vote of 43 to 32 in the Conservative-controlled Senate.[9][10] Other bills Hyer has introduced include Bill C-312 the Made in Canada Act,[11] the Cell Phone Freedom Act[12] and a number of motions including the Northwest Ontario Passenger Rail Motion,[13] which mandates the return of Via Rail service to the north shore of Lake Superior and to Thunder Bay. Hyer served as the NDP's small business and tourism critic from 2008 to 2011.

Second term

In the 2011 election, Hyer was re-elected with 49.8% of the vote, 7,000 votes more than his nearest opponent. Following his re-election, the issue of the long gun registry was tabled in the House of Commons. As he had promised voters over four elections, Hyer voted in favour of ending the registration of hunting rifles and shotguns, given that all legal firearm owners were already licensed and registered themselves under the Possession and Acquisition Licence (PAL). This move was viewed unfavourably within the NDP, even though firearm registration was not mentioned in party policies or platforms. As a result of his decision, Hyer was stripped of his critic roles and was no longer given the opportunity to speak in the House, although that punishment was then reversed, but his critic role was not restored. On April 23, 2012 Hyer announced he would sit as an independent, which he remained for a year and a half.[14]

Green Party

On December 13, 2013, Hyer announced that he would join the Green Party of Canada, doubling the number of members the party has in the House of Commons by joining the leader of the party, Elizabeth May.[15] Hyer gave as reasoning for his decision that: the Green Party has the best leader and platform; and that they are the only party in Parliament that is truly democratic, allowing Green MPs to put their constituents and conscience before party control. With his decision, he became the first Green Party MP from Ontario. One year later, on December 13, 2014, Hyer was acclaimed as the Green Party candidate for the Thunder Bay—Superior North riding in the 2015 election. On October 19, 2015, he lost the election to Liberal Party candidate Patty Hajdu, getting only 13.8% of the votes.

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Thunder Bay—Superior North
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Patty Hajdu 18,502 42.85 -2.14 $94,089.37
Conservative Frank Pullia 11,036 25.56 +8.13 $33,102.79
New Democratic Anna Betty Achneepineskum 9,126 21.14 -2.04 $42,426.79
Green Bruce Hyer 3,639 8.43 -5.37 $23,709.76
People's Youssef Khanjari 734 1.70 – $5,389.00
Libertarian Alexander Vodden 140 0.32 – $1,783.16
Total valid votes/expense limit 43,177 99.05
Total rejected ballots 416 0.95
Turnout 43,593 65.48 -3.22
Eligible voters 66,579
Liberal hold Swing -5.13
Source: Elections Canada[16][17]
2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Patty Hajdu 20,069 45.0 +28.4
New Democratic Andrew Foulds 10,339 23.2 -26.6
Conservative Richard Harvey 7,775 17.4 -12.4
Green Bruce Hyer 6,155 13.8 +10.8
Independent Robert Skaf 270 0.6
Total valid votes 44,608 100.0
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
New Democratic Bruce Hyer 18,303 49.8% +12.8 –
Conservative Richard Harvey 10,932 29.8% +3.0% –
Liberal Yves Fricot 6,107 16.6 -11.7% –
Green Scot Kyle 1,115 3.0% -3.9% –
Marijuana Denis Andrew Carrière 266 0.7% -0.2% –
Total valid votes 36,723 100.0%
2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Bruce Hyer 13,174 37.0
Liberal Don McArthur 10,083 28.3
Conservative Bev Sarafin 9,556 26.8
Green Brendan Hughes 2,463 6.9
Marijuana Denis A. Carrière 327 0.9
Total valid votes 35,603
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joe Comuzzi 13,983 36.0%
New Democratic Bruce Hyer 13,575 34.9%
Conservative Bev Sarafin 8,575 22.1%
Green Dawn Kannegiesser 2,241 5.8%
Marijuana Denis A. Carrière 487 1.3%
Total valid votes 38,861
2004 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Joe Comuzzi 15,022
New Democratic Bruce Hyer 10,230
Conservative Bev Sarafin 7,394
Green Carl Rose 1,614
Marijuana Denis A. Carrière 645

References

  1. ^ "S97-0514". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved June 10, 2011.
  2. ^ Parliamentary Biographies
  3. ^ Berkowitz, Michael (October 29, 2014). "50th Reunion: Back to School". Huffington Post. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Beyond Politics - Catherine Clark interviews Bruce Hyer"
  5. ^ WildWaters Nature Tours - A Small Boy's Log Cabin
  6. ^ Hyer, Bruce (1998). "Experimental Log Hauling Through a Traditional Caribou Wintering Area". Rangifer. 18 (10): 256. doi:10.7557/2.18.5.1562. Retrieved February 16, 2015.
  7. ^ Climate Change Accountability Act http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&query=6747&Session=23&List=toc Archived June 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Official Report * Table of Contents * Number 040 (Official Version)". Parl.gc.ca. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  9. ^ "Debates - Issue 65 - November 16, 2010". Parl.gc.ca. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  10. ^ "Meet Bruce Hyer". Brucehyer.ca. Archived from the original on December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
  11. ^ Made in Canada Act http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&query=5716&Session=22&List=toc Archived June 5, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Cell Phone Freedom Act http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Docid=4640240&file=4
  13. ^ Northwest Ontario passenger Rail Motion "Revive Superior Rail. The campaign to return passenger rail service to Thunder Bay along the North Shore". Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  14. ^ "Bruce Hyer quits NDP caucus to sit as an Independent". CBC News. April 23, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  15. ^ "Thunder Bay MP Bruce Hyer joins Green Party, doubles caucus". CBC News. December 13, 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  16. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  17. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
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