John Loewen

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John Loewen (pronounced Lay-ven) (born December 21, 1949) is a businessman and politician in Manitoba, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1999 to 2005 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party, and campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons in 2006 as a Liberal.

John Loewen is the nephew of Bill and Shirley Loewen, prominent entrepreneurs and philanthropists in Winnipeg.

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[edit] Early life and career

Loewen was born in Elkhorn, Manitoba, and raised in Winnipeg. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Manitoba in 1973, and joined the payroll services company Comcheq Services Ltd. (now called Ceridan) in the same year. He later served as company president from 1984 until 1998.

In 1993, Loewen oversaw Comcheq's transformation into a subsidiary of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC).[1] There were concerns that the Winnipeg company's autonomy would be undermined by the national bank, but the CIBC initially allowed it to remain fairly independent.[2] Loewen attempted to reacquire the company in 1998, but was unsuccessful.[3]

Loewen has for many years been a prominent figure supporting Manitoba's sports community. He developed a plan to financially support the province's Olympic atheletes in the early 1990s, and helped establish the Winnipeg Thunder basketball team in 1992 with future mayor Sam Katz.[4] He has also provided financial assistance to several athletic programs. In 1994, a newspaper columnist in Winnipeg described Comcheq as "probably the most generous private-sector supporter of elite athletes in the province".[5]

Loewen helped create the Manitoba Entertainment Complex Group (MEC) in 1994 in an effort to purchase controlling shares in the Winnipeg Jets hockey franchise, and keep the team in the city.[6] Loewen chaired the MEC and participated in plans to build a new arena for the team. Despite his efforts, the Jets were forced to leave the city in 1995. Loewen argued that the National Hockey League and commissioner Gary Bettman undermined his efforts, by presenting unreasonable demands shortly before an official deadline.[7] In 2006, he indicated that the major-level investors necessary for maintaining a National Hockey League franchise simply did not exist in Winnipeg in the mid-1990s.[8]

Loewen has been a board member and chairman of Economic Development Winnipeg, a council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba, a board member and president of the Big Brothers and Sisters Association of Winnipeg and president of both the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and the Linden Woods Community Association. He has also been involved with the United Way of Winnipeg, serving on the United Way Cabinet from 1994 until 1999 as Chair of the Major Corporate Division and Deputy Chair of Business. He is a founding Director of the Business Council of Manitoba.

There were rumours that Loewen would run for Mayor of Winnipeg in 1998, but he declined.[9]

[edit] Provincial politics

Loewen entered political life in Manitoba's 1999 provincial election, winning election for the newly-created south Winnipeg constituency of Fort Whyte. Running as a Progressive Conservative, he defeated New Democrat Bidhu Jha by 3,665 votes. The New Democratic Party won the election, and Loewen became a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Official Opposition. He was appointed as his party's critic for Intergovernmental Affairs, and was later promoted to Finance Critic.[10] Considered a rising star in his party, there was some speculation that he would run to succeed Gary Filmon as party leader in 2000.[11] He decided against this when the party establishment united behind Stuart Murray.

He was a moderate in the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party, and supported the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada rather than the right-wing Canadian Alliance at the federal level, even though many of his colleagues backed the Alliance. In 2001, Loewen was the only member of the provincial PC caucus to attend a Winnipeg fundraiser for federal PC leader Joe Clark.[12] In the same year, he criticized the provincial New Democratic government of Gary Doer for not going far enough in extending rights to same-sex couples.[13]

Loewen became involved a serious controversy in early 2002, after issuing a media notice that was strongly critical of Manitoba's Crocus investment portfolio. He wrote that the company held investments "in a number of Manitoba companies" that were "in financial difficulty", and requested that the government halt sales of the fund. His statement was not approved in advance by the Progressive Conservative Party and was met with strong opposition from Crocus, which threatened legal action.[14] Loewen was demoted from his position as Finance Critic, and made a formal apology to the legislature in April 2002.[15] Almost three years later, Crocus stopped trading and was forced into receivership. Many believe Loewen's concerns were vindicated by the trust's eventual failure.[16] In 2006, Loewen handed over his personal files on the Crocus fund to a Progressive Conservative Party task force looking into the matter.[17]

He was re-elected in the 2003 election by a slightly reduced margin. In late 2003, he introduced a bill to phase out Video Lottery Terminals from the province.[18]

[edit] Federal politics

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada merged with the Canadian Alliance in early 2004 to create the Conservative Party of Canada. Loewen initially supported the new party, but announced on September 23, 2005 that he would seek the federal Liberal nomination for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia in the upcoming federal election. In making the announcement, Loewen said he was uncomfortable with the social conservatism of Conservative leader Stephen Harper, and that he "never believed in the policies of the former Alliance and Reform parties" which he described as "dominat[ing] the [Conservative] party".[19] He resigned from the provincial legislature on September 26, 2005, and subsequently defeated Gennarino Conte for the Liberal nomination.[20]

Loewen lost to Conservative incumbent Steven Fletcher in the 2006 federal election, as the Conservatives gained twenty-five seats to form a minority government. Loewen acknowledged that the national trend worked against his candidacy.[21]

After the election, Loewen worked as chief fundraiser for the North End Wellness Centre in Winnipeg.[22]

[edit] Table of offices held

Preceded by
constituency created in 1999		 Member of the Manitoba Legislature for Fort Whyte
1999—2005		 Succeeded by
Hugh McFadyen

[edit] Electoral record

2006 federal election : Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     Conservative (x)Steven Fletcher 20,791 46.98 $71,903.92
     Liberal John Loewen 16,099 36.37 $68,104.46
     New Democratic Party Dennis Kshyk 5,669 12.81 $1,977.65
     Green Mike Johannson 1,700 3.84 $397.50
Total valid votes 44,259 100.00
Total rejected ballots 157
Turnout 44,416 69.93
Electors on the lists 63,517


2003 Manitoba provincial election : Fort Whyte edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative John Loewen 4,960 52.71 $13,693.53
     New Democratic Party Janine Ballingall Scotten 2,647 28.13 $18,368.88
     Liberal Gerry Sankar 1,803 19.16 $14,257.51
Total valid votes 9,410 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 24
Turnout 9,434 56.61
Electors on the lists 16,664


1999 Manitoba provincial election : Fort Whyte edit
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
     Progressive Conservative John Loewen 6,480 61.73 $25,444.88
     New Democratic Party Bidhu Jha 2,815 26.82 $24,511.00
     Liberal Malli Aulakh 1,202 11.45 $18,808.08
Total valid votes 10,497 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 66
Turnout 10,563 76.33
Registered voters 13,838

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Manitoba. Provincial expenditures refer to candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ "CIBC becomes leading supplier of payroll services", Canada NewsWire, 25 January 1993.
  2. ^ Martin Cash, "Comcheq flourishes on a long leash", Winnipeg Free Press, 11 March 1994.
  3. ^ "Leadership hope gone up in smoke", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 February 2002, A4.
  4. ^ Ashley Prest, "Katz loses some of his thunder", Winnipeg Free Press, 25 March 1994.
  5. ^ Kelly Taylor, "Share the glory", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 April 1994.
  6. ^ David Roberts, "Consortium wants to buy Jets", Globe and Mail, 27 August 1994, A14.
  7. ^ John Douglas, "'Demands outrageous', Loewen says", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 April 1995, City Page. Bettman denied this, claiming that advance notice had been given and that his conditions were necessary for creating a stable franchise. See Mary Ormsby, "Winnipeg group not serious, Bettman says", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 May 1995, C3.
  8. ^ Adam Clayton, "Winnipeg Jets long gone but not forgotten", Canadian Press, 27 April 2006, 13:50 report.
  9. ^ Kim Guttormson, "Thompson decides she won't seek third term in mayor's office", Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 1998, A1.
  10. ^ "Tory eyes on NDP", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 October 1999, A5.
  11. ^ "Possible contenders", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 November 1999, A2.
  12. ^ Helen Fallding, "Joe Clark - the $1,000 man Conservatives feast on Alliance follies", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 May 2001, A1.
  13. ^ Helen Fallding, "Limited gay rights bill passes second reading", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 June 2001, A3.
  14. ^ Helen Fallding, "Tory comes out blazing, shoots himself in foot", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 February 2002, A1.
  15. ^ Helen Fallding, "Murray flip-flops, demotes Loewen", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 February 2002, A1; Murray McNeill, "Loewen dodges the bullet", Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 2002, B3. Loewen's apology prevented a defamation suit from Crocus.
  16. ^ "Murray had chance to be a hero over Crocus", Winnipeg Free Press, 1 June 2005, A15.
  17. ^ Martin Cash, "Crocus files made available to Conservative task force", Winnipeg Free Press, 11 May 2006.
  18. ^ Mia Rabson, "Phase out most VLTs, Tory urges", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 November 2003, A3.
  19. ^ Michelle MacAfee, "Federal Tory MP prepares to fight Liberal opponent plucked from his own ranks", Canadian Press, 23 September 2005, 16:40 report.
  20. ^ Carol Sanders, "Candidates can't be assured of votes from ethnic groups", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 January 2006.
  21. ^ Leah Janzen, "Alcock loss jolts Liberals, but Keeper keeps it even", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 January 2006, B3.
  22. ^ "Low on cash, but hopeful", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 2006, B5.

Some biographical information is taken from Loewen's website.

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