Glen Murray (politician)

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For the ice hockey player, see Glen Murray (hockey player).

Glen Murray (born October 27, 1957) is a politician who was formerly the mayor of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was the first openly gay mayor in a large North American city.^[1]

Murray was born in Montreal, Quebec and attended John Abbott College and Concordia University. Prior to being entering politics, he was a coordinator of health education, working with AIDS patients at a Winnipeg clinic. A 1992 documentary film A Kind of Family followed the relationship of Murray with his foster son, a 17-year-old tough street kid. ^[2]

Murray served as city councillor from 1990 to 1998. He was first elected to council as the candidate of an alliance called "Winnipeg into the '90s"^[3], defeating businessman Sam Katz.

He was elected mayor on October 28, 1998 with 50.5% of the vote in a close race against grocer Peter Kaufmann, who received 45% of the vote. Murray was re-elected in 2002 over former councillor Al Golden. Winnipeg was the world's largest city with an openly LGBT mayor until Bertrand Delanoë was elected mayor of Paris.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, when Winnipeg hosted the Pan American Games, Murray became nationally known across Canada.

On May 7, 2004, Murray announced that he would run in the 2004 Canadian federal election after several months of denying rumours to this effect. He ran as a candidate for the Liberal Party in the riding of Charleswood—St. James as one of the party's "star candidates". On May 11, 2004, Murray announced his resignation as mayor of Winnipeg. In doing so, he became the first mayor in Winnipeg history to resign mid-term.

On June 28, 2004, Murray was defeated in his attempt to become a member of the Canadian House of Commons by Conservative Steven Fletcher. Some believe this was due in part to a local issue: Murray highlighted the Moray Bridge and the associated Charleswood Parkway, although he had actually opposed such work when on city council. Also, Murray had been seeking candidacy in a suburban riding despite his main support base being in the city centre. Lastly, he was criticized for pedestrian bridge which went overbudget (due to the expense of plumbing for a washroom), a pet project that he had supported as mayor.^{[citation needed]}

Councilor Dan Vandal, a staunch Murray supporter, ran to succeed Murray as mayor but was defeated by Sam Katz by around 43,000 votes.[1]

Murray was appointed by Prime Minister Paul Martin as chair of a National Round Table on the Environment and Economy in March 2005, despite opposition from other political parties and a non-binding vote against his appointment in the House of Commons. He now lives in Toronto where he is President and CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute. He also lectures at the University of Toronto's Massey College.

Speaking at a public event in Winnipeg Murray critcized Katz's downtown layout plan.^[4]