Rod Bruinooge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rod E. Bruinooge | |
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Member of Parliament
for Winnipeg South |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2006 election |
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| Preceded by | Reg Alcock |
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| Born | May 6, 1973 Thompson, Manitoba |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Profession | Entrepreneur, executive director, film producer |
Rod E. Bruinooge (born May 6, 1973) is a Canadian politician, businessman, and filmmaker. He was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Winnipeg South in the 2006 federal election, and is currently the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. Bruinooge is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and is an Aboriginal Canadian of Métis descent.
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[edit] Early life and career
Bruinooge was born in Thompson, Manitoba, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Manitoba.[1] He attended the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's 1993 leadership convention as a youth delegate, supporting Kim Campbell.[2] Bruinooge became chief executive and president of Abject Modernity Internet Creations Ltd. in the late 1990s, and worked as a consultant.[3]
Bruinooge has served as a director of the River View Health Centre and the Manitoba Children's Museum, and has done organizational work for the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film and Video Festival and the North American Indigenous Games. He started the Winnipeg International Film Festival in 2005, and was its executive director until February 2006.[4]
[edit] The Stone
Bruinooge developed an internet game/mystery entitled The Stone in 1995, and launched it as a consumer product in 1997. The game was strongly influenced by the Publius Enigma, a conceptual mystery involving hidden messages in the cover art of Pink Floyd's The Division Bell (1994). The Stone was profiled by Forbes Magazine in 1999, and has been featured in other international journals.
In September 2004, Bruinooge and co-director Scott Jaworski released a film entitled Stoners,[5] covering the activities of an internet gaming community that emerged around The Stone.[6] The film features several tracks from The Division Bell in its soundtrack, used with Pink Floyd's permission.[7] The film was not well received and failed to screen at any film festivals. Rod then started his own film festival, the Winnipeg International Film Festival, at which he programmed his own film. He received a lot of speculation from the local film community that he started the festival for selfish reasons. [8]
[edit] Politician
- Candidate
Bruinooge was a frequent candidate for public office before his election in 2006. He first sought the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination for Riel in 2002, but withdrew when it became clear that the nomination date would be in flux for some time.[9]
He later campaigned as the Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South in the 2004 federal election. One of his more creative campaign advertisements was a self-directed, fifteen-second promotional film entitled "Big Tobacco", which compared Paul Martin's efforts at government renewal to misleading tobacco advertising. The spot ran as a preview for Shrek 2 in some Winnipeg theatres.[10]
Bruinooge was one of only three aboriginal candidates to run for the Conservative Party in the 2004 election. The Conservative Party has sometimes been depicted as hostile to aboriginal interests, and at one point in the campaign Bruinooge and party leader Stephen Harper were the targets of a protest by aboriginal activists, including David Chartrand of the Manitoba Métis Federation.[11] Bruinooge finished second in the election against Liberal incumbent Reg Alcock.
Bruinooge sought the Conservative nomination for Winnipeg South for a second time in the spring of 2005, but lost to rival candidate Hugh McFadyen by twelve votes.[12] A few months later, he was defeated by McFadyen a second time in a contest for the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Fort Whyte.[13] It has been reported that McFadyen's margin of victory on the latter occasion was only six votes.
McFadyen resigned his federal nomination when he chose to run provincially, and Bruinooge was chosen as the Conservative candidate in his place. His candidacy was endorsed on January 18, 2006 by Vote Marriage Canada, a group which opposes same-sex marriage.[14] Although Bruinooge is a member of the Manitoba Métis Federation, that organization endorsed Reg Alcock.[15]
Bruinooge defeated Alcock by 111 votes on election day, in what most political observers described as a significant upset. Bruinooge was aided by a national trend toward his party, as well as by Alcock's decision to spend most of his time canvassing with Liberal candidates in other ridings.[16]
- Member of Parliament
The Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 election. In early February 2006, Bruinooge was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians. He was the only Aboriginal member of the Government benches until Rob Clarke was elected on the St Patrick's Day Byelections of 2008. In January 2007, he represented his government in signing a deal with Siemens that was designed to increase aboriginal employment.[17]
At the Assembly of First Nations General Assembly in Nova Scotia in July 2007, Bruinooge described the Paul Martin government's Kelowna Accord on aboriginal investment as nothing more than an "expensive press release". This statement was strongly criticized by Assembly of First Nations leader Phil Fontaine.[18] In the same month, Bruinooge vocally supported the Harper government's efforts to place Canada's Indian Act under the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some native groups have argued that the Human Rights Act's focus on individual rights will undermine the communal rights of aboriginal communities. [19]
In January 2008, Bruinooge said that the Harper government was considering adapting provincial funding models in British Columbia and Alberta to address education and child-welfare programs in Manitoba.[20]
[edit] Table of offices held
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Reg Alcock |
Member of Parliament for Winnipeg South 2006- |
Succeeded by incumbent |
[edit] External links
[edit] Electoral record
| 2006 federal election : Winnipeg South edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||
| Conservative | Rod Bruinooge | 17,328 | 41.42 | $68,461.08 | ||
| Liberal | (x)Reg Alcock | 17,217 | 41.15 | $57,453.38 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Robert Page | 5,743 | 13.73 | $1,973.24 | ||
| Green | Wesley Owen Whiteside | 1,289 | 3.08 | |||
| Christian Heritage | Heidi Loewen-Steffano | 259 | 0.62 | $503.33 | ||
| Total valid votes | 41,836 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 111 | |||||
| Turnout | 41,947 | 70.39 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 59,594 | |||||
| 2004 federal election : Winnipeg South edit | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | Expenditures | ||
| Liberal | (x)Reg Alcock | 19,270 | 51.31 | $63,885.73 | ||
| Conservative | Rod Bruinooge | 12,770 | 34.00 | $67,207.73 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Catherine Green | 4,217 | 11.23 | $6,919.66 | ||
| Green | Ron Cameron | 1,003 | 2.67 | $702.79 | ||
| Christian Heritage | Jane MacDiarmid | 296 | 0.79 | $4,202.05 | ||
| Total valid votes | 37,556 | 100.00 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 110 | |||||
| Turnout | 37,666 | 63.23 | ||||
| Electors on the lists | 59,572 | |||||
All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ ^ Canada Votes 2004, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Winnipeg South riding profile
- ^ John Douglas, "Campbell slips in Manitoba", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 June 1993, Canadian Wire Stories. His name is erroneously listed as "Ron Bruinooge".
- ^ Simon Avery, "Canada's video gamers take 'mature' tack", National Post, 13 May 1999, C01/front.
- ^ Winnipeg International Film Festival website, 2005 listing.
- ^ IMDB Entry: Stoners
- ^ "The Stone", website [1]
- ^ "Creator of online game", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 2004, D4.
- ^ CBC News: Winnipeg Film Fest fuss
- ^ Mia Rabson, "Tories look for answers in membership dispute", Winnipeg Free Press, 2 November 2002, A6.
- ^ Frank Landry, "Campaign trailers", Winnipeg Sun, 26 May 2004.
- ^ Len Kruzenga, "Listen to natives, not just their leaders", National Post, 15 July 2004, A18.
- ^ Bill Redekop, "Tory stronghold claimed by mayor's former aide", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 October 2005, B3.
- ^ "McFadyen to represent Tories in Fort Whyte", CBC Manitoba, 19 October 2005, 07:55 report.
- ^ "Vote Marriage Canada announces fifty pro-marriage candidates in the Prairie Provinces and the N.W.T." (official press release), Canada NewsWire, 08:40 report, 18 January 2006.
- ^ Leah Janzen, "Alcock the target for years", Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 2005, A12.
- ^ Daniel Lett, "Winnipeg South/Reg Alcock", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 January 2006, B7.
- ^ "Canada's new government signs agreement with Siemens to increase Aboriginal employment and economic opportunities" [Government press release], Canada NewsWire, 24 January 2007, 12:05 report.
- ^ "Tory comments on Kelowna anger First Nations leaders", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 13 July 2007, D10.
- ^ Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition parties team up to block Native bill", National Post, 26 July 2007, A4; Meagan Fitzpatrick And Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition MPs delay Tory plan for native rights", National Post, 27 July 2007, A4.
- ^ Mia Rabson, "MP offers options for children on welfare", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 January 2008, A9.
Some biographical information is taken from Bruinooge's official website.
