Cam Calder

Campbell Gordon Calder^[1] (born 1952), known as Cam Calder is a New Zealand doctor and politician representing the National Party as a member of Parliament.

Background

Originally a dentist by trade, Calder was retraining as a doctor when he lost the sight in one eye through an accident.^[2] Calder previously served as president of the French New Zealand Business Council and has served on the international governing body for pétanque.^[3] He takes credit for being one of the people who "imported" pétanque into New Zealand.^[2] He has two children.^[2]

Member of Parliament

Calder was number 58 on the National Party List in the 2008 election. The provisional results of the election would have made him an MP, but the number of seats allocated to the National Party dropped by one in the final count, preventing Calder from entering Parliament.^[3] Calder also contested the Manurewa electorate in the 2008 and 2011 elections, but lost to Labour MPs George Hawkins and to Louisa Wall respectively.

After the resignation of Richard Worth on 12 June 2009, Calder entered Parliament in his place.^[4] He was declared elected by the Chief Electoral Officer on 16 June 2009.^[5]

In Caucus, Calder serves on the Law and Order and Local Government and Environment Select Committees. A member of the Blue-Greens Caucus Committee, he believes that the opportunities for New Zealand in Clean-Green Technology are significant and is interested in strategies to promote the decentralised generation of power from renewable sources - Calder has authored a discussion paper on the subject.^{[citation needed]}

His background, as a medical practitioner, has convinced him of the importance of personal responsibility in the maintenance of a healthy population. He is an enthusiastic advocate of a campaign to raise awareness of prostate cancer among New Zealand males.^{[citation needed]}

A long term interest in Education has led him to canvass caucus support for an addition to Te Whariki, The Early Childhoood Education Curriculum, of a requirement to introduce children, four years and older, to the alphabet and basic numeracy.^{[citation needed]}

Calder announced in October 2013 that he is going to retire from Parliament at the next general election.^[6]

References

External links

• Dr Cam Calder MP official site
• Profile at National party
• Profile at New Zealand Parliament