Monte Solberg
Monte Solberg | |
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Member of Parliament forMedicine Hat | |
In office October 25, 1993 – October 14, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Bob Porter |
Succeeded by | LaVar Payne |
Personal details | |
Born | Monte Kenton Solberg September 17, 1958 Calgary,Alberta,Canada |
Political party | Conservative(2003–present) |
Other political affiliations | Reform(1993–2000) Canadian Alliance(2000–2003) |
Spouse | Deb Solberg |
Children | Matt Solberg, Michael Solberg |
Residence | Brooks, Alberta |
Profession | Broadcaster, Businessman |
Portfolio | Minister of Human Resources and Social Development |
Monte Kenton Solberg,PC(born September 17, 1958) is aCanadianbusinessman and politician. Solberg is a formerMember of Parliament,representing the riding ofMedicine Hatin theHouse of Commons of Canadaas a member of theConservative Party of Canada.He was the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and later served as theMinister of Human Resources and Social Development.He has also served as Critic forForeign Affairs,National Revenue,andHuman Resources Development.
Solberg is now a Principal at New West Public Affairs, a Canadian national public affairs firm based in western Canada, and headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.
Solberg was the owner of the right-wing news aggregate website, News Hub Nation, from which he frequently blogged about current events and features exclusive content from conservative personalities.
Early life
[edit]Solberg was born inCalgary,Alberta.A former broadcaster and businessman, Solberg is ofNorwegianancestry.[1]
Political career
[edit]He was elected as aReform PartyMember of Parliament(MP) in 1993 and 1997, and as aCanadian AllianceMP in 2000. In 2001, Solberg was one of 13 MPs who were suspended from the Canadian Alliance caucus for criticizing the leadership ofStockwell Day.He sat as an Independent Alliance MP for the summer, joining theDemocratic Representative Caucusin September before returning to the Alliance in April 2002. He was also one of four Alliance MPs who agreed to sit with theProgressive Conservativecaucus (to preserve theirofficial party status) after the December 9, 2003, creation of the merged Conservative Party, as the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parliamentary caucuses were not officially merged until a few weeks later. He was re-elected as a Conservative MP in the2004 election.
Solberg kept a high-profileblog,and in 2005, is thought to have made history when, using hisBlackBerry,he blogged from the floor of the House of Commons immediately upon the passage ofBill C-38,which provided legal recognition ofsame-sex marriage.Solberg was opposed to the bill. In 2006, Solberg again won hisMedicine Hatriding, with 79.7% of the vote, the second highest winning percentage in the country for the2006 federal election.He suspended updating his blog after being appointedMinister of Citizenship and Immigration.
In the January 4, 2007, cabinet shuffle, Solberg was appointed the new minister of Human Resources and Social Development, replacingDiane Finley.
Retirement and present status
[edit]Thought by some to seek a leadership bid of the Conservative party, Solberg surprised many when he announced on September 4, 2008, that he was retiring from politics and would not be a candidate in the40th Canadian federal election.[2]
Solberg is a columnist with theCalgary Sun,a contributor toSun News Network,formerly a full-time consultant forFleishman-Hillard Canada,and now Principal at New West Public Affairs, a public affairs firm based in Calgary. He also serves as a Governor with the International Development Research Centre, a crown corporation dedicated to generating and applying new knowledge to meet the challenges facing the world's poorest countries.
References
[edit]- ^"The Harper Administration, Day One".
- ^Chase, Steven (September 4, 2008)."Solberg retiring from politics".The Globe and Mail.Retrieved2015-05-31.
External links
[edit]- 1958 births
- Businesspeople from Calgary
- Canadian Alliance MPs
- Canadian evangelicals
- Canadian people of Norwegian descent
- Conservative Party of Canada MPs
- Living people
- Canadian male bloggers
- Members of the 28th Canadian Ministry
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta
- Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
- People from Brooks, Alberta
- Politicians from Calgary
- Reform Party of Canada MPs
- Writers from Calgary
- Politicians affected by a party expulsion process