Kathy Dunderdale: Difference between revisions

Kathy Dunderdale (born c. 1952) is a Canadian politician and the tenth Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.^[1] She was sworn in as Premier on December 3, 2010 and will serve in this role until her party chooses a new leader to replace former Premier Danny Williams.^[2] Dunderdale is the first female Premier in the province's history and the sixth woman to serve as a premier in the history of Canada.^[3]

In the 2003 general election Dunderdale was elected as Member of the House of Assembly (MHA) for Virginia Waters.^[4] A Progressive Conservative she served in the cabinets of Danny Williams—at various times holding the portfolios of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development and Natural Resources—where she developed a reputation as one of the most high profile members of Wiliams' cabinets.^[5][6] When Williams resigned as Premier of the province Dunderdale was sworn in as his successor.^[7]

Dunderdale grew up in the town of Burin, Newfoundland and Labrador, and started her public service there being elected to town council to serve as a councillor, and eventually as deputy mayor of the town. During this time, she became the first woman to be elected President of the Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Municipalities while also becoming the only woman to have been made an honorary member of that organization.^[8] She has served in the past as a Director with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, and as President of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador.^[9]

Dunderdale was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2003 general election defeating Liberal cabinet minister Walter Noel by 1,835 votes, taking 58% of the popular vote.^[10] Following the election she was brought into cabinet as Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, and Minister Responsible for the Rural Secretariat.

In a July 5, 2006 cabinet shuffle Williams appointed Dunderdale as the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister Responsible for the Forestry and Agrifoods Agency..^[11] She was re-elected in the 2007 general election taking 73% of the popular vote against 3 other candidates.^[12] Dunderdale remained as Natural Resources Minister following the 2007 election and on October 31, 2008, Williams appointed her to serve as Deputy Premier and Minister Responsible for the Status of Women, while continuing to serve in her previous portfolios.^[13][14]

From February 1 to March 15, 2010, Dunderdale assumed the duties as acting Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, while Williams took a leave of absence to undergo heart surgery in Florida.^[15]

On December 3, 2010, Dunderdale was sworn in as Newfoundland and Labrador's 10th Premier, taking over for Williams who retired from politics the same day.^[16] Dunderdale is the first female Premier in the province's history and only the sixth female in Canada to lead a province or territory.^[17] After being sworn in as premier, Dunderdale announced that she would not be seeking the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party and therefore would only serve in the role of Premier till a leadership election was held in the Spring of 2011.^[18]

On December 6, 2010, Dunderdale shuffled her cabinet to replace herself as the Minister of Natural Resources, she appointed Minister Shawn Skinner as her successor and appointed Human Resources, Labour and Employment Minister Susan Sullivan as Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, Skinner's former Ministry.^[19] Child, Youth and Family Services Minister Joan Burke took on Sullivan's former portfolio's on a temporary basis till a larger cabinet shuffle is held after Chritmas to replace those ministers who decide to seek the party leadership.^[20]

On December 17, 2010, Dunderdale announced that she is reconsidering running for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party and will make a final decision after Christmas.^[21] Although Dunderdale has yet to announce if she intends to seek the Tory leadership on December 22, 2010, cabinet ministers Jerome Kennedy and Darin King, who were both seen as likely leadership candidates, announced they would not seek the leadership of the party and they each said they were encouraging Dunderdale to run and would endorse her campaign if she entered.^[22]

Upon entering the Premier's chair Dunderdale was faced with an ongoing dispute between the province's doctors and government over contract negotiations.^[23] In November, 14 doctors announced their resignations over the government's lastest offer of a 31% wage increase that they felt was not enough.^[24] At her swearing in as Premier Dunderdale stated that earlier that week she had asked Health Minister Jerome Kennedy and Finance Minister Tom Marshall to meet with the Newfoundland and Labrador Medical Association (NLMA) later that day to work out a resolution to the dispute.^[25] After the meeting Dunderdale announced she hoped to have a deal signed with the province's doctors before Christmas.^[26]

Dunderdale also announced soon after being sworn in that she wanted to end a year long strike on the Burin Peninsula that involved 15 home care workers.^[27] The government had been called on to settle the dispute but had refused to get involved seeing the workers are not direct employees of provincial government.^[28] Within 5 days of taking office Dunderdale's government reached an agreement with the workers which they unanimously accepted ending the 377 day strike.^[29]

On December 15, 2010, Dunderdale along with Ministers Kennedy and Marshall joined the NLMA president to announce that a tentative agreement between the provincial government and doctors had been reached.^[30] The offer included 100 per cent Atlantic Canadain parity within the first two years of the agreement, pay equity for salaried specialists, and retention bonuses for fee-for-service rural physicians, as a result of the new deal the 13 doctors who tendered their resignations en masse in November all rescinded their resignations effectively immediatly.^[31]

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• Kathy Dunderdale
• Office of the Premier

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