Denis Rocan
Encyclopedia
Denis Rocan is a politician in Manitoba
, Canada
. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
from 1986 to 2007, and served as speaker of the assembly
from 1988 to 1995. Rocan was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party
, but became an independent in 2007.
Rocan was born to a French Canadian
family in Somerset, Manitoba
and was raised in north-end Winnipeg
. He is also métis by background and a direct descendant of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière
and Marie-Anne Gaboury
. He was educated at Sacré-Coeur in Winnipeg
, Somerset Collegiate and Otterburne College. He is fluently bilingual in English and French. Rocan worked as a farmer before entering political life, and also operated a building and moving company and a grain business. He is a Shriner and a freemason, as well as a member of the Royal Canadian Legion
.
He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election
, winning the rural, southern constituency of Turtle Mountain. Rural seats in southern Manitoba are generally considered safe for the Progressive Conservative party, and Rocan was elected by more than 2,000 votes over his nearest opponent. The New Democratic Party
won the election, and Rocan served as a member of the opposition.
Rocan was re-elected over Liberal
candidate Ross McMillan in the 1988 election
, though his majority was cut to about 600 votes. The Progressive Conservatives emerged from this election with a minority government
, and Rocan was appointed as speaker
of the assembly by premier
Gary Filmon
on July 21, 1988.
Support for the Liberal Party declined in the 1990 provincial election
, and Rocan was easily re-elected in the redistributed constituency of Gladstone
. He won the constituency a second time in the 1995 election
, but was not re-appointed as speaker and served for the next four years as a backbench supporter of Filmon's government. Rocan was respected by all parties in the legislature, and his tenure as speaker was free of the controversies over partisanship which plagued his successor, Louise Dacquay
.
Further redistribution brought Rocan into the riding of Carman for the 1999 provincial election
. He was easily returned, and was re-elected again in the 2003 election
. The Progressive Conservatives lost both elections to the New Democratic Party, and Rocan now serves as a member of the opposition. A former smoker, he supported premier Gary Doer
's efforts to ban public smoking in 2003.
Rocan supported his friend Reg Alcock
in the federal elections of 2000
and 2004
, despite the fact that Alcock is a Liberal
.
On November 16, 2006, Rocan lost the Carman Conservative nomination to Blaine Pedersen
. On April 18, 2007, Rocan was removed from the Conservative caucus for supporting the NDP budget, which his party opposed.http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/04/18/rocan-out.html He considered running as an independent candidate in the 2007 election
, but declined.
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the lieutenant governor form the Legislature of Manitoba, the legislature of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Fifty-seven members are elected to this assembly in provincial general elections, all in single-member constituencies with first-past-the-post...
from 1986 to 2007, and served as speaker of the assembly
Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba
The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba is the presiding officer of the provincial legislature.-List of Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba:-References:* *...
from 1988 to 1995. Rocan was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba is the only right wing political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is also the official opposition party in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.-Origins and early years:...
, but became an independent in 2007.
Rocan was born to a French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
family in Somerset, Manitoba
Somerset, Manitoba
Somerset is a village in south-central Manitoba, Canada. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Lorne. The village had a 2006 census population of 432 inhabitants, a decline of 5.88% from 459 during the 2001 census.-External links:*...
and was raised in north-end Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
. He is also métis by background and a direct descendant of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière
Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière
Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière was a French Canadian trapper employed in the fur trade by the Hudson's Bay Company in Rupert's Land....
and Marie-Anne Gaboury
Marie-Anne Gaboury
Marie-Anne Lagimodière was a French-Canadian woman noted as both the grandmother of Louis Riel, and as the first woman of European descent to travel to and settle in what is now Western Canada....
. He was educated at Sacré-Coeur in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
, Somerset Collegiate and Otterburne College. He is fluently bilingual in English and French. Rocan worked as a farmer before entering political life, and also operated a building and moving company and a grain business. He is a Shriner and a freemason, as well as a member of the Royal Canadian Legion
Royal Canadian Legion
The Royal Canadian Legion is a non-profit Canadian ex-service organization founded in 1925, with more than 400,000 members worldwide. Membership includes people who have served as current and former military, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, provincial and municipal police, direct relatives of...
.
He was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1986
The Manitoba general election of March 18, 1986 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which took 30 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party won 26 seats and formed the official opposition...
, winning the rural, southern constituency of Turtle Mountain. Rural seats in southern Manitoba are generally considered safe for the Progressive Conservative party, and Rocan was elected by more than 2,000 votes over his nearest opponent. The New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party of Manitoba
The New Democratic Party of Manitoba is a social-democratic political party in Manitoba, Canada. It is the provincial wing of the federal New Democratic Party, and is a successor to the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation...
won the election, and Rocan served as a member of the opposition.
Rocan was re-elected over Liberal
Manitoba Liberal Party
The Manitoba Liberal Party is a political party in Manitoba, Canada. Its roots can be traced to the late nineteenth-century, following the province's creation in 1870.-Origins and early development :...
candidate Ross McMillan in the 1988 election
Manitoba general election, 1988
The Manitoba general election of April 26, 1988 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It resulted in a minority government...
, though his majority was cut to about 600 votes. The Progressive Conservatives emerged from this election with a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, and Rocan was appointed as speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the assembly by premier
Premier of Manitoba
The Premier of Manitoba is the first minister for the Canadian province of Manitoba. He or she is the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. Until the early 1970s, the title "Prime Minister of Manitoba" was used frequently. Afterwards, the word Premier, derived from the French...
Gary Filmon
Gary Filmon
Gary Albert Filmon, PC, OC, OM is a Manitoba politician. He was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba from 1983 to 2000, and served as the 19th Premier from 1988 to 1999.-Early life and municipal career:...
on July 21, 1988.
Support for the Liberal Party declined in the 1990 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1990
The Manitoba general election of September 11, 1990 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which took 30 out of 57 seats...
, and Rocan was easily re-elected in the redistributed constituency of Gladstone
Gladstone (electoral district)
Gladstone is a former provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created in 1879 in what was then the province's western tip, with the expansion of the province's western boundary, and eliminated by redistribution in 1881. It was re-established in 1903 and was not...
. He won the constituency a second time in the 1995 election
Manitoba general election, 1995
The Manitoba general election of April 25,1995 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the Progressive Conservative Party, which won 31 seats out of 57...
, but was not re-appointed as speaker and served for the next four years as a backbench supporter of Filmon's government. Rocan was respected by all parties in the legislature, and his tenure as speaker was free of the controversies over partisanship which plagued his successor, Louise Dacquay
Louise Dacquay
Louise Dacquay is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba frm 1990 to 2003, and served as speaker of the assembly from 1995 to 1999....
.
Further redistribution brought Rocan into the riding of Carman for the 1999 provincial election
Manitoba general election, 1999
The Manitoba general election of September 21, 1999 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada....
. He was easily returned, and was re-elected again in the 2003 election
Manitoba general election, 2003
The Manitoba general election held on June 3, 2003 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 35 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with twenty seats...
. The Progressive Conservatives lost both elections to the New Democratic Party, and Rocan now serves as a member of the opposition. A former smoker, he supported premier Gary Doer
Gary Doer
Gary Albert Doer, OM is a Canadian diplomat and politician from Manitoba, Canada. Since October 19, 2009, he has served as Canada's Ambassador to the United States...
's efforts to ban public smoking in 2003.
Rocan supported his friend Reg Alcock
Reg Alcock
Reginald B. Alcock, PC was a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Winnipeg South in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2006 and was a cabinet minister in the government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. Alcock was a member of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Early life and...
in the federal elections of 2000
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
and 2004
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
, despite the fact that Alcock is a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
On November 16, 2006, Rocan lost the Carman Conservative nomination to Blaine Pedersen
Blaine Pedersen
Blaine Pedersen is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba in the 2007 provincial election, for the electoral division of Carman. Pederson is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.-Electoral results:...
. On April 18, 2007, Rocan was removed from the Conservative caucus for supporting the NDP budget, which his party opposed.http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/04/18/rocan-out.html He considered running as an independent candidate in the 2007 election
Manitoba general election, 2007
The Manitoba general election held on May 22, 2007 was held to elect Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Manitoba, Canada. It was won by the New Democratic Party, which won 36 seats out of 57. The Progressive Conservative Party finished second with nineteen seats. The Liberal...
, but declined.