Rodney Edward Laporte is a Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

 lawyer and a former Canadian Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP). Before becoming a politician, Laporte had been a student of history and Law at the University of Regina

University of Regina

The University of Regina is a public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the University of Saskatchewan as a junior college in 1925, and was disaffiliated...

http://www.uregina.ca/arts/history/forms/HONOURS%20ESSAY-web-2006.pdf.

Laporte became the New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...

 (NDP) MP for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre

Moose Jaw—Lake Centre

Moose Jaw—Lake Centre was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1953 to 1968 and from 1988 to 1997....

 in the 1988 federal election

Canadian federal election, 1988

The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

, winning a riding that had been a Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 (PC) stronghold for thirty years http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes/riding/232/. It was a very narrow win, garnering only 408 votes more than PC Candidate Bill Gottselig http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=9676. In the 1993 election

Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

, he lost the seat to Reform Party

Reform Party of Canada

The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....

 candidate Allan Kerpan

Allan Kerpan

Allan Edward Joseph Kerpan is a Canadian politician.Kerpan attended public school in Kenaston from 1960 to 1972, but attended St Peter's College, Muenster during 1969-70....

. His loss was even narrower that his initial win: only 320 votes separated him from the winner http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/HFER/hfer.asp?Language=E&Search=Cresdetail&Election=8691.

During the 2002–2003 NDP leadership race

New Democratic Party leadership election, 2003

The New Democratic Party leadership election of 2003 was held to replace New Democratic Party of Canada leader Alexa McDonough, after her retirement...

, Laporte endorsed Bill Blaikie

Bill Blaikie

William Alexander "Bill" Blaikie, PC is a Canadian politician. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba since April 2009, representing the Winnipeg division of Elmwood as a member of the New Democratic Party of Manitoba, and Minister of Conservation and Government House Leader...

. Laporte now practises law for the Saskatchewan Legal Aid Commission in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan

Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan

Meadow Lake is a city located in north west Saskatchewan, Canada about north east of Lloydminster and north of North Battleford. On November 9, 2009, it officially became Saskatchewan's 14th city....

http://pview.findlaw.com/view/1480000_1. He is also the President of Canadian Union of Public Employees

Canadian Union of Public Employees

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...

 Local 1949.

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