ST. JOHN’S, Newfoundland – Canadian Industry Minister Brian Tobin resigned as Minister of Industry and walked away from cabinet and the Parliament. His stunning resignation throws Liberal leadership bid into question.
“After weeks of reflection and discussion … I am here today to announce, effective noon today, that I have resigned as Minister for Industry Canada, and in the coming days I will resign as MP for Bonavista-Trinity-Conception,” sais Mr. Tobin at a news conference in St. John’s.
He said that “It was time to move on, and write a new chapter.”
Mr. Tobin indicated at the press conference that his decision to quit politics had nothing to do with the undeclared Liberal leadership race, in which he was seen as a contender with Finance Minister Paul Martin and Foreign Minister John Manley, in his bid to succeed Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.
“Let me be clear before you ask: this decision is not strategic. This decision is not political,” Mr. Tobin said to reporters.
Mr. Tobin was first elected to the House of Commons in 1980 as Member of Parliament for Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.
He won re-election in 1984, 1988 and 1993 and was appointed Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on November 4, 1993.
In 1996, Mr. Tobin entered provincial politics in his native province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where he was acclaimed as the Province’s sixth Premier. Mr. Tobin won two consecutive majority governments since then, most recently in the provincial general election of February 9th of 1999.
As Premier, Mr. Tobin set an aggressive development agenda, with a strategic economic plan to capitalize on the province’s traditional industries such as the fishery, and maximize emerging sectors such as information technology, and offshore petroleum. Newfoundland and Labrador’s economic turnaround has been dramatic. Over the last three years, the provinces’s Gross Domestic Product was one of the fastest growing in Canada.
Brian Tobin was appointed Minister of Industry on October 17, 2000 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. On November 27, 2000, Mr. Tobin was elected MP for the riding of Bonavista-Trinity-Conception.
Mr. Tobin, who studied at Memorial University of Newfoundland, is married to Jodean Smith of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador. They have three children: Heather, Adam and John.
Tobin’s resignation comes after his national broadband Internet scheme was derailed before the last federal budget.
