Trent Wotherspoon

Trent Wotherspoon
B.Ed. MLA
Leader of the Opposition in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
April 12, 2016
Preceded by Cam Broten
MLA for Regina Rosemont
Assumed office
November 21, 2007
Preceded by Joanne Crofford
Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party
Interim
Assumed office
April 23, 2016
Preceded by Cam Broten
Personal details
Born 1979/1980 (age 36–37)
Regina, Saskatchewan
Political party Saskatchewan New Democrat
Residence Regina, Saskatchewan
Occupation Politician, Teacher

Trent Wotherspoon is a Canadian politician[1] and the interim leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.[2] He was elected to represent the electoral district of Regina Rosemont in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 election, and was re-elected in the 2011 election. Wotherspoon was candidate for the party's leadership in 2013. In 2016, the NDP caucus elected Wotherspoon to serve as Leader of the Opposition following the defeat of Cam Broten in the 2016 provincial election and the party's provincial council elected him interim leader.[3]

Early life

Wotherspoon was born in Regina where he lives with his wife Stephanie, a school teacher. Wotherspoon went to university at the University of Regina where he completed a Bachelor of Education degree. While at university, Wotherspoon also took classes in business administration. He also ran a painting company to help cover tuition.[4]

Wotherspoon worked with the Regina Public Schools system where he helped to develop a new adult campus. He also helped implement a new holistic vocational adaptation program for students who displayed severe violent behaviours and lower cognitive abilities, and worked with the Ranch Ehrlo Society to provide addiction and behavioural treatment. Wotherspoon went on to create a youth justice program that helped high risk offenders. Also, he was a member of the Business Improvement District for the City of Regina’s Warehouse District.[5]

Political career

Wotherspoon was elected in November 2007 and over the term became the opposition critic for Finance, SaskPower and SaskEnergy, as well as Chair of the Public Accounts committee, and committee member for Crown and Central Agencies and Saskatchewan’s Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Following the 2011 election Wotherspoon continued on as the critic for Finance and SaskPower and became the new critic for Education.

2013 NDP leadership campaign

On September 14, 2012, Wotherspoon announced his candidacy for the leadership of the Saskatchewan NDP.[6][7] He was one of three declared candidates including MLA Cam Broten and doctor Ryan Meili. A fourth candidate, economist Erin Weir, withdrew from the race before the leadership vote.[8] At the leadership convention, Wotherspoon received the fewest votes on the first ballot and withdrew. Broten won on the second ballot by a narrow margin.[9]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/08/a-look-at-trent-wotherspo_n_2840260.html
  2. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/trent-wotherspoon-ndp-leader-1.3550403
  3. ↑ http://leaderpost.com/news/politics/ndps-trent-wotherspoon-elected-leader-of-the-opposition-in-legislature
  4. ↑ |http://www.trent4leader.ca/about |Trent4Leader | accessdate = 2012-11-29
  5. ↑ |http://saskndp.ca/mlas/trent-wotherspoon |Saskatchewan NDP | accessdate = 2012-11-29
  6. ↑ Couture, Joe (September 15, 2012). "Wotherspoon, Meili declare candidacy". Regina Leader-Post. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  7. ↑ Book, Patrick (September 15, 2012). "Trent Wotherspoon running for NDP leadership". News Talk 980 CJME. Rawlco Communications. Retrieved 2012-10-11.
  8. ↑ "Erin Weir drops out of Saskatchewan NDP race". CBC News. 2013-02-20. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  9. ↑ "Broten narrowly defeats Meili to become leader of Saskatchewan NDP". CBC News. 2013-03-09. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.