Danny Williams (politician)
Encyclopedia : D : DA : DAN : Danny Williams (politician)
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| Rank: | 9th Premier |
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| Term of Office: | November 6, 2003 – Present |
| Predecessor: | Roger Grimes |
| Successor: | incumbent |
| Date of Birth: | August 4, 1949 |
| Place of Birth: | St. John's |
| Spouse: | Maureen Power |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Political affiliation: | Progressive Conservative |
Danny Williams, Q.C. , LL.B. , BA (born August 4, 1949 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador) is a Canadian businessman and politician. He is currently the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Williams first attended Saint Bonaventure's College in St. John's, and then Memorial University, where he received a degree in political science and economics. In 1969, he was awarded the Rhodes Scholarship and went to Oxford University, earning a Degree in Arts in Law. He then earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Williams practised law from 1972, becoming a financially successful lawyer, and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1984. While still in law school, Williams led a consortium of businesspeople that was granted Newfoundland's first cable television licence. Through major acquisitions, he built Cable Atlantic into one of the largest communications companies in Atlantic Canada. As the principal owner, he eventually sold it to Rogers Cable Inc. for 282 million dollars. Williams also served as president of OIS Fisher, an offshore oil and natural gas company.
Williams ran for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2001. He was elected leader of the party and gained the seat of Humber West in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in a by-election.
He led his party to victory in the 2003 general election and became the province's ninth premier. The first year of his administration was marked by confrontations between his government and labour unions of the civil service.
He attracted considerable national attention on 23 December 2004 when he ordered all Canadian flags removed from provincial buildings in reply to a dispute with then Prime Minister Paul Martin over inequities in revenues accruing to Newfoundland and Labrador over its offshore oil resources. Several weeks later, in late January 2005, Williams and Martin reached a deal which revised the royalty formula and saw the Government of Canada award Newfoundland $2.6 billion CAD as an advance on royalties.
On March 3, 2006, Williams appeared on Larry King Live where Paul McCartney and his wife Heather Mills McCartney debated the seal hunt with him. During this debate, McCartney claimed that any reasonable person who has seen footage of seals being clubbed would not come away believing this is humane. Premier Williams rebutted, claiming that the McCartneys were puppets of the issue that helped bankroll the organisations in protest of the seal hunt; he then invited the McCartneys to visit Newfoundland and Labrador during the interview.
Williams consistently has approval ratings that rank among the highest of any Canadian politician. In March 2005 one poll showed it as high as 86%.[link]
On June 21, 2006, Williams announced the resignation of Ed Byrne, the Government House Leader and Minister of Natural Resources, who was under investigation by the provincial Auditor General, John Noseworthy, for making excessive claims against his constituency allowance.
External links
- [Office of the Premier Bio]
- [Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador]
- [Canada Conservative Gets Aggressive With Big Oil], NYTimes article
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| Colonial Premiers: Little | Kent | Hoyles | Carter | Bennett | Carter | Whiteway | Thorburn | Whiteway | Goodridge | Greene | Whiteway | Winter | Bond Dominion Prime Ministers: Morris | Lloyd | Cashin | Squires | Warren | Hickman | Monroe | Alderdice | Squires | Alderdice Provincial Premiers: Smallwood | Moores | Peckford | Rideout | Wells | Tobin | Tulk | Grimes | Williams | ||
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