Hugh Daniel McFadyen (born May 31, 1967) is a lawyer and politician in Manitoba, Canada. From 2006 to 2012, he was the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, and Leader of the Opposition in the Manitoba legislature.
Following his party's loss in the 2011 election he announced that he would resign as leader as soon as a new leader is appointed.McFadyen stepping down as PC leader, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 4 October 2011. Retrieved 5 October 2011.McFadyen stepping down - Winnipeg Free Press McFadyen officially resigned on 30 July 2012.
Early life and career
McFadyen was born in Selkirk, Manitoba. His aunt Linda McIntosh was a cabinet minister in the provincial government of Gary Filmon, and his great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather were also members of the Manitoba legislature.Mia Rabson, "Newest MLA continues tradition", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 January 2006, B2. He has said that former Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin is his political hero.Alison Mayes, "He's a young old-timer", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 May 2007, B2.
McFadyen was a successful curler in his youth, and skipped his team to a Canadian Junior Championship in 1986."Roundup: Curling", The Globe and Mail, 24 February 1986, C7. This win qualified them for the 1987 World Junior Curling Championships where they won a silver medal, losing to Scotland's Douglas Dryburgh.See "Canada, Scotland clinch playoff spots", Toronto Star, 20 March 1987, F6. McFadyen's third, Jon Mead, would go on to play for Jeff Stoughton, while his second, Norman Gould, went on to curling success in Japan followed by coaching the 1996 Jeff Stoughton World Championship Curling Team.
McFadyen holds Bachelor of Arts (1990) and Bachelor of Laws (1993) degrees from the University of Manitoba.Mary Agnes Welch, "Campaign boss to join Katz team?", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 July 2004, A1; "Your provincial party leaders", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 April 2007, A4. His B.A. degree was in politics and economics. He was a researcher for the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in the mid-1990s, and was appointed principal secretary to Premier Gary Filmon following Taras Sokolyk's resignation in September 1998 following the Aboriginal vote splitting scandal."Introduction to Safeway Select field", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 February 1996, p. 6; "Lawyer named Filmon aide", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 September 1998, A10. McFadyen represented Filmon as an observer to the federal United Alternative convention, and was deputy campaign manager for the Progressive Conservatives in the 1999 provincial election.Paul Samyn, "Ontario sends most delegates to unite the right", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 1999, A3; Linda Rosborough, "A tale of two ridings", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 September 1999, B5.
The Progressive Conservatives lost the 1999 election, and McFadyen's position in the Office of the Premier ended with the Filmon government's resignation shortly thereafter. He subsequently practiced law for two years in London, UK with Clifford Chance LLP, did post-graduate work at University College London, and worked for a consulting firm in Toronto. He returned to Manitoba in 2003, and joined the firm Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson.Mia Rabson, "McFadyen makes it official", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 February 2006, A11; Hugh McFadyen biography, Aikins, MacAulay & Thorvaldson biography, originally retrieved 25 June 2004. Retrieved 11 August 2007. In early 2004, he became the Manitoba chair of Belinda Stronach's bid to lead the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada."Belinda Stronach names campaign chairs for each province" [press release], Canada NewsWire, 13 February 2004, 12:38. Stronach finished second against Stephen Harper.
McFadyen managed Sam Katz's successful campaign to become Mayor of Winnipeg in mid-2004, in a municipal by-election that followed the resignation of Glen Murray.Jason Bell, "It takes cash to win battle for mayor's job", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 June 2004, B3. Katz later appointed McFadyen as his senior political advisor.Mary Agnes Welch, "Katz pitching newer deal", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 November 2004, B1; "Mayor names new policy adviser", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 November 2005, B3. McFadyen's salary was $160,000; his successor was paid a reduced salary of $97,500.
Politician
Member of the Legislative Assembly
McFadyen resigned as advisor to the mayor in May 2005, in order to seek the federal Conservative Party nomination for Winnipeg South.Mary Agnes Welch, "Top Katz adviser quits job to seek Tory nomination", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 April 2005, A6. He defeated rival candidate Rod Bruinooge by only twelve votes at the nomination meeting.Daniel Lett, "Ex-adviser to mayor running for Tories", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 May 2005, B4. When the federal election was deferred, McFadyen was hired by provincial Progressive Conservative leader Stuart Murray as a consultant on urban issues."Murray hires former press secretary for Harper", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 July 2005, A9. The Progressive Conservatives were the Official Opposition party in this period, having lost a second election to the New Democratic Party under Gary Doer in 2003.
Later in 2005, McFadyen resigned his federal nomination to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for a provincial by-election in Fort Whyte. He was supported by Gary Filmon, and again defeated Bruinooge for the nomination.Bill Redekop, "Tory stronghold claimed by mayor's former aide", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 October 2005, B3. Fort Whyte is a safe Progressive Conservative seat, and McFadyen was elected without difficulty in December.
Stuart Murray announced his resignation as Progressive Conservative leader in November 2005, after receiving a lukewarm endorsement at the party's annual convention. McFadyen was soon mentioned as a possible successor, even before his election to the legislature."Possible candidates to lead the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 2005, A8; Mia Rabson, "Tories look for a leader", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 November 2005, A1; Mia Rabson, "Murray calls it quits", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 November 2006, A3. In February 2006, he became the first candidate to officially declare for the party leadership. His campaign was supported by fourteen MLAs, including Jack Reimer, Kelvin Goertzen and Cliff Cullen, as well as former cabinet ministers Rosemary Vodrey, David Newman, Jim Downey and Shirley Render.Mia Rabson, "McFadyen makes it official", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 February 2006, A11; Mia Rabson, "Tory 1, Tory 2 or Tory 3?", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 April 2006, A1; Mia Rabson, "Tories crown McFadyen chief", Winnipeg Free Press, 30 April 2006, A1. He defeated rival candidates Ron Schuler and Ken Waddell on 29 April 2006.
Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party
McFadyen's first months as party leader were successful. The Progressive Conservatives surpassed the NDP in public opinion polls in June 2006, for the first time since 1999.Daniel Lett, "Support for Tories surging", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 July 2006, A1. Two further polls in late 2006 also showed the Progressive Conservatives with a narrow lead, while another in March 2007 showed the parties tied for popular support. See Mia Rabson, "Manitoba NDP, Tories in dead heat for voters", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 2006, A1; Mia Rabson, "Poll suggests victory for NDP", 16 December 2006, A1; Kevin Rollason, "Poll shows race deadlocked...and that means NDP will win", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 March 2007, A6. The article title refers to the fact that PC support was concentrated in rural areas, while the NDP led in Winnipeg. McFadyen strongly criticized the Doer government over its alleged failure to protect investors from the failure of the Crocus Investment Fund, and launched a party task force into the matter headed by former cabinet minister Don Orchard.Martin Cash, "Crocus files made available to Conservative task force", Winnipeg Free Press, 11 May 2006. He also advocated fixed provincial election dates, and accused Doer of failing to keep an earlier pledge to end "hallway medicine" in the province.Paul Samyn, "Parliamentary overhaul", Winnipeg Free Press, 31 May 2006, A1; Mia Rabson, "Hallway medicine haunts Doer", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 August 2006, A4.
In late 2006, McFadyen reversed his party's former position and promised to continue Manitoba's tuition freeze if elected as Premier.Mia Rabson, "McFadyen's move to keep tuition freeze a shocker", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 2006, A10. He also promised compensation for investors in the Crocus fund and financial incentives for Manitobans buying energy-efficient cars, raised the prospect of sharing the provincial sales tax with cities, and argued that parents who allow their children to wander the streets at night should be held responsible if their children commit crimes.Martin Cash, "Crocus rally demands answers", Winnipeg Free Press, 2 November 2006, B3; Mia Rabson, "Tory leader leans toward green", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 November 2006, A3; Mia Rabson, "McFadyen idea an echo of ex-mayor's New Deal", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 November 2006, A8; Mia Rabson, "McFadyen wants parents to pay", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 October 2006, A1. In early 2007, he called for increased standards tests in public schools. The latter message was opposed by the Manitoba Teachers' Society. See Nick Martin, "Teachers' union denounces standard testing", Winnipeg Free Press, 30 January 2007, web extra.
During a speech in September 2006, McFadyen described the former New Democratic Party government of Howard Pawley as having been influenced by communism. This statement was widely criticized, and Pawley described it as "fallacious and ridiculous". McFadyen initially refused to withdraw the accusation, and said that there had been card-carrying members of the Communist Party in Pawley's government.McFadyen's original statement was "Manitoba was taken over and ruled by an ideologically driven NDP government that found its inspiration in socialist and communist ideas that were then in vogue in eastern Europe". See Steve Pona, "Pawley: Tory leader has gone overboard", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 2006, A13. (This was undoubtedly a reference to Roland Penner, a former member of the communist Labor-Progressive Party who served in Pawley's cabinet during the 1980s. Penner indicated that he had left the LPP in 1960, several years before he ran as an NDP candidate.)Penner was reported to have burst out laughing when told that McFadyen had accused the Pawley government of being inspired by socialist and communist ideas. See Mia Rabson, "Communist ties in past no secret, Penner says", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 September 2006, A8. McFadyen's remarks were also criticized by Sidney Green, a former cabinet minister in the NDP government of Edward Schreyer and subsequently an opponent of Pawley's ministry. See Sidney Green, "Pawley's NDP was neither radical nor socialist", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 September 2006, A13. Darrell Rankin, leader of the Communist Party of Canada - Manitoba, confirmed that there were no card-carrying members of the Communist Party in Pawley's government. See Darrell Rankin, "Howard Pawley correct", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 September 2006, A18.
In March 2007, McFadyen introduced a ten-point plan designed to make Manitoba Hydro a major player in the clean energy sector. The proposal was dismissed by the NDP as a thinly veiled plan to privatize the utility, a charge that McFadyen denied.Mary Agnes Welch, "Manitoba Clean Energy Company?", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 March 2007, A9.
2007 election