Rod Bruinooge
Author: tianliEarly life and career
Bruinooge was born in Thompson, Manitoba, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Manitoba. He attended the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's 1993 leadership convention as a youth delegate, supporting Kim Campbell. Bruinooge became chief executive and president of Abject Modernity Internet Creations Ltd. in the late 1990s, and worked as a consultant.
Bruinooge has served as a director of the River View Health Centre and the Manitoba Children's Museum, and has done organizational work for the Winnipeg Aboriginal Film and Video Festival and the North American Indigenous Games.
The Stone
Bruinooge developed an internet game/mystery entitled The Stone in 1995, and launched it as a consumer product in 1997. The game was strongly influenced by the Publius Enigma, a conceptual mystery involving hidden messages in the cover art of Pink Floyd's The Division Bell (1994). The Stone was profiled by Forbes Magazine in 1999 and has been featured in other international journals.
In September 2004, Bruinooge and co-director Scott Jaworski released a film entitled Stoners, covering the activities of an internet gaming community that emerged around The Stone. The film features several tracks from The Division Bell in its soundtrack, used with Pink Floyd's permission.
Bruinooge started the Winnipeg International Film Festival in 2005, and was its executive director until February 2006. The festival including a screening of Stoners during its first year. Some in Winnipeg's arts community believed it was inappropriate for Bruinooge to screen his own film, although it was screened out of competition.
Politician
Candidate
Bruinooge was a frequent candidate for public office before his election in 2006. He first sought the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination for Riel in 2002, but withdrew when it became clear that the nomination date would be in flux for some time.
He later campaigned as the Conservative candidate for Winnipeg South in the 2004 federal election. One of his more creative campaign advertisements was a self-directed, fifteen-second promotional film entitled "Big Tobacco", which compared Paul Martin's efforts at government renewal to misleading tobacco advertising. The spot ran as a preview for Shrek 2 in some Winnipeg theatres.
Bruinooge was one of only three aboriginal candidates to run for the Conservative Party in the 2004 election. The Conservative Party has sometimes been depicted as hostile to aboriginal interests, and at one point in the campaign Bruinooge and party leader Stephen Harper were the targets of a protest by aboriginal activists, including David Chartrand of the Manitoba Mtis Federation. Bruinooge finished second in the election against Liberal incumbent Reg Alcock.
Bruinooge sought the Conservative nomination for Winnipeg South for a second time in the spring of 2005, but lost to rival candidate Hugh McFadyen by a narrow margin. A few months later, he was defeated by McFadyen a second time in a contest for the provincial Progressive Conservative nomination in Fort Whyte. Once again, McFadyen won by a very narrow margin.
McFadyen resigned his federal nomination when he chose to run provincially, and Bruinooge was chosen as the Conservative candidate in his place. His candidacy was endorsed on January 18, 2006 by Vote Marriage Canada, a group which opposes same-sex marriage. Although Bruinooge is a member of the Manitoba Mtis Federation, that organization endorsed Reg Alcock.
Bruinooge defeated Alcock by 111 votes on election day, in what most political observers described as a significant upset. Bruinooge was aided by a national trend toward his party, as well as by Alcock's decision to spend most of his time canvassing with Liberal candidates in other ridings.
Parliamentarian
The Conservatives won a minority government in the 2006 election. In early February 2006, Bruinooge was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Federal Interlocutor for Mtis and Non-Status Indians. He was the only Aboriginal member of the Government benches until Rob Clarke was elected on the byelections of March 17, 2008. In January 2007, he represented his government in signing a deal with Siemens that was designed to increase aboriginal employment.
At the Assembly of First Nations General Assembly in Nova Scotia in July 2007, Bruinooge described the Paul Martin government's Kelowna Accord on aboriginal investment as nothing more than an "expensive press release". This statement was strongly criticized by Assembly of First Nations leader Phil Fontaine. In the same month, Bruinooge vocally supported the Harper government's efforts to place Canada's Indian Act under the provisions of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Some native groups have argued that the Human Rights Act's focus on individual rights will undermine the communal rights of aboriginal communities.
In January 2008, Bruinooge said that the Harper government was considering adapting provincial funding models in British Columbia and Alberta to address education and child-welfare programs in Manitoba.
In the minutes after it was announced that the Order of Canada was being presented to abortionist Henry Morgentaler on Canada day 2008, Rod Bruinooge called the award "Reprehensible".
He was re-elected over Liberal candidate John Loewen in the 2008 federal election. Immediately after the election, Bruinooge turned down an offer to become Parliamentary Secretary for INAC, citing a desire to focus his attention on the riding and spend more time with his family.
In December 2008, Rod Bruinooge was elected Chair of the Parliamentary Pro Life Caucus and was reported by the Canadian Press as stating that unborn children had less legal value in Canada than a human kidney. In a letter he submitted to National Post, he made this statement: "I have no choice but to advocate for the unborn and seek to have their value restored in my Canada. Our collective future depends on it."
In February 2009, Bruinooge founded the Conservative Post-Secondary Education Caucus to which he was elected chair. Bruinooge is also vice-chair of the Canada-U.S. Interparliamentary Group and the Canada-Holland Friendship Group. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage.
Electoral record
2008 federal election : Winnipeg South edit
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Expenditures
Conservative
(x)Rod Bruinooge
19,954
48.84
$N/A
Liberal
John Loewen
14,221
34.8
$N/A
New Democratic Party
Sean Robert
4,673
11.44
$N/A
Green
David Crosby
1,839
4.5
Christian Heritage
Heidi Loewen-Steffano
173
0.42
$N/A
Total valid votes
40,860
100.00
Total rejected ballots
179
Turnout
41,039
68.00
Electors on the lists
59,594
2006 federal election : Winnipeg South edit
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Expenditures
Conservative
Rod Bruinooge
17,328
41.42
$68,461.08
Liberal
(x)Reg Alcock
17,217
41.15
$57,453.38
New Democratic Party
Robert Page
5,743
13.73
$1,973.24
Green
Wesley Owen Whiteside
1,289
3.08
Christian Heritage
Heidi Loewen-Steffano
259
0.62
$503.33
Total valid votes
41,836
100.00
Total rejected ballots
111
Turnout
41,947
70.39
Electors on the lists
59,594
2004 federal election : Winnipeg South edit
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
Expenditures
Liberal
(x)Reg Alcock
19,270
51.31
$63,885.73
Conservative
Rod Bruinooge
12,770
34.00
$67,207.73
New Democratic Party
Catherine Green
4,217
11.23
$6,919.66
Green
Ron Cameron
1,003
2.67
$702.79
Christian Heritage
Jane MacDiarmid
296
0.79
$4,202.05
Total valid votes
37,556
100.00
Total rejected ballots
110
Turnout
37,666
63.23
Electors on the lists
59,572
All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.
Footnotes
^ ^ Canada Votes 2004, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Winnipeg South riding profile
^ John Douglas, "Campbell slips in Manitoba", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 June 1993, Canadian Wire Stories. His name is erroneously listed as "Ron Bruinooge".
^ Simon Avery, "Canada's video gamers take 'mature' tack", National Post, 13 May 1999, C01/front.
^ IMDB Entry: Stoners
^ "The Stone", website
^ "Creator of online game", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 September 2004, D4.
^ Winnipeg International Film Festival website, 2005 listing.
^ Winnipeg Film Fest fuss, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 June 2005, 11:37 report, accessed 15 June 2008.
^ Mia Rabson, "Tories look for answers in membership dispute", Winnipeg Free Press, 2 November 2002, A6.
^ Frank Landry, "Campaign trailers", Winnipeg Sun, 26 May 2004.
^ Len Kruzenga, "Listen to natives, not just their leaders", National Post, 15 July 2004, A18.
^ Bill Redekop, "Tory stronghold claimed by mayor's former aide", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 October 2005, B3.
^ "McFadyen to represent Tories in Fort Whyte", CBC Manitoba, 19 October 2005, 07:55 report.
^ "Vote Marriage Canada announces fifty pro-marriage candidates in the Prairie Provinces and the N.W.T." (official press release), Canada NewsWire, 08:40 report, 18 January 2006.
^ Leah Janzen, "Alcock the target for years", Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 2005, A12.
^ The Winnipeg Sun later described Bruinooge's victory as "the biggest political upset of the decade". Kevin Engstrom, "Top 50 Stories of the Decade". "Winnipeg Sun", 24 December 2009.
^ Daniel Lett, "Winnipeg South/Reg Alcock", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 January 2006, B7.
^ "Canada's new government signs agreement with Siemens to increase Aboriginal employment and economic opportunities" [Government press release], Canada NewsWire, 24 January 2007, 12:05 report.
^ "Tory comments on Kelowna anger First Nations leaders", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, 13 July 2007, D10.
^ Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition parties team up to block Native bill", National Post, 26 July 2007, A4; Meagan Fitzpatrick And Juliet O'Neill, "Opposition MPs delay Tory plan for native rights", National Post, 27 July 2007, A4.
^ Mia Rabson, "MP offers options for children on welfare", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 January 2008, A9.
^ Kevin Engstrom, "'Reprehensible' Naming, Local MP derides choice of Morgentaler", Winnipeg Sun, 2 July 2008, A3
^ Winnipeg Free Press, November 2008
^ Canadian Press, December 28th 2008, "New Chairman of pro life caucus pushing to reopen Abortion debate" http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iktzecQbZvvytpNGyIO7zmLsFN-Q
^ National Post, December 29th 2008, "Why I am pro-life" http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=1121520
^ a b The Hill Times, February 2009
^ http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeMembership.aspx?Cmte=CHPC&Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2
External links
Parliament of Canada biography
Rod Bruinooge
The Stone - Official website
v d e
House of Commons Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Chair
Colin Mayes
Vice Chairs
Jean Crowder Nancy Karetak-Lindell
Members
Harold Albrecht Larry Bagnell Steven Blaney Rod Bruinooge Marc Lemay Yvon Lvesque Anita Neville Todd Russell Brian Storseth
Associate Members
Jim Abbott Diane Ablonczy Mike Allen Dean Allison Dean Allison Rob Anders David Anderson Charlie Angus Grard Asselin Dave Batters Leon Benoit Dennis Bevington James Bezan Sylvie Boucher Garry Breitkreuz Gord Brown Patrick Brown Blaine Calkins Ron Cannan Colin Carrie Bill Casey Rick Casson Nathan Cullen John Cummins Patricia Davidson Dean Del Mastro Barry Devolin Norman Doyle Rick Dykstra Ken Epp Ed Fast Meili Faille Brian Fitzpatrick Steven John Fletcher Cheryl Gallant Yvon Godin Peter Goldring Gary Goodyear Jacques Gourde Nina Grewal Helena Guergis Art Hanger Richard Harris Luc Harvey Laurie Hawn Russ Hiebert Jay Hill Betty Hinton Rahim Jaffer Brian Jean Randy Kamp Gerald Keddy Tina Keeper Jason Kenney Ed Komarnicki Daryl Kramp Mike Lake Guy Lauzon Pierre Lemieux Tom Lukiwski James Lunney Dave MacKenzie Fabian Manning Pat Martin Tony Martin Irene Mathyssen Ted Menzies Rob Merrifield Larry Miller Bob Mills James Moore Rob Moore Rick Norlock Deepak Obhrai Brian Pallister Christian Paradis Daniel Petit Pierre Poilievre Joe Preston James Rajotte Scott Reid Lee Richardson Gerry Ritz Gary Schellenberger Bev Shipley Joy Smith Kevin Sorenson Lloyd St. Amand Brent St. Denis Bruce Stanton David Sweet Myron Thompson David Tilson Bradley R. Trost Garth Turner Mervin Tweed Roger Valley Dave Van Kesteren Peter Van Loan Mike Wallace Mark Warawa Chris Warkentin Jeff Watson John Williams Lynne Yelich
Categories: 1973 births | Conservative Party of Canada MPs | Living people | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Manitoba | People from Thompson, Manitoba | Film festival founders | Mtis film directors | Mtis politicians
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sales-articles/rod-bruinooge-2911851.html
About the AuthorI am a professional writer from Frbiz Site, which contains a great deal of information about candle plates , hurricane glass candle holders, welcome to visit!