Gary Lunn

The Honourable Gary Lunn PC
Lunn in 2010
Member of Parliament for Saanich—Gulf Islands
In office 1997–2011
Preceded by	Jack Frazer
Succeeded by	Elizabeth May
Minister of State (Sport)
In office 2008–2011
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Helena Guergis
Succeeded by	Bal Gosal
Minister of Natural Resources
In office 2006–2008
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	John Efford
Succeeded by	Lisa Raitt
Personal details
Born	Gary Vincent Lunn (1957-05-08) May 8, 1957 Trail, British Columbia
Political party	Conservative (2003-)
Other political affiliations	Canadian Alliance (2000-2003) Reform (1997-2000)
Spouse(s)	Alexandra Lunn
Residence	Sidney, British Columbia
Profession	Lawyer
Portfolio	Minister of State (Sport)

Gary Vincent Lunn, PC (born May 8, 1957, Trail, British Columbia) is a former Canadian Member of Parliament for the British Columbia riding of Saanich—Gulf Islands. His controversial political legacy has been marred by serious questions in the media about the possibility of election campaign over-spending from as far back as 2008 and his noted anti-environmental record when he was "trying to push nuclear power, rev up the oil sands, and make way for more pipelines and supertankers on B.C.'s coast.". He served in the House of Commons from 1997 to 2011, first as a member of the Reform Party of Canada and subsequently as a member of the Canadian Alliance and the Conservative Party of Canada. He was Minister of State (Sport) in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Official Opposition Critic for Métis and Non-Status Indians, Minister of State for Northern Development, and Critic of the Secretary of State for Human Resources Development. Lunn lost his seat in the 2011 federal election in Canada in an upset to the Leader of the Green Party, Elizabeth May.

Personal life

He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada as well as the Knights of Columbus. He attended the University of Victoria, where he completed a Bachelor of Law. He practised law in Victoria for two years before seeking the federal nomination for Saanich—Gulf Islands. He and his family reside in Sidney, British Columbia.

Political career

He was first elected to Parliament in the federal election of 1997 as a member of the Reform Party of Canada and was re-elected in 2000 as a member of the Canadian Alliance. In April 2001, Lunn was one of the first Alliance MPs to openly criticize the leadership of Stockwell Day, and was suspended from caucus in May of the same year as a result. He briefly sat with the Democratic Representative Caucus under the leadership of Chuck Strahl, but in November 2001, he left to rejoin the Alliance after Day agreed to hold a leadership race. He was permitted to return to the party in January 2002, during the leadership of John Reynolds, following Day's resignation. In the federal election of 2006, he won re-election against Liberal Candidate Sheila Orr and NDP candidate Jennifer Burgis.

Minister of Natural Resources

Lunn was Minister of Natural Resources in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper from February 6, 2006 to October 30, 2008, when he became Minister of State (Sport) and Minister responsible for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

Chalk River reactor shutdown

Lunn fired Linda Keen, the head of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, on January 15, 2008. Keen, who was due to appear before a parliamentary committee the next day, had ordered a shutdown of the NRU reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, which is operated by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, in November 2007 over the AECL's failure to perform safety upgrades.

Appearing before a parliamentary committee January 16, 2008 Lunn refused to cite one example of what Linda Keen had done wrong in her job, only that she had lost the confidence of the government. "These are the kinds of Republican tactics this town has never seen before," Liberal MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South) told the natural resources committee. "The Prime Minister and the people around the Prime Minister will stop at nothing. ... They will fabricate, in my mind, a case to dismiss a senior official, an independent regulator," McGuinty told reporters later. Lunn told the committee: "We do not believe she fulfilled her duties. There was an urgency to this situation, make no mistake ... it would have meant life and death for some patients."

AECL falls under Lunn's management as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. The reactor shutdown caused problems with supply shortage of medical radioisotopes, which are used for testing to determine whether a patient has a disease. Canada produces more than half the world's supply. The Canadian House of Commons passed emergency legislation in mid-December 2007, with unanimous support, to get NRU restarted quickly. There has been no backup reactor for NRU since NRX was decommissioned in 1992, making it very difficult for upgrades and maintenance to be performed on NRU.

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 1997: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Reform	Gary Lunn	24,275	43.06	+5.91	$61,075
	Liberal	Clark Roberts	17,742	31.47	+5.45	$59,743
	New Democratic	Chuck Beyer	8,080	14.33	−4.53	$29,672
	Progressive Conservative	Marilyn Loveless	4,243	7.52	−4.00	$23,349
	Green	Julia Lerner	1,546	2.74	–	$745
	Natural Law	Andy Guest	248	0.43	−0.31	$321
	Canadian Action	Valerie Rampone	234	0.41	–	$4,335
Total valid votes			56,368	100.0
Total rejected ballots			181	0.32
Turnout			56,549	74.26
	Reform hold		Swing		+0.23

Canadian federal election, 2000: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Alliance	Gary Lunn	25,392	43.15	+0.09	$61,497
	Liberal	Karen Knott	19,002	32.29	+0.82	$63,669
	Progressive Conservative	Don Page	6,049	10.28	+2.76	$10,385
	New Democratic	Pat O'Neill	4,721	8.02	−6.31	$9,666
	Green	Wally Du Temple	3,243	5.51	+2.77	$7,217
	Natural Law	Kathleen Lapeyrouse	217	0.36	−0.07	$100
	Independent	Dan Moreau	123	0.20	–
	Communist	Charley Stimac	88	0.14	–	$189
Total valid votes			58,835	100.0
Total rejected ballots			165	0.28
Turnout			59,000	70.60
	Alliance hold		Swing		−0.36
Canadian Alliance change is based on the Reform Party.

Canadian federal election, 2004: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gary Lunn	22,050	34.57	−18.86	$81,613
	Liberal	David Mulroney	17,082	26.78	−5.51	$61,819
	New Democratic	Jennifer Burgis	13,763	21.58	+13.56	$40,318
	Green	Andrew Lewis	10,662	16.71	+11.20	$79,731
	Independent	Mary Moreau	214	0.33	–	$12
Total valid votes			63,771	100.0
Total rejected ballots			159	0.25
Turnout			63,930	73.97
	Conservative hold		Swing		−6.68
Conservative change is from a combination of Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative votes.

Canadian federal election, 2006: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Gary Lunn	24,416	37.15	+2.58	$80,272
	New Democratic	Jennifer Burgis	17,455	26.54	+4.96	$50,412
	Liberal	Sheila Orr	17,144	26.08	−0.70	$79,489
	Green	Andrew Lewis	6,533	9.94	−6.77	$19,061
	Western Block	Patricia O'Brien	183	0.27	–	$0
Total valid votes			65,721	100.0
Total rejected ballots			134	0.20
Turnout			65,855	73.2
	Conservative hold		Swing		−1.19

Canadian federal election, 2008: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Conservative	Gary Lunn	27,988	43.43	+6.28
	Liberal	Briony Penn	25,367	39.36	+13.28
	Green	Andrew Lewis	6,732	10.45	+0.51
	New Democratic	Julian West	3,667	5.69	−20.85
	Libertarian	Dale P. Leier	246	0.38	–
	Western Block	Patricia O'Brien	195	0.3	+0.03
	Canadian Action	Jeremy Arney	139	0.2	–
	Christian Heritage	Dan Moreau	114	0.2	–
Total valid votes			64,448	100.0
Total rejected ballots			179	0.27
Turnout			64,639	70.40
	Conservative hold		Swing		−3.50
Julian West was selected as the New Democratic Party candidate for the 2008 election, but withdrew after the filing deadline following a scandal. Because of the late withdrawal his name did appear on the ballot.

Canadian federal election, 2011: Saanich—Gulf Islands
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Green	Elizabeth May	31,890	46.33	+35.88	$87,738
	Conservative	Gary Lunn	24,544	35.66	−7.77	$89,604
	New Democratic	Edith Loring-Kuhanga	8,185	11.89	+6.20	$66,273
	Liberal	Renée Hetherington	4,208	6.11	−33.25	$50,002
Total valid votes/Expense limit			68,827	100.0		$293,617
Total rejected ballots			160	0.23
Turnout			68,987	75.25
Eligible voters			91,673
	Green gain from Conservative		Swing		+21.82

External links

• Gary Lunn's Official Website
• Gary Lunn – Parliament of Canada biography