Jack Ramsay (politician)
| Jack Ramsay | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Crowfoot | |
|
In office 1993–2000 |
|
| Preceded by | Arnold Malone |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Sorenson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 23, 1937 Biggar, Saskatchewan |
| Political party | Reform |
| Profession | police officer |
F.J. "Jack" Ramsay (born August 23, 1937) is a former Reform Party of Canada member of the Canadian House of Commons. Ramsay is also a former Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer.
Ramsay took over the leadership of the Western Canada Concept, a party that advocated the separation of western Canada to form an independent nation, at the end of 1982. He acted as its leader until 1987, the year he joined the Reform Party. In April 1982, the party's executive drew up a Statement of Independence which committed any future WCC government to "prepare for independence in a peaceful and democratic manner". While the WCC under Ramsay's leadership had a brief period when it pursued a Triple E Senate as an alternative to outright independence, in late 1986 Ramsay declared the WCC would revert to its Western separatist goals. Only two years after making this renewed commitment to Western separatism as WCC leader.
Ramsay first ran as a Reform candidate in the staunchly conservative riding of Crowfoot in the 1988 election. He did surprisingly well in the riding, coming in second to Progressive Conservative Arnold Malone by 7,685 votes, which at that time had been the narrowest margin of victory by any winner in the history of the riding. It was also the best showing of any Reform Party candidate.
Malone retired before the 1993 federal election, and Ramsay ran again for the Reform Party. This time he won a resounding victory, owing partly to the collapse of the Tories throughout western Canada. He finished some 17,000 votes ahead of his nearest opponent. He was re-elected in the 1997 election.
He served as the party's Justice Critic from 1996 until 1998, and as Citizenship and Immigration Critic from 1998 until 2000.
On November 24, 1999, Ramsay was convicted of attempted rape of a 14-year-old Cree girl, committed while he was an RCMP officer in Pelican Narrows 30 years previously. While questioning the girl as a crime victim, he had asked her to physically demonstrate her understanding of the concept of sexual intercourse.
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