Richard Swenson
| Richard Swenson | |
|---|---|
| Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan Leader | |
|
Assumed office 2006 |
|
| Preceded by | Iris Dennis |
| Leader of the Opposition | |
|
In office 1993–1994 |
|
| Preceded by | Grant Devine |
| Succeeded by | Bill Boyd |
| MLA for Thunder Creek | |
|
In office 1985–1995 |
|
| Preceded by | Colin Thatcher |
| Succeeded by | Gerard Aldridge |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
April 12, 1952 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan |
| Political party |
Progressive Conservative (1985-1997, 2006-present) Saskatchewan Party (1997-1999) |
| Website | www |
Richard James "Rick" Swenson (born April 12, 1952) is a provincial level politician from Saskatchewan, Canada. He was a member of the Saskatchewan Legislature from 1985 to 1995, and is still active in provincial politics as the leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan since 2006.
He was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, the son of Donald Swenson, and grew up in the Baildon district. Swenson was educated at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina. In 1976, he established Wheaton Bee Farms, specializing in alfalfa seed and dryland grass production. Swenson also helped form the Baildon/Moose Jaw Effluent Irrigation Project.
Swenson was elected to the Legislature in a by-election held in the Thunder Creek electoral district on March 27, 1985. The by-election had been held to replace former MLA Colin Thatcher who was convicted of murdering his wife. Swenson first defeated Thatcher's former executive assistant Lyle Stewart to secure the Progressive Conservative nomination before successfully holding the constituency for the then-governing PC's in the by-election, a hotly contested three way race involving three other candidates which Swenson won with a plurality of 900 votes.
The Progressive Conservatives were returned to power with Swenson being re-elected just a little over a year later in the 1986 general election. He won that election by a much wider margin facing two of the three candidates that ran in the by-election. Swenson later served in the provincial cabinet as Minister of Energy and Mines and as Minister of Indian and Métis Affairs. Although the PC's were swept from power in the 1991 general election, Swenson managed to win a third term in his own seat with a reduced plurality. After Devine resigned from the legislature, Swenson served as interim leader of the Progressive Conservatives from October 8, 1992 to November 24, 1994. Swenson did not seek a fourth term in the 1995 election, in which his former seat would be won by Gerard Aldridge of the Liberal Party.
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Wikipedia