View source for Deborah Grey

{{Short description|Canadian politician (born 1952)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2009}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| name             = Deborah Grey
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|OC|size=100%}}
| image            = Deborah Grey.jpg
| caption          = Grey in 2014
| office           = Acting Chairman of the [[Security Intelligence Review Committee]]
| termstart        = January 24, 2014
| termend          = May 1, 2015
| appointer        = [[Stephen Harper]]
| predecessor      = [[Chuck Strahl]]
| successor        = [[Pierre Blais]]
| office1          = [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]]
| term_start1      = March 27, 2000
| term_end1        = September 10, 2000
| predecessor1     = [[Preston Manning]]
| successor1       = [[Stockwell Day]]
| office2          = Interim Leader of the [[Canadian Alliance]]
| term_start2      = March 27, 2000
| term_end2        = July 8, 2000
| predecessor2     = [[Preston Manning]] <br /> {{small|(as Leader of the [[Reform Party of Canada|Reform Party]])}}
| successor2       = [[Stockwell Day]]
| riding3          = [[Edmonton North]]<br />{{small|([[Beaver River (federal electoral district)|Beaver River]]; 1989–1997)}}
| parliament3      = Canadian
| term_start3      = March 13, 1989
| term_end3        = June 28, 2004
| predecessor3     = [[John Dahmer]] (1988)
| successor3       = ''Riding abolished''
| birth_name       = Deborah Cleland Grey
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1952|07|01}}
| birth_place      = [[Vancouver]], [[British Columbia]], Canada
| spouse           = Lewis Larson (m. 1993)
| death_date       =
| death_place      =
| party            = [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] (2003–present)
| otherparty       = [[Reform Party of Canada|Reform]] (1989–2000)<br />[[Canadian Alliance]] (2000–2001, 2002–2003)<br />[[Democratic Representative Caucus]] (2001–2002)
| profession       = {{hlist|Politician|teacher}}<ref name=Leaving/>
| residence        =
}}

'''Deborah Cleland Grey''' (born July 1, 1952) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the [[Leader of the Official Opposition (Canada)|leader of the Official Opposition]] in 2000, from March to September. Grey was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] in 1989, serving as the [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Beaver River (federal electoral district)|Beaver River]] until 1997 and MP for [[Edmonton Northwest (federal electoral district)|Edmonton North]] until 2004. Grey was a member of the [[Reform Party of Canada|Reform Party]]. When Reform merged with the [[Canadian Alliance]] in 2000, she served as the [[Interim leader (Canada)|interim party leader]], making her the first woman to serve as leader of the Opposition. She currently serves on the advisory board of the [[Leaders' Debates Commission]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://debates-debats.ca/en|title =Leaders' Debates Commission|last=Government of Canada|author-link=Government of Canada|date= April 2019|access-date=July 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://ipolitics.ca/2019/03/22/ex-politicians-leslie-manley-grey-to-sit-on-debates-commission-advisory-board |title=Ex-politicians Leslie, Manley, Grey to sit on debates' commission advisory board |last=Vigliotti |first=Marco |date=March 22, 2019|work =[[CBC News]]|access-date=July 9, 2019}}</ref>

==Before politics==
Born in [[Vancouver]], British Columbia,  Grey pursued studies in sociology, English and education at [[Burrard Inlet Bible Institute]], [[Trinity Western College]] and the [[University of Alberta]], however she did not complete a bachelor’s degree. She then worked as a teacher in a number of rural Alberta communities until 1989.

==Political career==
[[File:Deborah_Grey_display.jpg|thumb|left|A display at the [[Royal Alberta Museum]] depicts artifacts from her campaign in the [[1989 Beaver River federal by-election|1989 by-election]], including her motorcycle]]
Grey's first run for office was in the [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 election]], when she ran as the Reform candidate in [[Beaver River (federal electoral district)|Beaver River]], a mostly rural riding in northeastern Alberta.<ref name=Leaving>{{Cite news |title=Alliance MP Deborah Grey leaving politics |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/alliance-mp-deborah-grey-leaving-politics-1.366969 |publisher=CBC News |date=March 13, 2003 |access-date=May 29, 2015}}</ref> She finished a distant fourth behind [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] [[John Dahmer]]. However, Dahmer died before he could be sworn in. Grey won a [[1989 Beaver River federal by-election|by-election]] in March 1989, almost tripling her vote total from the 1988 election to become Reform's first MP.<ref name=Leaving/> It was only the second time the Progressive Conservatives had lost a seat in Alberta since 1968{{efn|Prior to Grey, the Conservatives lost 2 seats in Calgary South and Edmonton Strathcona in the 1968 election, to Liberals' [[Pat Mahoney]] and [[Hu Harries]]}}.  Party leader [[Preston Manning]] immediately named her as Reform's deputy leader.  The two were friends for many years; Grey calls him "Misterbrainiola".  Her first legislative assistant was a young [[Stephen Harper]].

Reform elected 52 MPs in the [[1993 Canadian federal election|1993 election]], replacing the Progressive Conservatives as the main right-wing party in Canada. Grey won her first full term in this election.  In addition to her duties as deputy leader, she also became chairwoman of the enlarged Reform caucus. In 1997, Beaver River was abolished and its territory split into two neighbouring ridings. Grey moved to [[Edmonton North]] at the request of several local conservatives dissatisfied with being represented by a [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]], [[John Loney]] (elected in the 1993 landslide). Loney retired ahead of [[1997 Canadian federal election|that year's election]], and Grey won handily. She continued to represent this riding for the remainder of her career. Reform became the [[Official Opposition (Canada)|Official Opposition]] in that election.<ref name=Leaving/>

Grey served as Reform's deputy leader and caucus chairwoman until March 2000, when the Reform Party was folded into the [[Canadian Alliance]]. When Manning stepped down as [[Leader of the Opposition (Canada)|Leader of the Opposition]] to contest the Alliance leadership race, Grey was appointed [[Interim leader (Canada)|interim leader]] of the Alliance, and hence Leader of the Opposition.<ref name=Leaving/> She was the first female Leader of the Opposition in Canadian history. She held the post until new Alliance leader [[Stockwell Day]] was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] in September 2000. He appointed Grey as deputy leader and caucus chairwoman once again.

Grey resigned those posts on April 24, 2001, in protest against Day's leadership. In July of that year, Grey quit the Canadian Alliance and joined 10 other Alliance dissidents in the "Independent Alliance Caucus".  While [[Chuck Strahl]] eventually emerged as the dissidents' leader, Grey lent the group instant credibility since she had been Reform/Alliance's matriarch as well as the deputy leader.  When Day offered an amnesty to the dissidents, Grey was one of seven who turned it down and formed the [[Democratic Representative Caucus]] (DRC), led by Strahl with Grey as deputy leader.  In September 2001, the DRC formed a coalition caucus with the Progressive Conservatives, and Grey served as chairwoman of the PC-DRC caucus.  She later said that she lost confidence in Day after seeing him attack his staffers after a public gaffe.

In April 2002, after Harper defeated Day in the race to be the Alliance leader, Grey and all but two of the DRC MPs rejoined the Alliance caucus, and in December 2003, the Alliance and the Progressive Conservatives ratified an agreement to merge into the Conservative Party of Canada. Grey was co-chair, with former PC leader [[Peter MacKay]], of the new party's [[2004 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election|first leadership convention]] in March 2004.

Grey was not shy about tossing verbal barbs at the governing [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberals]]. She called [[Jean Chrétien]] "the Shawinigan Strangler", [[Don Boudria]] "Binder Boy", [[Jane Stewart (politician)|Jane Stewart]] "Miss Management" and [[Paul Martin]] "Captain Whirlybird".

Deborah Grey is also well known for refusing to join the lucrative MP Pension Plan and ridiculing other "MP porkers" for feeding at the public trough. Later she bought her way back into the pension plan resulting in former Prime Minister Joe Clark labelling her the "high priestess of hypocrisy".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7428&start=15|title=freedominion.com.pa|website=www.freedominion.com.pa|access-date=March 19, 2019|archive-date=October 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141020142211/http://www.freedominion.com.pa/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7428&start=15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Grey's riding of [[Edmonton North]] was abolished for the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 federal election]], and Grey retired from politics rather than attempting nomination in another.<ref name=Leaving/> She was Western chairwoman of the Conservative campaign in the [[2006 Canadian federal election|2006 election]], in which Harper became [[Prime Minister of Canada]].

==Retirement==
Shortly after retiring, she published her autobiography, ''[[Never Retreat, Never Explain, Never Apologize: My Life and My Politics]].'' In 2007, she was made an Officer of the [[Order of Canada]]. On April 22, 2013, she was appointed to the [[Security Intelligence Review Committee]], and along with that appointment, was made a [[Queen's Privy Council for Canada|Privy Councillor]], giving her the title, "The Honourable".  It was announced that Grey was stepping down from the Security Intelligence Review Committee on May 1, 2015, in a press release from the Prime Minister's Office.<ref>{{cite web|title=PM announces appointments to the Security Intelligence Review Committee|url=http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/01/pm-announces-appointments-security-intelligence-review-committee|publisher=Prime Minister's Office|date=May 1, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503003250/http://pm.gc.ca/eng/news/2015/05/01/pm-announces-appointments-security-intelligence-review-committee|archive-date=May 3, 2015}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Grey has been married to Lewis Larson since August 7, 1993; they have no children together. They are grandparents through Lewis' children by his first marriage.

==Election results==

{{Election FPTP begin | title=[[2000 Canadian federal election]]: [[Edmonton North]]}}
|-
{{CANelec|CA|Canadian Alliance|'''Deborah Grey'''|22,063|51.21%||$61,317}}
{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal|row}}
|[[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
|Jim Jacuta
|align="right"|14,786
|align="right"|34.32%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$28,846
{{Canadian party colour|CA|NDP|row}}
|[[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]]
|Laurie Lang
|align="right"|3,216
|align="right"|7.46%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$815
{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC|row}}
|[[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
|Dean Sanduga
|align="right"|3,010
|align="right"|6.98%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|$9,842
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|43,075
!align="right"|100.00%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|174
!align="right"|0.40%
!align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|43,249
!align="right"|57.20%
!align="right"|
{{end}}

{{Election FPTP begin | title=[[1997 Canadian federal election]]: [[Edmonton North]]}}
|-
{{CANelec|CA|Reform|'''Deborah Grey'''|16,124|44.30%||$56,921}}
{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal|row}}
|[[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]]
|Jonathan Murphy
|align="right"|11,820
|align="right"|32.47%
|
|align="right"|$46,517
{{Canadian party colour|CA|NDP|row}}
|[[New Democratic Party of Canada|New Democratic Party]]
|[[Ray Martin (politician)|Ray Martin]]
|align="right"|5,413
|align="right"|14.87%
|
|align="right"|$60,286
{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC|row}}
|[[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]]
|Mitch Panciuk
|align="right"|2,811
|align="right"|7.72%
|
|align="right"|$51,169
{{Canadian party colour|CA|Natural Law|row}}
|[[Natural Law Party of Canada|Natural Law]]
|Ric Johnsen
|align="right"|226
|align="right"|0.62%
|align="right"|
|align="right"|
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total valid votes
!align="right"|36,394
!align="right"|100.00%
!
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Total rejected ballots
!align="right"|99
!align="right"|0.27%
!
|- bgcolor="white"
!align="right" colspan=3|Turnout
!align="right"|36,493
!align="right"|55.63%
!
{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|1993|Beaver River (federal electoral district)|Beaver River|percent=yes|change=yes}}
{{CANelec|CA|Reform|Deborah Grey|17,731|57.97%| +9.27%}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Michael J. Zacharko|7,526|24.6%| +12.57%}}
{{CANelec|CA|PC|[[Dave Broda]]|3,855|12.60%| &minus;17.58%}}
{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Eugene Houle|1,058|3.46%| &minus;5.63%}}
{{CANelec|CA|Natural Law|Guy C. Germain|294|0.96%}}
{{CANelec|CA|Independent|B. H. Bud Glenn|94|0.31%}}
{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|30,588|100.00%}}
{{CANelec/hold|CA|Reform| &minus;1.65%}}
{{end}}

{{Canadian election result/top|CA|March 13, 1989|Beaver River (federal electoral district)|Beaver River|by=yes|reason=upon death of [[John Dahmer]]|percent=yes|change=yes}}
{{CANelec|CA|Reform|Deborah Grey|11,154|48.70%| +36.50%}}
{{CANelec|CA|PC|[[Dave Broda]]|6,912|30.18%| &minus;10.22%}}
{{CANelec|CA|Liberal|Ernie O. Brosseau|2,756|12.03%| &minus;7.13%}}
{{CANelec|CA|NDP|Barbara Bonneau|2,081|9.09%| &minus;9.96%}}
{{CANelec/total|Total valid votes|22,903|100.00%}}
{{CANelec/gain|CA|Reform|PC| +23.36%}}
{{end}}
{{1988 Canadian federal election/Beaver River}}

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.debgrey.com Official site]
* {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=16477}}
{{Canadian federal opposition leaders}}
{{Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Deborah}}
[[Category:1952 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian Alliance MPs]]
[[Category:Democratic Representative Caucus MPs]]
[[Category:Canadian autobiographers]]
[[Category:Canadian women non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Women members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:Female Canadian political party leaders]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition (Canada)]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Alberta]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada]]
[[Category:Politicians from Vancouver]]
[[Category:Reform Party of Canada candidates in the 1988 Canadian federal election]]
[[Category:Reform Party of Canada MPs]]
[[Category:Trinity Western University alumni]]
[[Category:University of Alberta alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian women autobiographers]]
[[Category:Women in Alberta politics]]
[[Category:Writers from Vancouver]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian women politicians]]
[[Category:Women opposition leaders]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]