View source for Doug Galt

{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
|honorific-suffix =[[Executive Council of Ontario|ECO]]
| name          = Doug Galt
| image         =
| caption       =
| office1       = [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario)|Ontario MPP]]
| term_start1   = 1995
| term_end1     = 2003
| predecessor1  = [[Joan Fawcett]]
| successor1    = [[Lou Rinaldi (politician)|Lou Rinaldi]]
| constituency1 = [[Northumberland (Ontario provincial electoral district)|Northumberland]]
| party         = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]]
| birth_date    = {{Birth based on age as of date|64|2002|8|23}}<ref name=whip/>
| birth_place   = 
| residence     = [[Salem, Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario|Salem, Ontario]]
| occupation    = Veterinarian
| spouse        = Catherine
}}
'''Doug Galt''' (born 1938) is a former [[politician]] in [[Ontario]], Canada. He was a [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] from 1995 to 2003, and an unsuccessful contender for the [[House of Commons of Canada]] in 2004.

==Background==
Galt was a [[veterinarian]] before entering political life.<ref name=whip/>  He was an overseas veterinary pathologist and project coordinator for [[Canadian International Development Agency|CIDA]] in 1988 and 1992, and retired as head of the [[Brighton, Ontario|Brighton]] Veterinary Services Lab in 1994. In the late 1980s, he attended [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] and earned a [[Master's Degree]] in public administration. Galt currently lives in the hamlet of [[Salem, Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario|Salem, Ontario]] with his wife Catherine.<ref name=bio>{{cite news |title=Douglas Galt: Ontario, Northumberland - Quinte West, Conservative Party of Canada |url=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/elections/fed2004/candidates/generated/35058_CON.html |newspaper=Globe and Mail |date=June 28, 2004}}</ref>

==Politics==
He began his political career at the municipal level, serving as a warden in [[Northumberland County, Ontario|Northumberland County]], and as [[reeve (Canada)|reeve]] of [[Cramahe, Ontario|Cramahe Township]]. Galt was also a school trustee, and chaired the Colborne-Cramahe Community Economic Development Commission in 1994.<ref name=bio/>

Galt was elected to the Ontario legislature in the [[1995 Ontario general election|1995 provincial election]], defeating incumbent [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] [[Joan Fawcett]] by over 6,000 votes in the [[Northumberland (Ontario provincial electoral district)|Northumberland]] riding.<ref name="1995 results">{{cite web|url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=Northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 8, 1995 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326024743/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=2014-03-26 }}</ref>  The Progressive Conservatives won the election under the leadership of [[Mike Harris]], and Galt sat as a [[backbench]] supporter. He became known for asking "softball" questions (i.e. inoffensive questions which praise the sitting government, and allow ministers to outline new policy initiatives).

Galt was re-elected in the [[1999 Ontario general election|1999 provincial election]], though by only 903 votes over Liberal Carolyn Campbell.<ref name="1999 results">{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=Northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140803112412/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=Northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 3, 2014 |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 3, 1999 |accessdate=2014-03-02 }}</ref> He introduced a resolution in the Legislature to bring forward greater protection against cruelty to animals and tried to ban riding in the back of pick-up trucks. Galt also introduced a Private Member's Bill to create a [[Robert Baldwin]] Day in [[Ontario]] which was later endorsed by Andrew Redden in an article published in the ''[[Canadian Parliamentary Review]]''.  In 2000, Galt precipitated a minor crisis in the legislature by accidentally reading out the names of certain young offenders, whose identities were protected by law. Galt was actually praising the young offenders for graduating from a young offenders program while forgetting that they were still young offenders. [[Rob Sampson]], the [[Minister of Correctional Services (Ontario)|Minister of Correctional Services]], had to temporarily resign from office to show ministerial accountability for Galt's error.<ref>{{cite news |title=Minister resigns after MPP names young offenders |last=Stevenson |first=James |newspaper=The Kitchener Record |date=December 5, 2000 |page=A1}}</ref>

Galt served as chair of the Premier's Task Force on Rural Economic Renewal, which toured the province and consulted with other jurisdictions. Amongst other initiatives, the findings of this Task Force led to the creation of the O.S.T.A.R. program and Rural Economic Development funding initiative.

Galt supported [[Ernie Eves]] to replace Harris as party leader in 2002, and was named by Eves as a [[minister without portfolio]] and chief government [[Whip (politics)|Whip]] on August 22 of that year.<ref name=whip>{{cite news |title=Stockwell's workload cut in cabinet shuffle; Eves gives energy portfolio to Baird, names new whip |last=Mallan |first=Caroline |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=August 23, 2002 |page=A17}}</ref>

The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the [[2003 Ontario general election|2003 provincial election]], and Galt lost his seat to Liberal candidate [[Lou Rinaldi (politician)|Lou Rinaldi]] by approximately 2,500 votes.<ref name="2003 results">{{cite web|url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=Northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 2, 2003 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819083135/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=northumberland&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=2014-08-19 }}</ref>

===Federal politics===
In early 2004, Galt supported [[Tony Clement]]'s unsuccessful campaign to become leader of the [[Conservative Party of Canada]].

Galt himself ran as a Conservative in the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 federal election]], challenging [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] incumbent [[Paul Macklin]] in the federal riding of [[Northumberland (Ontario electoral district)|Northumberland]]. Macklin defeated Galt by 313 votes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada Votes 2006: Northumberland - Analysis & Commentary |url=http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2006/analysiscommentary/swingridings.html |date=23 January 2006|publisher=CBC News |accessdate=13 February 2010}}</ref>

==Electoral record==
{{Election box begin | title=[[1995 Ontario general election]]}}
{{CANelec|ON|Progressive Conservatives|Doug Galt|19,359|52.13|}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|[[Joan Fawcett]]|13,233|35.63|}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Murray Weppler|4,539|12.22|}}
{{end}}
{{1999 Ontario general election/Northumberland}}
{{Election box begin | title=[[2003 Ontario general election]]}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|[[Lou Rinaldi (politician)|Lou Rinaldi]]|20,382|45.05|+1.08}}
{{CANelec|ON|Progressive Conservatives|Doug Galt|17,816|39.37|-6.62}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Murray Weppler|5,210|11.51|+5.19}}
{{CANelec |ON |Green |Derrick J. Kelly |1,839 |4.06 |+1.39}}
{{end}}

{{2004 Canadian federal election/Northumberland—Quinte West}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Ontario MPP biography|id=doug-galt}}

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{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Ernie_Eves}}
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| post1         = [[Minister without Portfolio]]
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| post1years    = 2002-2003
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{{ministry box special parl
| post1preceded = [[John Baird (Canadian politician)|John Baird]]
| post1         = [[Chief Government Whip (Ontario)|Chief Government Whip]]
| post1years    = 2002-2003
| post1note     = 
| post1followed = [[Dave Levac]]
}}
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{{Eves Ministry}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galt, Doug}}
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons]]
[[Category:Canadian veterinarians]]
[[Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1930s births]]
[[Category:20th-century mayors of places in Ontario]]
[[Category:Ontario school board trustees]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]