Home > Bob Runciman

Before going to Queen's Park, Runciman owned a local weekly newspaper, and sat as a municipal councillor in Brockville from 1972 to 1981. He also worked in production management in the chemical industry.

Runciman served as Minister of Goverment Services from February 8 to May 17, 1985 and as Minister of Consumer Relations from May 17 to June 26, 1985, in the short-lived cabinet of Ontario PremierThe Premier of Ontario is the first minister for the Canadian province of Ontario. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive. The current Premier of Ontario is Dalton McGuinty. See also Prime Minister of Canada Premier (Canad Frank MillerFrank Miller Rank 19th Term of Office February, 1985 June 26, 1985 Predecessor William Davis Successor David Peterson Date of Birth May 14, 1927 Died July 21, 2000 Place of Birth Toronto, Ontario Profession Engineer, Businessman Political Party Progressiv. With the defeat of Miller's government on a vote of confidence, Runciman joined his party on the opposition benchesThe Parliamentary Opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. In non-proportionally representative assemblies, where the tendency to gravitate into two major parties or. He was nearly defeated by Liberal Jim JordanThere have been a number of notable people named Jim Jordan Jim Jordan, John Kerry's first campaign manager Jim Jordan, a Canadian Member of Parliament Jim Jrodan (actor), an actor. in the 1987 electionDavid Peterson's Liberals were returned to power with a large majority. Support for Larry Grossman's Progressive Conservatives continued to slide as voters decided that they liked the change that the Liberal-NDP arrangement brought. Bob Rae's Ontario New, winning by only 198 votes; on all other occasions, he has been re-elected without difficulty.

When the Tories returned to power in the 1995 Ontario election, Runciman became Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services in the government of Mike Harris, holding the position from June 26, 1995 to June 17, 1999. He championed privately-owned prisons during this period, and was criticized on one occasion for revealing the name of a young offender in the legislature. On June 17, 1999, he was moved to the portfolio of Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations , and on February 8, 2001 was named Minister of Economic Development and Trade .

Runciman supported Ernie Eves's successful bid to succeed Harris as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 2002. On April 15, 2002, Eves re-appointed Runciman to the position of Minister of Public Safety and Security (as the position of Solicitor General became known in the period following 9-11).

Runciman returned to the opposition benches with the defeat of the Eves government in the 2003 Ontario election. He supported John Tory in the leadership election to succeed Eves. Tory won the contest and, not having a seat in the legislature, named Runciman to the position of interim Leader of the Opposition in September 2004.

Although Runciman holds strongly conservative views on such matters as criminal justice, he is not regarded as one of the more ideological members of his caucus, and has played a significant role in the party's recent leadership transitions towards a more centrist approach to government.