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Doern was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and was educated at the University of Manitoba. He worked as a teacher, and became involved in the province's New Democratic Party organization in the early 1960s.

Doern was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the provincial election of 1966, for the northwestern Winnipeg riding of Elmwood. Like most other members of the NDP caucus, he believed that party leader Russell Paulley needed to be replaced before the next election. In 1968Events Undated Booker Prize for Fiction is established by Booker plc. 1968 is known as the year of the Prague Spring and also the year of the Paris riots. The ASCII character code is standardized as ANSI Standard X3. Nauru adopt his national anthem of the, he co-signed a letter which called for Edward Schreyer to lead the provincial party. Schreyer became party leader in 1969, and led the Manitoba NDP to its first-ever election victory later in the year.

Although left out of Schreyer's initial cabinet, Doern was appointed a Minister without Portfolio on November 4November 4 is the 308th day of the year (309th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 57 days remaining. Events 1576 Eighty Years' War: In Belgium, Spain captures Antwerp (after three days the city was nearly destroyed). 1612 Moscow China Town tak, 1970Events January events January 1 Construction begins on Arcosanti, by Paolo Soleri, in Mayer, Arizona, located 65, miles north of Phoenix, Arizona. January 1 Unix epoch at 00:00:00 UTC. January 12 Biafra capitulates, ending the Nigerian civil war. January. He was promoted to Minister of Public Works on September 9September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). There are 113 days remaining. Events 1000 Battle of Swold 1513 In the Battle of Flodden Field James IV of Scotland was defeated. 1543 Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned "Q, 1971, and held this position until the defeat of the Schreyer government in 1977.

Initially regarded as a supporter of youth and the arts (he had tried to book John Lennon for a concert in 1970), Doern eventually became associated with the more conservative wing of the NDP. When Schreyer resigned as party leader in 1979, Doern campaigned to succeed him. His campaign made some appeals to social conservatism (he strongly opposed any government recognition of gay rights), and was not respected by the party establishment. At the party's 1979 convention, he received the support of only 53 delegates, compared to 467 for winning candidate Howard Pawley.

In 1981, Doern published his memoirs from the Schreyer years, entitled "Wednesdays Are Cabinet Days".

The NDP were returned to government in the provincial election of 1981, though Doern was not re-appointed to cabinet. He strongly opposed efforts by Premier Howard Pawley to legally entrench French-language services in the province (which he regarded as leading to official bilingualism), and created an organization called Manitoba Grassroots to coordinate opposition to the policy.

Doern left the NDP over this issue on March 7, 1984. In 1985, he published a book entitled "The Battle Over Bilingualism", detailing his role in the controversy.

Doern ran as an Independent in the election of 1986. He polled a respectable 2006 votes, but was still defeated by New Democratic candidate Jim Maloway.

Later in 1986, Doern ran an unsuccessful campaign to become the Mayor of Winnipeg (finishing second with 48567 votes, against 78998 for incumbent Bill Norrie). He committed suicide the following year, for reasons that are still not entirely clear.