Denis Rocan was born on February 14,1949 and is a former politician from Manitoba, Canada.
22 Facts About Denis Rocan
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Denis Rocan was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1986 to 2007, and served as speaker of the assembly from 1988 to 1995.
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Denis Rocan was born to a French-Canadian family in Somerset, Manitoba and was raised in north-end Winnipeg.
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Denis Rocan is Metis by background and a direct descendant of Jean-Baptiste Lagimodiere and Marie-Anne Gaboury, the maternal grandparents of Louis Riel.
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Denis Rocan was educated at Sacre-Coeur in Winnipeg, Somerset Collegiate and Otterburne College.
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Denis Rocan worked as a farmer before entering political life, and operated a building and moving company and a grain business.
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Denis Rocan is a Shriner and a freemason, as well as a member of the Royal Canadian Legion.
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Denis Rocan was first elected to the Manitoba legislature in the 1986 provincial election, winning the rural, southern constituency of Turtle Mountain.
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Rural seats in southern Manitoba are generally considered safe for the Progressive Conservative party, and Denis Rocan was elected by more than 2,000 votes over his nearest opponent.
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The New Democratic Party won the election, and Denis Rocan served as a member of the opposition.
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Denis Rocan was re-elected over Liberal candidate Ross McMillan in the 1988 election, though his majority was cut to about 600 votes.
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The Progressive Conservatives emerged from this election with a minority government, and Denis Rocan was appointed as speaker of the assembly by premier Gary Filmon on July 21,1988.
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Denis Rocan was the first Franco-Manitoban to serve as speaker for the provincial assembly.
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Support for the Liberal Party declined in the 1990 provincial election, and Denis Rocan was easily re-elected in the redistributed constituency of Gladstone.
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Denis Rocan won the constituency a second time in the 1995 election, but was not re-appointed as speaker and served for the next four years as a backbench supporter of Filmon's government.
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Denis Rocan was respected by all parties in the legislature, and his tenure as speaker was free of the controversies over partisanship which plagued his successor, Louise Dacquay.
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Denis Rocan was easily returned, and was re-elected again in the 2003 election.
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The Progressive Conservatives lost both elections to the New Democratic Party, and Denis Rocan served as a member of the opposition.
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Denis Rocan supported his friend Reg Alcock in the federal elections of 2000 and 2004, even though Alcock was a Liberal.
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On November 16,2006, Denis Rocan lost the Carman Conservative nomination to Blaine Pedersen.
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Denis Rocan considered running as an independent candidate in the 2007 election, but declined.
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Denis Rocan later bought a small house in Arizona for the winter, becoming a long-haul trucker.