1. Don Plett is the founding president of the National Council of the Conservative Party of Canada, and the longest serving individual to have held this position.
12 Facts About Don Plett
1. 2.
Don Plett stepped down as manager in 2007, and his sons continue in the family business.
3.
Mr Don Plett served as President of the Chamber of Commerce, Chair of the Village Council, and Chair of the local Utilities Board.
4.
Don Plett mentored and encouraged him and in 1965 Plett worked as a youth volunteer on the Honourable Jake Epp's federal campaign.
5.
In 2000 Don Plett successfully managed the Vic Toews Canadian Alliance campaign where Toews defeated incumbent Liberal MP David Iftody by a large margin.
6.
Don Plett became interim president of the Conservative Party of Canada at its creation in 2003 from the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and was officially elected to the position in at the party's first policy convention in 2005, defeating Montreal lawyer Brian Mitchell.
7.
Don Plett's is one of many appointments made in thanks to service to the governing Conservative Party.
8.
Don Plett is Chair of the Advisory Working Group tasked with studying and recommending changes to the Senate's administrative rules.
9.
Don Plett serves as co-chair of the Canada-China Legislative Association a non-partisan forum established in 1998 for the discussion of bilateral and multilateral issues concerning Canada and the People's Republic of China.
10.
In 2017, Don Plett defended fellow Conservative Senator Lynn Beyak following Beyak's controversial statements in support of Canadian Indian residential schools.
11.
In 2019, Don Plett was elected by colleagues as the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, succeeding Larry Smith.
12.
In December 2020, Don Plett vacationed to Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite government warnings advising against such trips.