11 Facts About Elizabeth Weir

Elizabeth Jane Weir was born on February 20,1948 and is a Canadian lawyer and politician in New Brunswick.

Elizabeth Weir was elected leader of the New Democratic Party of New Brunswick in June 1988 and became an opposition voice to the Liberal government, which held all 58 seats in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick.

Elizabeth Weir has taught at York University and the University of New Brunswick.

Elizabeth Weir was first elected to the legislature in 1991 in the riding of Saint John South where she defeated Liberal John Mooney by only 78 votes.

At the 2003 federal NDP convention at which Jack Layton would be elected party leader, Elizabeth Weir sought the presidency of the federal party against re-offering incumbent Adam Giambrone.

Midway through the convention, Giambrone and Elizabeth Weir decided to seek a co-presidency.

The joint ticket was withdrawn, and Elizabeth Weir placed second after Giambrone and ahead of a candidate from the NDP Socialist Caucus.

On October 8,2004, Elizabeth Weir announced that she would be stepping down from the leadership of the New Brunswick NDP but would stay on until a successor was chosen.

Elizabeth Weir pledged to run for re-election to the legislature in the next general election; however, she eventually reversed this pledge.

Allison Brewer was chosen as her successor at a September 2005 leadership convention and Elizabeth Weir resigned her seat from the legislature on October 13,2005 to accept the appointment to be the first president and CEO of the new New Brunswick crown corporation the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Agency.

Elizabeth Weir was made a Member of the Order of New Brunswick in 2021.