51 Facts About Eric Cline

Eric H Cline was born on August 12,1955 and is a former Canadian politician.

Eric Cline served in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as the New Democratic Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saskatoon Idylwyld from 1991 to 1995, Saskatoon Mount Royal from 1995 to 2003, and Saskatoon Massey Place 2003 to 2007.

Eric Cline was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert.

On December 15,2006, Cline announced his intention to not run in the 2007 election.

Eric Cline continued to serve in Cabinet until May 31,2007.

Eric Cline received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Saskatchewan in 1976.

Eric Cline campaigned for the NDP while still a student, finishing third in Regina South in the 1975 provincial election.

Eric Cline was first elected to the Saskatchewan legislature in the 1991 provincial election, winning election in the safe NDP seat of Saskatoon Idylwyld.

The New Democrats won a majority government under the leadership of Roy Romanow, and Eric Cline served as a government backbencher.

Eric Cline was re-elected for the new seat of Saskatoon Mount Royal in the 1995 election.

In March 1995, Eric Cline announced that he would support his local Member of Parliament, Chris Axworthy, for leader of the federal New Democratic Party.

Eric Cline was called to cabinet on November 22,1995, and was given the senior portfolio of Minister of Health.

Eric Cline continued with the Romanow government's previous health reforms, and defended the decision to create consolidated regional health boards.

Eric Cline described this as a fair compromise, though some in the public sector described the latter initiative as an abandonment of medicare.

In 1997, Eric Cline indicated that Saskatchewan would take steps toward the legalization and regulation of midwifery, and announced a $25,000 incentive for doctors setting up a practice in rural communities.

Eric Cline spoke out against plans by the federal government of Jean Chretien to offer pharmaceutical companies twenty-year patent protection for new prescription drugs.

Eric Cline served as Acting Minister of Labour from July 1,1996 to August 6,1996.

Eric Cline was promoted to Minister of Finance in the Romanow government on June 27,1997, replacing Janice MacKinnon.

Eric Cline introduced the Romanow government's fourth consecutive balanced budget in March 1998.

Eric Cline wrote an editorial piece in the Financial Post newspaper in mid-1998, arguing that the Romanow government had prevented Saskatchewan from falling into bankruptcy through its policy decisions since 1991.

Just before the 1999 budget was unveiled, Eric Cline announced that the Saskatchewan government would contribute $140 million to a farm-aid package.

Eric Cline was personally re-elected without difficulty and was retained as Finance Minister.

Eric Cline released the coalition government's first budget in 2000, which featured income tax cuts and an expansion of the sales tax.

Eric Cline described the budget as providing for "growth and opportunity for Saskatchewan" rather than "buying the short-term goodwill of people with their own tax dollars".

Eric Cline was mentioned by some as a possible successor, but he declined to contest the position and did not publicly endorse another candidate.

Subsequent declines in gas revenue and losses in federal equalization later forced Eric Cline to withdraw $479 million from the fiscal stabilization fund to prevent a return to deficit spending.

Eric Cline endorsed Lorne Nystrom for the leadership of the federal New Democratic Party in September 2002, and was part of Nystrom's campaign team.

At the party's 2003 convention, Eric Cline argued that Nystrom was best positioned to "speak to the realities of the market economy and how to generate wealth" while affirming the role of public programs "to maximize equality of opportunity".

Eric Cline replaced the retiring Chris Axworthy in the former position, and Eldon Laudermilch in the latter.

Eric Cline announced in late February 2003 that the province would hold an inquiry into the death of Neil Stonechild, a seventeen-year-old aboriginal youth who was found frozen to death in 1990.

Eric Cline's death was ruled accidental, but many believe he was abandoned outside of town by members of the police force.

Eric Cline announced that Saskatchewan would become the first province to completely protect Registered Retirement Savings Plans and related funds from creditors, in the event of bankruptcy.

In June 2003, Eric Cline announced that the Saskatchewan government would charge David Ahenakew with promoting hatred.

In October 2003, Eric Cline announced that the Saskatchewan government would establish a commission to investigate the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard in 1969.

In June 2003, Eric Cline led a Saskatchewan trade delegation to an international conference on biotechnology in Washington, DC His intent was to develop international contacts, and specifically to export Saskatchewan's biotechnology expertise to India.

Eric Cline, re-elected without difficulty, was appointed to a restructured Ministry of Industry and Resources while yielding the Justice portfolio.

Eric Cline acknowledged that the SIGA had made significant improvements in recent years, and indicated that the government would hold the casino's profits in trust if further concerns were not resolved.

Eric Cline led a twelve-day business excursion to Europe in September 2004, and spoke at the World Nuclear Association Symposium in London.

Eric Cline presented to the conference on Saskatchewan's pioneering Reclaimed Industrial Sites Act, which requires funds to be in place to ensure environmental reclamation and monitoring after mines shut down.

In January 2005, Eric Cline presided over an economic conference in Saskatoon billed as the Centennial Summit.

Eric Cline was identified as the best minister in the Calvert government in 2005 by members of the government, opposition and media, amid a general economic recovery in the province.

Eric Cline relinquished cabinet responsibility for the Gaming and Liquor commission in early 2006.

On December 15,2006, Eric Cline announced that he would not be seeking re-election.

Eric Cline became Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Leader of the Opposition in the Saskatchewan legislature in 2012, but was defeated in the 2016 Saskatchewan general election in the new riding of Saskatoon Westview.

Eric Cline remained active in the community, serving on various community and industry boards, including the Saskatchewan Mining Association, YMCA of Saskatoon, Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan Theatre and several others, all in a voluntary unpaid capacity.

Eric Cline joined the Saskatchewan Craft Council as a professional craftsperson in 2018 and became a peer-reviewed juried member of the Council in the category of glass the following year.

Eric Cline became a member of the Saskatoon Glassworkers Guild, established Cline Art in Glass and commenced selling works and accepting commissions for homes and offices in Saskatoon and other centres in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Ottawa and Washington DC.

In 2019 Eric Cline ended a 47 year association with the federal wing of the New Democratic Party following the expulsion of Regina Lewvan member of Parliament Erin Weir by federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh.

Eric Cline joined with 67 other formerly elected New Democrats to raise concerns about the expulsion.

Eric Cline expressed the view that Singh's judgement and sense of balance was seriously flawed.

In 2020, Eric Cline earned the designation Qualified Arbitrator from the Alternate Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada and began to serve as a neutral Arbitrator on occasion.