20 Facts About Murray Elston

Murray John Elston was born on October 8,1949 and is a former politician in Ontario Canada.

Murray Elston was a senior cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.

Murray Elston briefly served as interim leader of the Liberal Party from July to November 1991.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government under Bill Davis in this election, and Murray Elston sat on the opposition benches for the next four years.

Murray Elston announced subsidies for residents of Northern Ontario who needed to travel south for medical care.

The Liberals were re-elected with a landslide majority in the 1987 provincial election, and Murray Elston was returned by a significant majority in the redistributed riding of Bruce.

Murray Elston was appointed Minister of Financial Institutions on August 16,1988.

Many high-profile Liberals lost their seats, though Murray Elston was returned in Bruce by a comfortable if reduced margin.

Murray Elston was then chosen as interim leader in Nixon's place, though his time in this position was brief.

Murray Elston declared himself a candidate in the race to become the party's permanent leader, and accordingly resigned as interim leader on November 19,1991.

Murray Elston quickly became the favourite to win the 1992 race, gaining endorsements from such high-profile figures as Peterson, Ian Scott, and Sheila Copps.

Murray Elston led voting for the first four ballots, but lost to Lyn McLeod on the fifth and final ballot by only nine votes.

Some political observers speculated that Murray Elston appeared too much like a holdover from the Peterson era, at a time when the Liberal Party wanted to present a new image to voters.

Murray Elston remained in the legislature for two more years, and served as Opposition House Leader before resigning as an MPP on October 31,1994, to enter the private sector.

Murray Elston was touted as McLeod's likely replacement when she resigned as Liberal leader following a poor performance in the 1995 provincial election but he declined to enter the race preferring to remain out of politics.

From November 1994 until 1997, Murray Elston was president of the Ontario Interlink Industrial Park.

In November 1998, Murray Elston was appointed president of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies.

From 2004 to 2009, Murray Elston was president of the Canadian Nuclear Association, in order to lobby the Premier's office on behalf of the nuclear industry.

Murray Elston's lobbying was highly successful: on June 13,2006, the McGuinty government announced its commitment to rebuild all of Ontario's ageing nuclear stations as well as the construction of new reactors.

Murray Elston served as vice-president of corporate affairs for Bruce Power from 2009 until 2011.