Michael Kram MP (born December 20, 1978) is a Canadian politician who was elected as a Conservative to represent the riding of Regina—Wascana in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2019 Canadian federal election.[2]
Michael Kram | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kram in 2019 | |
| Member of Parliament for Regina—Wascana | |
| Assumed office October 21, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Ralph Goodale |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 20, 1978 Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | Regina, Saskatchewan[1] |
| Education | |
Early life and education
editKram grew up and still resides in south Regina, Saskatchewan. His parents are both retired teachers and his grandparents were farmers. He graduated from Dr. Martin LeBoldus High School in Regina.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in computer science and a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in economics. Both degrees are from the University of Regina. Kram also studied economics at Carleton University in Ottawa.[3]
In interviews, Kram has often noted that becoming a Member of Parliament had been his dream since he was in elementary school.[4]
Early career
editBefore being elected to public office, Kram worked for 20 years in the information technology sector, including a number of contract positions with the Department of National Defence. He worked for over 17 years as a programmer/analyst with Paradigm Consulting, a Regina-based IT consulting firm. During this time, he developed software solutions for a mix of private sector, federal and provincial entities.[3]
As a sideline, Kram worked as an extra and bit-part actor in a number of Canadian movies and TV shows, including Corner Gas: The Movie, Edge of War, A Dog Named Christmas and Crime Stories. His most extensive role was playing Detective Dominick Spinelli in the docu-drama series Crime Stories.[5]
Political career
edit2015 federal election
editKram ran as the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the constituency of Regina—Wascana in the 2015 Canadian federal election. He was defeated by incumbent long-time Liberal MP Ralph Goodale. While Kram was defeated by a margin of over 10,600 votes, his absolute vote was comparable to the results of Conservative candidates from the previous five elections. Conversely, the NDP and Green votes were lower than in previous elections, suggesting that the Liberal campaign had benefited from strategic voting.[6][7]
2019 federal election
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Kram ran again as the Conservative candidate for Regina—Wascana in the 2019 federal election. He defeated the incumbent Goodale by a margin of over 7,000 votes, capturing 49.3 per cent of the popular vote.[2]
Due to Goodale's long incumbency, Kram was widely predicted to lose throughout the campaign. On September 18, 2019, University of Regina political studies professor Jim Farney said, "I would guess that the race is going to be closer than it was last time, but that kind of name recognition — the 30 years of networking in public service — is probably going to see another Goodale victory," he said.[8]
On October 17, 2019, The Western Producer predicted that Goodale would hold onto his seat, as did The National.[9][10]
The Election Prediction Project maintained Goodale as their prediction throughout the campaign.[11]
On October 3, 2019, a Hill & Knowlton/Advanced Symbolics Inc. artificial intelligence poll predicted a Goodale win, albeit by a reduced margin.[12]
Member of Parliament
editKram was sworn in as a Member of Parliament on November 12, 2019. Party leader Andrew Scheer, who represents neighbouring Regina—Qu'Appelle in the House, subsequently appointed him to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade and named Deputy Critic for International Trade for the Conservative Opposition caucus.[3]
In September 2020, Erin O'Toole, who had succeeded Scheer as leader of the Conservative Party the previous month, reassigned Kram to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.[13] Since his appointment to this committee, Kram has become vocal regarding pandemic assistance for airports, especially his local airport in Regina, Saskatchewan.[14][15][16]
In December, 2021, O'Toole named Kram Vice-Chair of the Industry and Technology Committee [17] During this time, Kram advocated on behalf of the Canadian Institute of Public Safety Research and Treatment and other research projects at the University of Regina.[18]
Following the Conservative leadership race of 2022, newly-elected Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre reassigned Kram to the Public Accounts committee.[17] Early in his tenure on this committee, Kram uncovered that several federal government departments had been defrauded by their own employees who had claimed the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit while still working full time.[19]
2021 federal election
editKram ran for re-election as the Conservative candidate for Regina-Wascana in the 2021 federal election. His primary challenger was Liberal Sean McEachern, former chief of staff and campaign manager to former MP Ralph Goodale. McEachern highlighted his connection to Goodale frequently in the media in an effort to capture nostalgia for the former MP.[20]
As in 2019 election campaign, Kram's re-election was regarded skeptically by local media who identified Regina-Wascana as a "riding to watch" for a potential loss by the Conservatives.[21] The polling aggregator site 338Canada.com projected the constituency as a "toss up" through much of the campaign.[22]
In the final result, Kram won by nearly double the Liberal vote and increased his share of the popular vote in spite of the right-wing competitor People's Party more than tripling its support.
Electoral record
editRegina—Wascana
edit| 2021 Canadian federal election: Regina—Wascana | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Michael Kram | 19,261 | 49.9 | +0.47 | $80,923.17 | |||
| Liberal | Sean McEachern | 10,390 | 26.9 | -6.71 | $86,519.29 | |||
| New Democratic | Erin Hidlebaugh | 6,975 | 18.1 | +5.39 | $3,062.34 | |||
| People's | Mario Milanovski | 1,352 | 3.5 | +2.51 | $2,039.18 | |||
| Green | Victor Lau | 622 | 1.6 | -1.3 | $2,714.95 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 38,600 | 99.3 | – | $102,892.46 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 291 | 0.07 | ||||||
| Turnout | 38,891 | 63.9 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 60,858 | |||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[23] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: Regina—Wascana | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Conservative | Michael Kram | 22,418 | 49.43 | +19.16 | $74,982.33 | |||
| Liberal | Ralph Goodale | 15,242 | 33.61 | -21.52 | $92,046.46 | |||
| New Democratic | Hailey Clark | 5,801 | 12.79 | +0.24 | none listed | |||
| Green | Tamela Friesen | 1,316 | 2.90 | +0.85 | $2,193.36 | |||
| People's | Mario Milanovski | 450 | 0.99 | - | $4,344.47 | |||
| Independent | Evangeline Godron | 128 | 0.28 | - | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 45,355 | 99.25 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 344 | 0.75 | +0.34 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,699 | 75.60 | +0.99 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 60,451 | |||||||
| Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +20.34 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[24][25][26] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: Regina—Wascana | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Ralph Goodale | 23,552 | 55.13 | +13.37 | $96,786.47 | |||
| Conservative | Michael Kram | 12,931 | 30.27 | -5.44 | $89,000.81 | |||
| New Democratic | April Bourgeois | 5,362 | 12.55 | -7.53 | $21,735.49 | |||
| Green | Frances Simonson | 878 | 2.06 | -0.4 | $4,601.01 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 42,723 | 99.59 | $193,043.93 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 176 | 0.41 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 42,889 | 74.60 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 57,504 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +9.41 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[27][28][29] | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
- ^ a b "Canada election results: Regina Wascana". Global News. October 21, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
- ^ a b c "CPC website".
- ^ "Kram hopes a second run at Goodale gets him a victory".
- ^ "IMDB page: Michael Kram". IMDb.
- ^ "Top 8 Federal Ridings to Watch".
- ^ "Elections Canada Official Voting Results 2015 Regina Wascana".
- ^ "Lone Sask. Liberal Ralph Goodale facing challenge to keep election streak alive".
- ^ Briere, Karen (October 17, 2019). "Goodale brand expected to prevail in Sask". The Western Producer. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
- ^ "Mid-campaign regional analysis: the Prairies".
- ^ "Regina Wascana 2019 Federal Election".
- ^ "Regina Wascana, Saskatchewan".
- ^ "Transportation, Infrastructure and Communities Committee". Michael Kram. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ "NAV Canada appears set to axe Regina's air traffic control tower service". leaderpost. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ Sigurdson, Josh. "Struggling YQR suffers another setback with loss of Flair Airlines". 620 CKRM The Source | Country Music, News, Sports in Sask. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ "Regina International Airport asks for federal money to help survive COVID-19 slowdown | CBC News". CBC. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
- ^ a b "Roles - Michael Kram - Current and Past - Members of Parliament - House of Commons of Canada".
- ^ "Mental wellness for Public Safety Personnel takes centre stage at Parliament Hill event". November 16, 2022.
- ^ "Federal department fired 49 employees who received CERB benefit though employed".
- ^ Harding, Lee (September 8, 2021). "McEachern carries Goodale Liberal torch in Regina-Wascana". The Western Standard. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ "Ridings to Watch: Ralphless Regina—Wascana race 'a very odd' one". leaderpost. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ "Regina–Wascana | 338Canada". 338canada.com. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
- ^ "Election Night Results - Electoral Districts".
- ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
- ^ "Candidate Campaign Returns". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Regina—Wascana, 30 September 2015
- ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
- ^ [1]
External links
edit
- Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
- Official website