Stockwell Day

On March 12, 2011, Day announced that he would not be seeking re-election in the 2011 federal election.

In March 2011, Day announced that he would not seek re-election in the next federal elections.

After retiring from politics Day started a government relations firm, called Stockwell Day Connex. On June 14, 2011, the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada appointed Day as a Distinguished Fellow. On July 1, 2011, Day joined Canadian law firm McMillan LLP as a senior strategic advisor. Day also currently holds a position on the board of directors of TELUS and the Canada China Business Council. He also previously sat on the boards of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Canada-India Business Council.

In August 2010, Day caused some controversy when he stated the government was "very concerned ... about the increase in the amount of unreported crimes that surveys clearly show are happening". Critics question the supporting evidence of the minister as data pertaining to unreported crimes for 2009 had not yet been released.

Day was appointed president of the Treasury Board by Stephen Harper on January 19, 2010.

During the controversy over the Harper government's decision to eliminate the mandatory long-form census, Day in a radio interview on CHED 630AM on July 23, 2010 defended the move by implying that online web searches are as effective as the national census: "We live in an information age where any 12-year-old kid can push any button on the Internet and find out any information he or she wants without threatening a citizen that they’re going to go to jail.” (Quoted in The Globe and Mail, and Maclean's Magazine with audio archived online by 630CHED)

On October 30, 2008, Day was sworn in as Minister of International Trade in the Conservative Government. He was also appointed the Minister for the Asia–Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative.

In March 2007, the federal Liberals accused former Alliance MP Jim Hart of having accepted a payment of $50,000 to step aside in favour of Day before the 2000 byelection. Contacted at his home in the Republic of Georgia, Hart—in a brief email statement to the CBC—did not deny the allegations or impeach the authenticity of the evidence the Liberals had obtained. The entire matter was investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who found no evidence of wrongdoing.

On February 6, 2006, Day was promoted to the Minister of Public Safety in the Conservative government and was sworn into the Privy Council. When, in May 2008, Israeli Ambassador Alan Baker warned that Canada's Muslim population will influence its policies, Day responded by saying that Canada was proud of its multicultural composition.

In November 2004, Day provoked controversy by not offering condolences to Palestinians after the death of PLO leader Yasser Arafat. The controversy was heightened when it was leaked to the media that Day had attempted to justify his actions to his party colleagues by circulating an article by David Frum which suggested that Arafat had died of AIDS.

In March 2003 Day and Harper co-wrote a letter to The Wall Street Journal in which they condemned the Canadian government's unwillingness to participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Day later appeared as a speaker at a "Canadians for Bush" rally in the Niagara region, organized by controversial right-wing minister Tristan Emmanuel.

In December 2003, the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party merged to become the Conservative Party of Canada. Day did not run for the leadership of the new party, but remained as Foreign Affairs critic. He was easily re-elected to Parliament in the 2004, 2006, and 2008 elections.

In the fall of 2001 Day agreed to step aside and recontest the leadership, and in the March 2002 Alliance leadership election, Day was defeated by Stephen Harper on the first ballot. As a concession to Day, Harper appointed him as Foreign Affairs critic. Five of the seven DRC MPs (all except Inky Mark and Jim Pankiw) rejoined the Alliance caucus on April 10.

In his political career, Day has never campaigned on Sundays, choosing instead to set them aside as time for worship and to be with his family. This came under scrutiny in the 2000 election, when his religion became an election issue.

In response, Mr. Goddard sued Mr. Day for defamation. The suit was eventually settled on December 22, 2000 in the plaintiff's favour. According to an Adjudication Order from the Office Of The Information And Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, an Alberta Government News Release of January 16, 2001 indicated that the total settlement cost for the suit was $792,064.40, including $60,000 in damages paid to the plaintiff, which costs were paid by Alberta taxpayers, although Mr. Day did eventually pay back the Alberta Government the $60,000 in damages out of his own pocket. Additionally, Mr. Day later wrote a letter to a local paper in his riding as a Federal Member of Parliament expressing deep regret "that my former friend Lorne Goddard and his family, have been personally hurt."

In 2000, Day decided to run for leader of the newly formed Canadian Alliance party. After a heavily publicized campaign, Day came in first on the June 24 first ballot of the leadership election with about 44% of the vote, in front of former Reform Party leader Preston Manning and Ontario PC strategist Tom Long. In the following runoff election against Manning, held on July 8, 2000, Day received 63.4%.

Looking for a way to get into Parliament, Day decided against running in his hometown riding of Red Deer, even though it was comfortably safe for the Alliance. Instead, he ran in a by-election in the equally safe riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla, British Columbia after incumbent Reform/CA MP Jim Hart stood down in his favour—a standard practice in most parliamentary systems when a newly elected leader doesn't have a seat in Parliament. Day won the by-election on September 11, 2000, arriving at his first news conference on a Jet Ski wearing a wetsuit.

A few weeks after Day entered the House of Commons, Jean Chrétien called a snap election for November 27, 2000, which would not give the newly formed Canadian Alliance time to consolidate itself. Nonetheless, the new party went into the election with high hopes, as Day was expected to appeal far more to the crucial Ontario voters than his predecessors.

During the 2000 election the CBC ran an extended documentary purporting to review Day's religious beliefs. In this documentary the CBC interviewed Professor Pliny Hayes, Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences at Red Deer College, who reported that Day said in a speech at the college that there is scientific proof that the world is about 6,000 years old and that early man co-existed with dinosaurs. Day filed a complaint with the CBC for the fact that he was at no time asked for comment on the matter.

In April 1999, while Mr. Day was still Treasurer, he wrote a letter criticizing Red Deer lawyer and public school board trustee Lorne Goddard for representing a defendant who was ultimately convicted on charges of possessing child pornography. In the letter, Mr. Day suggested that Mr. Goddard's argument in court that the Canadian Constitution protected his client's right to possess child pornography implied that he himself believed that pedophiles have the right to own such materials, and that this further implies that he also must believe that teachers should have the right to pornographic images of their students.

Further controversies plagued Day following the election. While he had been a government minister in Alberta he wrote a letter to the editor of the Red Deer Advocate in April 1999 in which he criticized Lorne Goddard, a lawyer and Red Deer school trustee, for defending a man accused of possessing child pornography. In it he alleged that Goddard himself supported child pornography. When Goddard sued for libel, the Alberta government covered Day's legal bills. In December, the government lawyers settled out of court, but the legal costs and settlement totalled $792,000. A citizen's fund was set up on behalf of taxpayers to cover the lawyers' charges. Even though thousands of dollars began coming in from across the country, Alberta's Ethics Commissioner ruled that the voluntary fund could not be used. Day was criticized for the costs and eventually re-paid the province $60,000, the settlement amount excluding legal fees. Further controversy ensued in February when it was reported that Bennett Jones, the law firm that had represented Day at taxpayer expense, donated $70,000 to the Canadian Alliance Fund shortly after Day settled. The Alliance launched an internal review that determined that nothing inappropriate had occurred.

In October 1994 Government House Leader was added to his responsibility. In May 1996, Day was made Minister of Social Services, and in March 1997, he became Treasurer. As Treasurer, Day oversaw a continued paying down of Alberta's debt while he cut taxes, instituting a flat tax rate in 1999.

In December 1992, newly elected Alberta premier Ralph Klein brought Day into cabinet as his Minister of Labour, a position in which he oversaw controversial changes in his ministry, including layoffs in the civil service. As Minister of Labour, Day was credited with working with all of Alberta's Public Service Unions to achieve an unprecedented 5% voluntary reduction in their collective agreements. While Day was Minister of Labour, Alberta had the lowest number of days lost due to labour disputes of any province. As Minister Responsible for the Worker's Compensation Board, Day oversaw the elimination of the Compensation Board's unfunded liability of $600 million. This led to a general reduction in premiums for businesses and a general increase in workers' benefits.

In 1986, Day was elected to represent Red Deer North in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as a Progressive Conservative (PC), a position that he held until 2000.

From 1978 to 1985, Day was assistant pastor and school administrator at the Bentley Christian Centre in Bentley, Alberta. His school taught the Accelerated Christian Education curriculum.

His father, who was born in Montreal, was long associated with the Social Credit Party of Canada. In the 1972 federal election he was the Social Credit candidate running against New Democratic Party leader Tommy Douglas in the riding of Nanaimo—Cowichan—The Islands. Day Sr. supported Doug Christie and was a member of the Western Canada Concept.

Stockwell Burt Day Jr. PC (born August 16, 1950) is a Canadian former politician, and a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is a former cabinet minister in Alberta, who later served as leader of the Canadian Alliance from 2000-01. Day was MP for the riding of Okanagan—Coquihalla in British Columbia and the president of the Treasury Board. He was widely seen as a prominent voice for social conservatives within the Conservative Party. On March 12, 2011, Day announced that he would not be seeking re-election in the 2011 federal election.