Preceded by John William Thomson Succeeded by Preston Manning | Name Bobbie Sparrow Role Canadian Politician | |
Full Name Barbara Jane Sparrow Born July 11, 1935 (age 88)
Toronto, Ontario ( 1935-07-11 ) Political party Progressive Conservative Profession Registered Nurse, businessperson, politician Party Progressive Conservative Party of Canada | ||
Barbara Jane (Bobbie) Sparrow, PC (born July 11, 1935) is a Canadian former politician.
Political career
Sparrow, a Registered Nurse and businessperson, was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1984 federal election as Member of Parliament for Calgary South, Alberta. That election brought the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to power under the leadership of Brian Mulroney. In that election she won the biggest plurality in Canadian history up to that time, winning by a landslide of 55,590 votes. The plurality was 47,763 more votes than second place runner-up Harold Millican from the Liberal Party of Canada.
Sparrow was re-elected in the 1988 general election for the new riding of Calgary Southwest. In 1991, she was named parliamentary secretary to the Minister of National Health and Welfare.
When Kim Campbell succeeded Mulroney as PC leader and prime minister in 1993, she brought Sparrow into the Cabinet as Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources and Minister of Forestry.
Both Sparrow and the Campbell government were defeated in the subsequent 1993 federal election that reduced the Tories to only two seats in the House of Commons. Sparrow lost her seat to Reform Party leader Preston Manning.