The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Former Flin Flon MP Rod Murphy is capping off a lengthy career of stepping up to bat for northern Manitoba. Murphy, 57, retires tomorrow as a senior advisor to the province on northern issues ? everything from mine closures to road repairs ? to have more time to himself. "We've gone through a provincial election, we've gone through another federal election, and I thought this is a good time to make a clean break," said Murphy, who lives outside Thompson. "It's not like I'm quitting before an election and people will say, 'Gee, Murphy should have been around to help.'" Murphy took over the advisory position in 2000, believing the north needed another knowledgeable voice within government. "I had seen the number of senior positions in the north at the provincial and federal levels diminish," he said. "I thought we were going to have a lot of people sitting in the south making decisions if we didn't have someone come in and try to make up for those gaps." His retirement concludes an 18-year career in politics that began in 1979 when the New Democrat became the Churchill Riding MP with a defeat over Progressive Conservative candidate Cecil Smith. A teacher by profession, Murphy spent three terms as the region's Ottawa representative until his 1993 defeat at the hands of Liberal Elijah Harper. Though the election result hurt, Murphy, in hindsight, believes the time was right to get out. "The Churchill Riding is a very big riding that requires a lot of traveling," he said. "During my years as MP, I was on the road for about one full week out of every six. I had to be. There were over 80 communities in the riding, and 36 of them didn't have roads. It meant a lot of time away from family. My sons remind me of that every so often, usually on their birthdays." See 'Important' P.# Con't from P.# Murphy enjoyed a return to the classroom for the next seven years before being offered a senior advisory position within the Gary Doer government, which had come to office several months earlier. In this capacity, he played an important role in a variety of northern initiatives. He pushed for more transportation money for the region, researched commercial development and made recommendations surrounding the timber industry. The job ran the full gamut of emotions. Murphy experienced the sadness of helping the people of Leaf Rapids through the closure of the town's mine and the satisfaction of the opening of the University College of the North. Through it all, he prepared himself to leave the political field, with all of its highs and lows, once and for all. In his retirement, Murphy plans sit down to write about his time in government and living in the north. "I have some thoughts I'm certainly going to write down over the passage of time and I'll see what I do with them," he said. Although some Murphy supporters would love to again see his name on their ballots one day, the former MP stressed his days in elected office are over. "I enjoyed my time as MP, but in reality, 14 years on the road is a long time," he said. "I just can't see myself ever doing it again."
