BIO DATA REPORT: GHIZ, ROBERT PEI PREMIER-ELECT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HALIFAX 000048

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR WHA/CAN AND INR/B

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR CA
SUBJECT: BIO DATA REPORT: GHIZ, ROBERT PEI PREMIER-ELECT

REF: HALIFAX 0045

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1. As reported reftel, Robert Ghiz and his Liberal party toppled
the incumbent Tory government in a decisive win in the Prince
Edward Island provincial election on May 28, 2007. Ghiz and his
new cabinet will assume power on June 13, 2007.


2. NAME: Robert Watson Joseph GHIZ


3. DATE OF BIRTH: January 21, 1974


4. PLACE OF BIRTH: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island


5. FAMILY:
-- Son of the late Joe Ghiz (a Harvard-educated lawyer of
Lebanese decent who was premier from 1986 to 1993) and Rose
Ellen

-- One sibling - sister Joanne.

-- Married to Dr. Kate Ellis of Prince Edward Island


6. FUTURE POSITON: To become Premier of the Province of Prince
Edward Island on June 13, 2007.


7. POLITICAL/PROFFESIONAL CAREER:

-- Appointed as a Special Assistant to former federal Liberal
cabinet minister Sheila Copps (1997-1998).

-- Manager of Government Affairs, Bank of Nova Scotia, Ottawa,
Ontario (1998-2001).

-- Appointed as a Special Advisor (for Canada's Atlantic
Provinces) to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien
(2001-2003).

-- Chosen Leader of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island in
April 2003.

-- Elected to the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly for
District 13, Charlottetown-Rochford Square in the September 2003
provincial general election

-- As Leader of the Official Opposition served as critic for
several portfolios including intergovernmental affairs, health
and social services.

-- Re-elected as the member for Charlottetown-Rochford Square in
the May 2007 provincial general election.


8. EDUCATION: Educated in Charlottetown area schools; Bachelor
of Arts (Political Science),Bishop's University, Lennoxville,
Quebec.


9. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Avid sports fan with a special
love for hockey, basketball and golf.

COMMENT


10. The Liberals' upset victory in the May 28 provincial
election was a crowning achievement for 33-year old Robert Ghiz
who is a relative newcomer to provincial politics. Ghiz started
his political career as a behind-the-scenes advisor in Ottawa
and he only returned to the Island early in 2003 when provincial
Liberal party strategists enticed him to run in the party's
leadership campaign that April. Island Liberals were looking
for a star candidate to guide them in revitalizing the party
which was suffering from a demoralizing one-seat presence in the
27-seat provincial legislature. With popular Tory Premier Pat
Binns ready to call an election that fall, the Liberals were
scrambling to find a high-profile contender to go up against
him, and thought they had found their man in Ghiz.


11. The problem was that pundits and political commentators
were quick to ponder if Ghiz really had the qualities to lead
the party in dethroning the popular Binns, commenting that
perhaps his notoriety and appeal came more from his pedigree
than his personal attributes. Ghiz is the son of the late
premier Joe Ghiz who is regarded as one of the Island's greatest
orators and gifted parliamentarians. The assumption was that
young Ghiz would follow in his father's footsteps by igniting
the party and the electorate and topple the incumbent Tories.
However, Ghiz only narrowly won the contest over a
well-seasoned, ex-Liberal cabinet minister who made much of
Ghiz's political inexperience, his life off the Island, and his
perceived lack of political intellect that his father had
consistently displayed.


12. Undaunted by his near defeat in the leadership race, Ghiz
quickly set about rebuilding the party knowing that Binns was

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getting ready to call an election that September. In the
ensuing campaign, Ghiz turned in what was generally regarded as
a credible performance taking four seats in the legislature,
graciously accepting his loss to Binns, but vowing to win the
next time. In the years following, that vow looked very
difficult to fulfill as Binns and his ruling Tory party enjoyed
widespread support across the Island and the Liberals
consistently trailed in the public opinion polls. That trend
continued even going into this year's election which Binns
called on April 30.


13. The general consensus was that the election would be a
tight race, but Binns would probably take it, albeit with a
reduced majority. Up for the challenge, Ghiz unveiled a
well-crafted campaign that turned out to be very popular with
the electorate, focusing on improvements to education and health
care, tax reduction and a pledge to maintain rural communities.
Ghiz was also careful not to personally attack Binns given that
the Premier was still widely respected across the province.
Instead, he focused on offering Islanders a fresh government,
painting the Tories as a stale government bankrupt of ideas.
The strategy worked so well that on election day, May 28, Ghiz
emerged with an overwhelming majority, 23 seats to the Tories'
four. Even Ghiz was surprised at the results and publicly
acknowledged that he was overwhelmed by the Islanders'
overwhelming endorsement. (FYI: The Liberals garnered almost
53 percent of the vote versus 41.5 percent for the Tories.
However, in a province with only 98,000 eligible voters our
contacts have pointed out it does not take much to produce a
change in government as Ghiz just experienced. END FYI)


14. Ghiz has a busy and exciting career ahead of him beginning
on June 13 when he and his party take over the government.
Deciding who will sit in his cabinet and setting his legislative
agenda will be his top priorities, but equally important he says
is for him to spend time with his family. He is very devoted to
his widowed mother and his paternal grandmother, but saves the
bulk of his free time for his wife of just one year, Dr. Kate
Ellis, a medical doctor who interrupted her medical training to
join her husband on the campaign trail. Ghiz says he wants to
ensure that he strikes an equal balance between work and his
private life especially as he and his wife are looking forward
to starting a family.


15. CG managed a brief meeting with Ghiz in PEI on May 30 just
two days after his election win. While he was still trying to
fathom the scope of his victory, the Premier did underscore his
desire to continue the close relationship his province has
enjoyed with U.S. Mission in Canada and expressed a desire to
build on the already strong trade and cultural relationship
between his province and the United States. Ghiz will get an
early opportunity to learn more about U.S. interests as he will
be hosting the annual meeting of New England Governors and
Eastern Canadian Premiers June 25-27, which Ambassador Wilkins
will also be attending. For now, Ghiz is concentrating on more
domestic items such as picking his cabinet and deciding how to
implement those campaign promises that proved so popular with
the electorate.

END COMMENT
FOSTER