John Hamm 226559 222255558 2008-06-28T10:37:16Z Jonathan Logan 6950385 {{unreferenced|date=September 2007}} {{Infobox President | name = Dr. John Frederick Hamm | smallimage = Jhamm03election.JPG | caption = The Hon. John Hamm | birth_date = {{birth date and age | 1938|04|08}} | birth_place = [[New Glasgow, Nova Scotia]] | residence = | death_date = | death_place = | order = 32nd [[Premier of Nova Scotia]] | term_start = August 16, 1999 | term_end = February 24, 2006 | predecessor = [[Russell MacLellan]] | successor = [[Rodney MacDonald]] | party = [[Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia|Progressive Conservative]] | religion = [[Anglican]] | spouse = Genesta Hamm }} '''John Frederick Hamm''', [[Member of the Legislative Assembly|MLA]] (born [[April 8]], [[1938]]) is a [[Canada|Canadian]] [[physician]] and [[politician]] and was the 31st [[premier]] of [[Nova Scotia]], [[Canada]]. Hamm, a graduate of the [[University of King's College]] and [[Dalhousie University]], was a family doctor in his hometown of [[Stellarton, Nova Scotia]], and the president of the Nova Scotia Medical Society. He entered politics in [[1993]], becoming the Member of the [[House of Assembly]] for the [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[Pictou Centre]]. Hamm became leader of the [[Progressive Conservative Party (Nova Scotia)|Progressive Conservative Party of Nova Scotia]] in [[1995]] <ref>{{cite news | author = Canadian Press | title = Tories elect leader | id = The Globe and Mail | page = 3 | date = October 30, 1995 }}</ref>, succeeding [[Terry Donahoe]]. His party won 14 seats in the [[1998]] provincial election and held the balance of power in a minority government where both the [[Liberal Party (Nova Scotia)|Liberal Party]] and the [[New Democratic Party (Nova Scotia)|New Democratic Party]], led by [[Russell MacLellan]] and [[Robert Chisholm (Canadian politician)|Robert Chisholm]], respectively, each had nineteen seats. Hamm's Tories defeated the Liberal minority government on a budget vote on June 17, [[1999]], in the subsequent election on [[July 27]], [[1999]], Hamm became the new [[Premier]], winning 30 of the 52 seats in the provincial legislature. After taking office, Hamm sold or closed government-owned industries such as [[Sydney Steel]]. He invested more in [[education]] and [[health care]], and implemented some [[tax]] cuts. His government was the first to truly balance provincial finances in 25 years, following changes in public sector accounting practises. In [[2001]] Hamm was at odds with the [[Nova Scotia Government Employees Union]], trying to legislate nurses back to work after a legal strike. In the [[2003 Nova Scotia election|2003 election]] Hamm's Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a [[minority government]]. The main issue in that election was the increasing cost of [[car insurance]] and whether Nova Scotia should begin to allow general [[Sunday shopping]]. Despite the minority government Hamm's government was able to drop an NDP plan for government automobile insurance issue, and put the Sunday shopping issue to a province-wide plebiscite. Hamm is opposed to [[Sunday shopping]] and a [[public auto insurance]] system. One of his most notable achievements was negotiating with the federal government to implement the Atlantic Accord, a multi-decade regional development program that had been approved in principle during the late 1980s to prevent provincial government offshore oil and gas royalties from being included in calculations for the federal [[equalization payments|equalization program]]. This resulted in an $830 million payment in 2005 from the federal government, which Dr. Hamm applied against the principle on the province's long term debt, thereby reducing debt servicing payments by over $50 million annually.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gov.ns.ca/finance/budget06/budget_address.asp| title=Nova Scotia Budget Address for the Fiscal Year 2006-2007 | publisher=Government of Nova Scotia | accessdate=2007-10-27}}</ref> On [[September 29]], [[2005]] Hamm surprised [[Nova Scotia]] by announcing his intention to retire as Premier and PC Leader. He had been expected to call an election in fall of [[2005]]. In the Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative leadership convention 2006, [[Rodney MacDonald]] was elected his successor. On December 21, 2006, Hamm was appointed Chairperson of Assisted Human Reproduction Canada, a federal agency created to protect and promote the health and safety, human dignity and human rights of Canadians who use or are born of assisted human reproduction technologies, and to foster ethical principles in relation to assisted human reproduction and other related matters. ==References== {{reflist|1}} {{start box}} {{s-prec|can}} {{succession box | title=[[Order of precedence in Nova Scotia]] | years=[[as of 2008]] | before=[[Russell MacLellan]] | after=[[Alfie MacLeod]], Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly}} {{end box}} {{NSPremiers}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hamm, John}} [[Category:1938 births]] [[Category:University of King's College alumni]] [[Category:Canadian physicians]] [[Category:Premiers of Nova Scotia]] [[Category:Nova Scotia Progressive Conservative MLAs]] [[Category:People from Pictou County, Nova Scotia]] [[Category:Canadian Anglicans]] [[Category:Canadians of German descent]] [[Category:Living people]] [[fr:John Hamm]]