Dorothy Dobbie

Who is Dorothy Dobbie?

Dorothy Dobbie was a Canadian politician. She served in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1993, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Dobbie was a publisher before entering political life, and was a founder of Association Publications Ltd. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. In 1983, she was named Outstanding Business Citizen of the Year by the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce.

She was narrowly elected to the House of Commons in the 1988 election, defeating Liberal candidate Allan Kaufman by 715 votes. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the election, and Dobbie entered parliament as a government backbencher.

She served as parliamentary secretary to several ministers between 1989 and 1993, as was co-chair of the Castonguay-Dobbie Committee on the Renewal of Canada. The committee's recommendations later formed the basis of the government's Charlottetown Accord, which was defeated in a national referendum.

Dobbie supported Jean Charest's bid to succeed Brian Mulroney as Progressive Conservative party leader in 1993, and retained her own nomination over a challenge from Charles Maximilian.