Nelson Riis

Nelson Riis was born in High River, Alberta, on 10 January 1942 to Hans and Signe Riis. He attended school in Longview, Alberta, and Port Moody, BC.^[1] Early occupations included clerk, waiter, fisherman, surveyor, truck driver, timber cruiser, farm labourer, deckhand, and refinery worker.^[2]

Nelson graduated from the University of British Columbia (UBC) with a Bachelor of Education (BEd) in 1967 and Master of Arts (MA) (Geography) in 1970.^[3] In the late 1960s, he taught in both elementary and secondary schools. In the 1970s, he taught in the newly created Geography Department of Cariboo College (now known as Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops,^[2] and held the position of chair of the Social Sciences Department 1970–1973 and 1978–1980.^[1]

In Kamloops, he served as an alderman 1973–1978 and as a school trustee 1978–1980.^[1]

As a New Democratic Party (NDP) member, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1980, and re-elected in 1984, 1988, 1993, and 1997, before defeat in 2000. He was party finance critic 1981–1986 and critic for other commerce-related portfolios during this period. He served as NDP caucus chair 1984–1986 and 1996–2000, and house leader 1986–1996.^[4]

While an MP, he wrote a weekly newspaper column and hosted a weekly half-hour TV show.^[5] Of the 43 NDP MPs, he was one of the eight who survived the 1993 federal election.^[6]

Riis was rumoured at various times in the 1980s to have been offered cabinet positions in the Brian Mulroney government if he were willing to cross the floor and join the Progressive Conservative Party. During his parliamentary career, he introduced legislation which made ice hockey Canada's official winter sport, and unsuccessfully demanded that the government block Wayne Gretzky's trade from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.^[7]