Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in cabinet as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.
Background
Laughren was born in Shawville, Quebec to parents Irvin and Erma Laughren. He is one of eight children. The family moved to a farm near Caledonia, Ontario where he grew up. He studied business at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and York University. After graduation, he worked as a manager at a Zellers store. In 1969 he was hired to teach economics at Cambrian College in Sudbury.
Laughren's wife Jeanette (née Gossen), whom he married in 1962, died on August 26, 2007. They had three children.
Politics
In the 1971 provincial election Laughren ran as the New Democratic Party candidate in the Sudbury-area riding of Nickel Belt. He defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Gaston Demers by just under 2,000 votes. He was re-elected without difficulty in the elections of 1975, 1977, 1981, 1985, 1987 and 1990.
Laughren was from the left wing of the party, and supported Richard Johnston for the party's leadership in 1982. He was not initially an ally of Bob Rae, and was also a frequent rival of fellow Northern Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Bud Wildman for key shadow cabinet postings. Some of the official critic postings that he held included Colleges and Universities, Treasurer, and Natural Resources. When Liberal Robert Nixon retired from the legislature in 1992, Laughren became its longest-serving member.
The NDP government was defeated in the 1995 provincial election, although Laughren was able to retain Nickel Belt with a somewhat reduced majority. In 1996, he was the only New Democratic MPP from northern Ontario to support Frances Lankin's unsuccessful bid to replace Rae as party leader.
Cabinet positions
Later life
He retired in 1998 and was appointed as chair the Ontario Energy Board. He served a three-year term.
In 2006, he was appointed by Greater Sudbury mayor David Courtemanche to chair an advisory committee to review and recommend improvements to city services in the five-year-old amalgamated city. In 2017, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.