Canadian politician (born 1975)
Andrew John Furey MHA FRCSC (born July 1975) is a Canadian politician and surgeon who has served as the 14th premier of Newfoundland and Labrador since August 19, 2020. A member of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party, Furey represents Humber-Gros Morne in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly. As of 2024, he is the only premier of a province whose government is controlled by the Liberal Party.
Early life and career
Furey was born in St. John's in July 1975.[2][1] His father George Furey, a school principal and barrister, was appointed to the Senate of Canada in 1999 and served as the speaker of the Senate of Canada from 2015 until his retirement in 2023.[3] His uncle Chuck Furey was MHA for St. Barbe and subsequently served as a cabinet minister in the provincial governments of Clyde Wells and Brian Tobin.[4]
Raised in St. John's, Furey earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) and graduated from the MUN School of Medicine in 2001. He would later accept a Fellowship in orthopedic trauma from R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland in Baltimore, U.S., from 2006–2007,[5] before returning to Newfoundland to practise medicine at his own clinic. He was later named Memorial University of Newfoundland's Alumnus of the Year in 2012, and became a recipient of the Ignatian Spirit Award in 2015.[6] He also completed a diploma in organizational leadership from the University of Oxford that same year.[2] In 2017, Furey was named the Canadian Red Cross' humanitarian of the year for Newfoundland and Labrador.[7]
Philanthropic work
In 2011, Furey co-founded Team Broken Earth, a volunteer task force supporting the relief effort in Haiti following the 2010 earthquake.[8][9] By 2013, the organization assisted hundreds of patients a week in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with Furey often personally leading the missions there.[10] The organization's efforts were temporarily halted in 2019 due to safety concerns amid rising violence in the country.[11]
Furey also co-founded the "A Dollar a Day" foundation alongside singer-songwriter Alan Doyle and businessman Brendan Paddick, which aims to provide funding for mental health initiatives in Newfoundland and Labrador.[12] In addition to this, Furey also serves as the co-chair for the Jack Hand Foundation.[6]
In 2020, Furey released a book, Hope in the Balance: A Newfoundland Doctor Meets a World in Crisis, discussing his experiences in Haiti.[13]
Political career
Furey first expressed interest in entering politics in 2015, saying that his work with Team Broken Earth "left me with a want and desire to do more".[14] Speculation that Furey was being pitched to replace incumbent Premier Dwight Ball emerged as early as 2017.[15]
When Ball announced his eventual resignation in February 2020, Furey quickly became a potential contender and was almost immediately regarded as the frontrunner to succeed him.[16] Furey announced his intention to run for the leadership of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party on March 3, 2020 in St. John's,[17] and he was swiftly endorsed by the majority of Ball's cabinet.[18] On August 3, 2020, he was elected leader at the party's convention, receiving approximately two-thirds of votes cast.[19] On August 19, 2020, Furey was formally sworn in as Premier, along with his provincial cabinet.[20]
As Furey did not hold a seat in the legislature, he announced on September 7, 2020 that he would contest the by-election for Ball's former seat of Humber-Gros Morne.[21] On October 6, 2020 Furey won the by-election in Humber-Gros Morne.[22][23]
On January 15, 2021, Furey asked for consent from Lieutenant Governor Judy Foote to dissolve the House of Assembly to call for an election in order to obtain a stronger mandate in the form of a majority government.[24] The election was originally scheduled for February 13, 2021, but a COVID-19 outbreak in St. John's forced Elections NL to switch to a mail-in election, cancelling in-person voting for all districts.[25][26][27][28] The deadline was set on March 25, 2021, and the results were announced on March 27, 2021, with Furey's Liberals winning a majority government.[29][30]
On June 23, 2021, Furey announced Nalcor Energy would be dismantled and folded into Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro.[31]
On December 23, 2021, during the Omicron variant outbreak that put over 1,000 health-care workers in isolation, Furey helped administer vaccines to current and retired public service workers and their families at the Confederation Building.[32] Furey then travelled to Labrador, particularly Happy Valley-Goose Bay, on January 3, 2022, to help a team of physicians administer vaccines.[33] Furey then travelled to Bell Island to help administer vaccines on January 13, 2022.
On January 30, 2024, Liberal candidate Fred Hutton was elected in the Conception Bay East - Bell Island by-election gaining the seat from the Progressive Conservatives.[34]
Personal life
Furey resides in Portugal Cove–St. Philip's.[2] He is married to Allison Furey and they have three children: Rachel, Maggie and Mark.[35] His wife works as an emergency physician at the Janeway Children's Health and Rehabilitation Centre in St. John's. She was part of a 9-person, federally-funded volunteer team sent to Toronto to help with surging hospitalizations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario in April 2021.[36]
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