Norm McFarlane

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}

{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = {{small|His Worship}}

| name = Norm McFarlane

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Apohaqui, New Brunswick, Canada

| residence = Fundy Heights, Saint John, New Brunswick

| order = 75th

| office = Mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick

| term_start = 2004

| term_end = 2008

| predecessor = Shirley McAlary

| successor = Ivan Court

| office2 = MLA for Saint John Lancaster

| term_start2 = 1999

| term_end2 = 2003

| predecessor2 = Jane Barry

| successor2 = Abel LeBlanc

| party = Independent (2004–2008) Note: Municipal politicians in Saint John run on a Nonpartisan basis

| otherparty = Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick

| religion =

| profession = Tax Broker

| spouse =

| children =

}}

Norman McFarlane is a Canadian businessman and politician. He was the 64th Mayor of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. He was first elected on May 10, 2004, and sworn into office on Tuesday, May 25. He was defeated in the 2008 New Brunswick municipal elections by Ivan Court.

Born in Apohaqui, New Brunswick, McFarlane worked for Royal Insurance in Saint John from 1953 to 1993, retiring as Branch Manager. Following his retirement from Royal Insurance, he became a private insurance consultant for a number of years. In the 1999 election, he was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for the provincial riding of Saint John Lancaster as a Progressive Conservative and shortly afterwards became the New Brunswick Minister of Labour. In 2000, he became minister for the new Department of Training and Employment Development, a portfolio which encompassed much of his old labour portfolio as well as some social welfare programs and community colleges.

McFarlane was defeated in the 2003 election and left the cabinet as a result. McFarlane lost his seat to Liberal Abel LeBlanc.

McFarlane promptly returned to politics in 2004 when he was elected mayor of Saint John by defeating incumbent Shirley McAlary by a margin of over 25%. Ironically, one of McAlary's key backers was Abel LeBlanc.

McFarlane faced severe and lasting criticism and allegations of corruption and incompetence for his role in granting Irving Oil tax concessions in 2005, concessions that have cost the City of Saint John approximately $75 million over ten years, with a potential total loss of over $180 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/mayor-defends-tax-deal-with-irving-1.565430 | title=CBC: Mayor defends tax deal with Irving |date=2005-03-16|accessdate=2016-03-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/irving-made-millions-off-deal-to-slash-taxes-on-lng-property-1.3111816 | title=CBC: Irving made millions off deal to slash taxes on LNG property |date=2015-06-12|accessdate=2016-03-24}}

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{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Bernard_Lord}}

{{ministry box cabinet posts

| post2 = Minister of Training and Employment Development

| post2years = 2000–2003

| post2note = McFarlane preceded himself as Minister of Labour

| post2preceded = himself

| post2followed = Margaret-Ann Blaney

| post1 = Minister of Labour

| post1years = 1999–2000

| post1note = McFarlane succeeded himself as
Minister of Training & Employment Development

| post1preceded = Joan Kingston

| post1followed = himself

}}

{{s-end}}