Nystrom, Lorne Edmund (1946-)

Lorne Nystrom.

Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Archives

Nystrom was born April 26, 1946, on the family farm near Wynyard. Trained to be a teacher, he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1970. He was active in the youth wing of the NDP, serving as leader of the Regina Campus NDP, president of the Saskatchewan New Democrat Youth, and as a vice-president of the federal NDP (1967–68). In 1968, while still a university student, he won the federal riding of Yorkton Melville. He won six more elections in a row. In 1993 Nystrom was defeated and the NDP lost official party status in the House of Commons. During his term out of Parliament, Nystrom operated a political consulting firm often involving projects overseas. He won the Qu’Appelle constituency in 1997, was re-elected in 2000, but was defeated in 2004. Nystrom served as the NDP’s parliamentary critic in a number of areas: most notably youth, agriculture and food, the constitution, finance, banking, justice, and democratic reform. He has also served as NDP caucus whip and deputy House Leader. Nystrom ran three times for the leadership of the federal NDP (1975, 1995 and 2003) and came in third on each occasion. In 1992, he was appointed a co-chair of the Charlottetown Referendum Committee and was appointed to the Privy Council by Brian Mulroney. Nystrom edited a book on economics, Just Making Change. He is a partner in Regina businesses, is vice-president of a soybean enterprise, and continues his involvement in electoral reform.

Alan Whitehorn