Steven Fletcher

Steven Fletcher (born June 17, 1972) is a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia , in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He won his seat in the Canadian federal election of 2004, running for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Fletcher was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his father was working as an engineer. He was twice elected president of the University of Manitoba's student union, and pursued a policy of debt reduction while holding this position. In November 2001, he co-chaired the Progressive Conservative Party's policy forum, "Solutions for the 21st Century". Before the 2004 election, he received a Masters Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Manitoba, from which he had previously received a degree in Engineering from the University of Manitoba.

Fletcher was elected President of the Manitoba Progressive Conservative Party in 2001, and was re-elected to the position in 2003. He obtaining the Canadian Alliance nomination in Charleswood-St. James for the 2004 federal election, and was a strong supporter of the "unite the right" movement which ultimately brought together the federal Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance as the Conservative Party of Canada. During the leadership race for the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004, Fletcher endorsed the candidacy of Stephen Harper.

Fletcher became a complete quadriplegic after hitting a moose with his vehicle while traveling to a new job in northen Manitoba in 1996. He has no voluntary control of muscles below his neck, and must have his needs attended to by others. He is the first permanently disabled MP in Canadian history. A running joke during his campaign was that he will have to be a front bench MP, as the backbenches are not wheelchair-accessible. In addition, he has created the need for a 'stranger to the House' - a person who is not officially an MP or officer of Parliament - to actually be on the Commons floor during sessions; Fletcher's assistant must handle almost any task.

Fletcher's victory in the 2004 election generally regarded as an upset, although polls taken before election day indicated that the race would be close. He defeated a popular former Mayor of Winnipeg, Glen Murray, who was running for the Liberal Party. Fletcher received 18688 votes, against 17954 for Murray.

Fletcher has claimed that health care will be his main priority as an MP. He is also known as a moderate but does favour some socially conservative causes.

Harper named Fletcher to the high-profile position of Senior Health Critic in his shadow cabinet in the official opposition.