VZCZCXRO0236
RR RUEHGA RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHHA #0048/01 1591825
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081825Z JUN 07
FM AMCONSUL HALIFAX
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1190
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0447
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHHA/AMCONSUL HALIFAX 1262

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HALIFAX 000048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR WHA/CAN AND INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PINR CA
SUBJECT: BIO DATA REPORT: GHIZ, ROBERT PEI PREMIER-ELECT 
 
REF: HALIFAX 0045 
 
HALIFAX 00000048  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. As reported reftel, Robert Ghiz and his Liberal party toppled 
the incumbent Tory government in a decisive win in the Prince 
Edward Island provincial election on May 28, 2007.  Ghiz and his 
new cabinet will assume power on June 13, 2007. 
 
¶2.  NAME:  Robert Watson Joseph GHIZ 
 
¶3.  DATE OF BIRTH:  January 21, 1974 
 
¶4.  PLACE OF BIRTH:  Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island 
 
¶5.  FAMILY: 
-- Son of the late Joe Ghiz (a Harvard-educated lawyer of 
Lebanese decent who was premier from 1986 to 1993) and Rose 
Ellen 
 
-- One sibling - sister Joanne. 
 
-- Married to Dr. Kate Ellis of Prince Edward Island 
 
¶6.  FUTURE POSITON:  To become Premier of the Province of Prince 
Edward Island on June 13, 2007. 
 
¶7.  POLITICAL/PROFFESIONAL CAREER: 
 
-- Appointed as a Special Assistant to former federal Liberal 
cabinet minister Sheila Copps (1997-1998). 
 
-- Manager of Government Affairs, Bank of Nova Scotia, Ottawa, 
Ontario (1998-2001). 
 
-- Appointed as a Special Advisor (for Canada's Atlantic 
Provinces) to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien 
(2001-2003). 
 
-- Chosen Leader of the Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island in 
April 2003. 
 
-- Elected to the Prince Edward Island Legislative Assembly for 
District 13, Charlottetown-Rochford Square in the September 2003 
provincial general election 
 
-- As Leader of the Official Opposition served as critic for 
several portfolios including intergovernmental affairs, health 
and social services. 
 
-- Re-elected as the member for Charlottetown-Rochford Square in 
the May 2007 provincial general election. 
 
¶8.  EDUCATION:  Educated in Charlottetown area schools; Bachelor 
of Arts (Political Science), Bishop's University, Lennoxville, 
Quebec. 
 
¶9. EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES:  Avid sports fan with a special 
love for hockey, basketball and golf. 
 
COMMENT 
 
¶10.  The Liberals' upset victory in the May 28 provincial 
election was a crowning achievement for 33-year old Robert Ghiz 
who is a relative newcomer to provincial politics.  Ghiz started 
his political career as a behind-the-scenes advisor in Ottawa 
and he only returned to the Island early in 2003 when provincial 
Liberal party strategists enticed him to run in the party's 
leadership campaign that April.  Island Liberals were looking 
for a star candidate to guide them in revitalizing the party 
which was suffering from a demoralizing one-seat presence in the 
27-seat provincial legislature.  With popular Tory Premier Pat 
Binns ready to call an election that fall, the Liberals were 
scrambling to find a high-profile contender to go up against 
him, and thought they had found their man in Ghiz. 
 
¶11.  The problem was that pundits and political commentators 
were quick to ponder if Ghiz really had the qualities to lead 
the party in dethroning the popular Binns, commenting that 
perhaps his notoriety and appeal came more from his pedigree 
than his personal attributes.  Ghiz is the son of the late 
premier Joe Ghiz who is regarded as one of the Island's greatest 
orators and gifted parliamentarians.  The assumption was that 
young Ghiz would follow in his father's footsteps by igniting 
the party and the electorate and topple the incumbent Tories. 
However, Ghiz only narrowly won the contest over a 
well-seasoned, ex-Liberal cabinet minister who made much of 
Ghiz's political inexperience, his life off the Island, and his 
perceived lack of political intellect that his father had 
consistently displayed. 
 
¶12.  Undaunted by his near defeat in the leadership race, Ghiz 
quickly set about rebuilding the party knowing that Binns was 
 
HALIFAX 00000048  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
getting ready to call an election that September.  In the 
ensuing campaign, Ghiz turned in what was generally regarded as 
a credible performance taking four seats in the legislature, 
graciously accepting his loss to Binns, but vowing to win the 
next time.  In the years following, that vow looked very 
difficult to fulfill as Binns and his ruling Tory party enjoyed 
widespread support across the Island and the Liberals 
consistently trailed in the public opinion polls.  That trend 
continued even going into this year's election which Binns 
called on April 30. 
 
¶13.  The general consensus was that the election would be a 
tight race, but Binns would probably take it, albeit with a 
reduced majority.  Up for the challenge, Ghiz unveiled a 
well-crafted campaign that turned out to be very popular with 
the electorate, focusing on improvements to education and health 
care, tax reduction and a pledge to maintain rural communities. 
Ghiz was also careful not to personally attack Binns given that 
the Premier was still widely respected across the province. 
Instead, he focused on offering Islanders a fresh government, 
painting the Tories as a stale government bankrupt of ideas. 
The strategy worked so well that on election day, May 28, Ghiz 
emerged with an overwhelming majority, 23 seats to the Tories' 
four.  Even Ghiz was surprised at the results and publicly 
acknowledged that he was overwhelmed by the Islanders' 
overwhelming endorsement.  (FYI:  The Liberals garnered almost 
53 percent of the vote versus 41.5 percent for the Tories. 
However, in a province with only 98,000 eligible voters our 
contacts have pointed out it does not take much to produce a 
change in government as Ghiz just experienced. END FYI) 
 
¶14.  Ghiz has a busy and exciting career ahead of him beginning 
on June 13 when he and his party take over the government. 
Deciding who will sit in his cabinet and setting his legislative 
agenda will be his top priorities, but equally important he says 
is for him to spend time with his family.  He is very devoted to 
his widowed mother and his paternal grandmother, but saves the 
bulk of his free time for his wife of just one year, Dr. Kate 
Ellis, a medical doctor who interrupted her medical training to 
join her husband on the campaign trail.  Ghiz says he wants to 
ensure that he strikes an equal balance between work and his 
private life especially as he and his wife are looking forward 
to starting a family. 
 
¶15.  CG managed a brief meeting with Ghiz in PEI on May 30 just 
two days after his election win.  While he was still trying to 
fathom the scope of his victory, the Premier did underscore his 
desire to continue the close relationship his province has 
enjoyed with U.S. Mission in Canada and expressed a desire to 
build on the already strong trade and cultural relationship 
between his province and the United States.  Ghiz will get an 
early opportunity to learn more about U.S. interests as he will 
be hosting the annual meeting of New England Governors and 
Eastern Canadian Premiers June 25-27, which Ambassador Wilkins 
will also be attending.  For now, Ghiz is concentrating on more 
domestic items such as picking his cabinet and deciding how to 
implement those campaign promises that proved so popular with 
the electorate. 
 
END COMMENT 
FOSTER