Steven John Fletcher (born 17 June 1972) is a former Canadian politician. He served in senior roles in the Conservative Party of Canada in opposition and in government, including five years as a federal cabinet minister. After four terms as a member of Parliament, he served a term as a member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly for one term.

Fletcher served in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015, representing the riding of Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia as a member of the Conservative Party. In 2004, the then leader of the opposition Stephen Harper appointed Fletcher to the shadow cabinet as health critic. After forming government, Fletcher was appointed as Parliamentary secretary to Health in 2006. He was appointed to the cabinet in 2008. He served on numerous cabinet committees. He was the minister for Democratic Reform, and after the 2011 election, was appointed to minister of State (Transport). He was the first quadriplegic and wheelchair user to serve in the House of Commons, as well as in Cabinet. Fletcher was appointed as minister of State (Democratic Reform) on 30 October 2008. After the Conservative Party victory on 2 May 2011, Fletcher was appointed as minister of State (Transport).

Fletcher received the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal on 17 December 2002, for his contributions to society and advocacy work.What Do You Do If You Don't Die? The Steven Fletcher Story, By Linda MacIntosh Heartland Publishing Winnipeg 2008 He received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.Master of My Fate, By Linda MacIntosh with Steven Fletcher Heartland Publishing Winnipeg 2015

Fletcher was the leader of the Manitoba Party and an MLA in the Manitoba Legislative Assembly.

In an effort to increase the number of women in cabinet,Winnipeg Free Press 16 July 2013 Dan Lett CBC online article by Rosemary Bartom 18 July 2013 Fletcher was left out of cabinet in the 15 July 2013 cabinet shuffle by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Although not officially in the cabinet, he continued to sit on the treasury board cabinet committee.PMO website under Ministries and Cabinet committees Fletcher was defeated in the federal election of 2015, but was elected six months later to the riding of Assiniboia in Manitoba's 2016 provincial election.

Fletcher resigned his membership in the Federal Conservative party in October 2018, and his party membership in the Provincial Progressive Conservative Party in June of the same year, exactly one year after leaving the Provincial Caucus.

Early life and accident Fletcher was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his Canadian father was working as an engineer. He was raised in Manitoba, and attended Shaftesbury High School in Winnipeg. Fletcher received a degree in Geological Engineering from the University of Manitoba in 1995.

He became a complete quadriplegic on 11 January 1996, after hitting a moose with his vehicle while travelling to a geological engineering job in northern Manitoba.Bill Redekop, "Moose collision shocks naturalists", Winnipeg Free Press, 25 January 1996, A1. The accident left him completely paralysed below the neck, and he now requires 24-hour-a-day attendant care. He was unable to speak for several months, and only regained this ability after a long process of recovery.

In the immediate aftermath of his accident, Fletcher was told that he would have to spend the rest of his life in an institution. Years later, he joked: "I don't think the doctors ever thought the institution would be Parliament." When asked about his disability during his first campaign for public office, he quipped: "I would rather be paralyzed from the neck down than from the neck up."Ruypers, Ryall, "Canadian Civics", "Emond Montgomery Publications", 2006, Page 107.

Before his accident, Fletcher was a wilderness canoe enthusiast. He served as president of the Manitoba Recreational Canoeing Association, was a two-time former Manitoba Kayak Champion, and competed in national events.Bill Redekop, "Chinese power play", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 February 1997, B4. He was able to resume his life as an outdoorsman in the mid-2000s through inventions such as the TrailRider, a device which allows quadriplegics to travel over rough terrain.Liz Katynski, "Lightweight, portable device leads to Happy trails", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 June 2003, p. 1. In late 2004, he was able to stand again with the assistance of an hydraulic wheelchair.Paul Samyn, "High emotion for city MP", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 December 2004, A1. He has competed in water races, and has won awards using "sip and puff" steering technology.Steven Fletcher: About , accessed 12 November 2006. In 2006, he visited the Burgess Shale in the Rocky Mountains with the help of a TrailRider and other hikers.Jeff Lee, "Mayor, MP to make Yoho trek", Vancouver Sun, 2 August 2006, B6.

Fletcher has said that the accident changed his political views. He acknowledges that he "didn't give the less-fortunate any consideration" before 1996, but now describes himself as a "compassionate conservative".Paul Egan, "Breaking barriers", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 July 2004, A1. More recently, he has expressed his views on the conditions under which Medical aid in dying should be allowed.

Students' union president Fletcher returned to the University of Manitoba in 1997 to take a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. He was elected president of the University of Manitoba Students' Union (UMSU) in February 1999, and identified his main priorities as improving the university's public profile and increasing access for students in financial need.Bill Redekop, "U of M elects quadriplegic man to take charge of students' union", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 1999, A3. Fletcher won by 148 votes, receiving just over 1,500 votes of 4,200 cast; Manfred Jager, "UMSU president seeks to raise school's image", 5 May 1999, Winnipeg Free Press, A16. He also called for greater university access for disabled students and for higher aboriginal enrollment.Diane Driedger, "Searching for the formula: how University of Manitoba sees its future", Manitoba Business, 1 July 1999, Volume 21, Issue 6, p. 19. In October 1999, he met with federal Finance Minister Paul Martin to lobby for increased student funding.Nick Martin, "Sympathy for the student but no federal financing", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 October 1999, A10.

Fletcher's political views often put him at odds with other campus organizations during much of his tenure, and he was sometimes accused of administrative bias against left-wing groups. In early 2000, he supported a decision by student council to freeze university funding for The Manitoban, a campus newspaper with a left-leaning editorial board. He argued that the issue at stake was one of financial accountability, although his opponents suggested he was trying to infringe on the paper's autonomy.David Roberts, "Students fight for paper's autonomy", Globe and Mail, 25 March 1990, A11. Funding was restored when the newspaper staff agreed to accept an Ombudsman Board."U. Manitoba paper keeps editorial autonomy", UWIRE, 4 April 2000.

Fletcher was elected as a director of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations during his first term."In Brief", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 2000, A9. His brother graduated, and the new vice-president was Colleen Bready. The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations was not affiliated with the Canadian Alliance political party. He was re-elected student body president in 2000, and presided over the elimination of the UMSU's debt in May 2000. He credited a partnership with Starbucks for much of the council's $43,000 surplus."In Brief", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 May 2000, A7.

In late 2000, Fletcher announced that he would seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for a provincial by-election in Tuxedo."U of M students union cancels Legislature protest", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 2000, A5. Some of his opponents later tried to remove him as student president, arguing that such partisan activity was inappropriate for someone elected to represent the interests of all students."University-feud", Broadcast News, 2 October 2000, 09:34 report. Fletcher argued that the university's constitution did not prevent him from participating in provincial politics, and described his opponents as "far left extremists".Nick Martin, "Students' union president criticized", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 October 2000, A7. He lost the provincial nomination to Heather Stefanson."Stefanson-Tuxedo", Broadcast News, 13 October 2000, 13:31 report. His opponents in the Graduate Students Association later voted to separate from the UMSU, although the University of Manitoba refused to sanction the separation.Scott Edmonds, "Manitoba students union anything but united over controversial president", Canadian Press, 31 October 2000, 16:42 report.

Near the end of 2000, Fletcher endorsed a report from the right-wing Fraser Institute which suggested that Canada would have to end university union contracts and professorial tenure to retain bright young academics. He was quoted as saying: "There is merit. You'd have to break the union, I would guess.""MBA prof suggests scrapping unions and tenure for professors", Canadian Press, 17 December 2000, 21:37 report.

During the 2001 student election campaign, Fletcher, with the assistance of Colleen Bready, then UMSU vice-president, and a Security Services officer, performed an unannounced search of several student group offices. The affected groups included the Graduate Students' Association, the Womyn's Centre, Amnesty International, the U of M Recycling Group (UMREG), the Rainbow Pride Mosaic, and the Manitoban. Fletcher and Bready said they had been "made aware of a suspicion" that campaign materials were being stored in the student group offices in violation of UMSU election bylaws. The search was condemned by other campus groups, with UMREG coordinator Rob Altemeyer describing Fletcher's actions as "completely inappropriate". Fletcher defended his actions, saying: "It's UMSU space. We have the authority and the right to check [student organization] space at any time." Bready said they felt warranted since a slate of candidates had already been found guilty earlier in the week of using the Graduate Students' Association office for campaign activities.David Leibl, "UMSU president, VP condemned for searching offices unannounced" , The Manitoban, 28 February 2001.

In March 2001, Fletcher called for a central co-ordination body to oversee Manitoba's universities, arguing that the province "is too small to have five universities offering the same thing".Steven Fletcher, "How to fix our universities", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 March 2001, A15. He opposed the provincial government's 2001 decision to build a new university in northern Manitoba.Steven Fletcher, "Do we really need another university?", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 July 2001, A13. Fletcher finished his second and final term as student president in May 2001, and received his MBA in 2002.Nick Martin, "'Education is what saved me'", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 2002, A13.

Political career

Party president

Fletcher was elected president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in November 2001, and was re-elected in 2003.Helen Fallding, "Grassroots will choose new top Tory", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 November 2001, A3. His relationship with party leader Stuart Murray was sometimes fractious. Fletcher criticized Murray in 2002 for hiring discredited advisor Taras Sokolyk without informing him, and suggested that Murray had not taken sufficient action to improve the state of the party's finances.Daniel Lett, "PC boss eyes Alliance Fletcher seeks candidacy in next federal election", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 April 2003, B1.