| He was living in St. John's NL at the time of his recruitment. After his naval service he was Professor of English Language and Literature at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Rompkey later became the first Superintendent of Education with the Labrador East Integrated School Board, a position he held until 1971. In January 1972, Rompkey was studying for his Ph.D. in Adult Education at the University of Toronto when he won the nomination to represent the Grand Falls-White Bay-Labrador riding for the Liberal Party. Rompkey was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1972 federal election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Grand Falls-White Bay-Labrador, the first of seven consecutive election victories. In 1980, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau elevated Rompkey to the Canadian Cabinet as Minister of National Revenue. In 1982, he was moved to the position of Minister of State for Small Businesses and Tourism becoming Minister of State for Mines in 1984. He was Minister of State for Transport in the short lived Cabinet of John Turner until the government's defeat in the 1984 election. In 1995, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Rompkey to the Canadian Senate. In 2001, he became Government Whip in the Senate and was deputy leader of the government in the Senate until the Conservatives took power in February 2006. (He retired in 2011). |
