Barbara Greene
Encyclopedia
Barbara Greene is a Canadian
politician. She served in the Canadian House of Commons
from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party
. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985. She is a Red Tory
, and holds progressive views on most social issues.
in eastern Ontario, where her father was stationed during World War II
. Her parents were Alfred Greene and Mary Margaret Greene (née Hutchinson) of Toronto. Both were graduates of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto
. Her parents returned to Toronto following the war, and she attended St. Monica's Separate School in North Toronto. She graduated from St Michael's College, University of Toronto in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts
in English and from the College of Education in 1967 with qualifications in English and Theatre Arts. She taught English at Victoria Park Secondary School for the North York Board of Education from September 1967 until she was elected to office in 1971.
restricting cohabitation by people unless they were related or one person was an owner (she and her female housemates had been threatened with eviction under the terms of this bylaw). Greene also argued that she would speak for the rights of women, single persons, tenants and salaried workers. One of the first issues she was involved in was the Ambulance service. She fought a "one woman war" which resulted in the amalgamation of ambulances services in Metropolitan Toronto and the establishment of the Toronto Ambulance Service.
She was re-elected to the Board of Control in 1974, 1976 and 1978 before standing down in 1980. As a result of topping the poll for the Board of Control (on which sat the Mayor and four Controllers elected at-large), Greene became the Deputy Mayor of North York in 1974. In this capacity she sat on the Executive Committee and Budget sub committee of Metropolitan Toronto and reviewed the budgets of numerous departments at various times including those of the Community Services and Housing departments, the Police and the Ambulance Departments. She also ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
in the 1975 provincial election
, losing to New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo
in Downsview
.
Greene's support for cohabitation law reform placed her in opposition to North York Mayor Mel Lastman
, who initially supported her but then attempted to exclude boarding houses from the city. Following an eight-year legal battle conducted by lawyer Barry Swadron QC, on behalf of Doug Bell, a resident of North York who had been charged with living with other people to whom he was not related, the Supreme Court of Canada
upheld Greene's position and struck down the municipal bylaw
in April 1979.
Greene favoured market-value assessment reforms for Metro Toronto properties, and criticized provincial Treasurer Darcy McKeough
for backing away from this proposal in 1978. In 1979, she spoke out against tobacco
advertising on the Toronto Transit Commission
. She also supported electoral reforms, including the abolition of regional Boards of Control and the direct election of the Metro Chair.
She considered running against Lastman for Mayor of North York in 1980, but declined on the grounds that she did not have the financial resources to conduct a successful campaign. She did not seek re-election to the Board of Control, and instead announced that she would enrol in a Master of Public Administration (postgraduate) program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Greene sought a prominent civil service position after returning to Toronto, but was unsuccessful and returned to teaching high-school English.
's budget, arguing that it had become "out of control" by 1984. Greene supported the direct election of Metro Councillors, on the grounds that indirectly elected council members were not sufficiently accountable.
She resumed her previous role as a prominent critic of Mel Lastman, arguing that his style of politics favoured backroom deals and often removed councillors from the decision-making process. Greene also called for the resignation of city planning commissioner Bruce Davidson in August 1983, arguing that his $265,000 debt to a major developer created a serious conflict-of-interest situation. She was one of only four councillors to oppose significant cutbacks to North York's public health department in June 1984, and was subsequently the only City Controller to support an affirmative action
program for city.
Greene accused North York Councillor Andrew Borins of improper behaviour in 1983-84, arguing that his family's property holdings put him in an undeclared conflict of interest over the proposed North York Civic Centre. Borins sued Greene for slander and Greene responded by charging Borins with Conflict of Interest. Borins was successful in the lower courts on March 20, 1984, but this decision was overturned on appeal. A Divisional Court judge subsequently upheld Greene's accusation, and stripped Borins of his council seat on April 16, 1985.
She was offered the Progressive Conservative Party's nomination for Eglinton—Lawrence
in the 1984 federal election
, but declined.
Greene challenged Mel Lastman for Mayor of North York in 1985, promising a more open government and arguing that Lastman had "den[ied] North York residents the right to participate in planning their neighborhoods". She was defeated by a significant margin, in a contest marked by undisguised animosity between the candidates. Greene returned to teaching after the election, teaching Media Studies, English and Dramatic Arts with the North York Board of Education.
over Peter Ayre Phillips. She subsequently won the riding in the 1988 federal election
, defeating Liberal
Sarkis Assadourian
by a close margin. (Concert pianist Anton Kuerti
finished third for the New Democratic Party
.) There was some media speculation that Greene would be appointed to cabinet
, but she instead served in parliament as a backbench supporter of Brian Mulroney
's government.
Greene encouraged the Progressive Conservative government to change a section of the Immigration Act in 1989, saying that it discriminated against disabled people. She also argued that Canadian copyright laws should be adjusted to permit teachers to copy and reproduce material for classroom analysis. In late November 1989, she was appointed to a parliamentary task force examining Canada's abortion
laws.
Greene protested against her own government's cutbacks to multicultural organizations in 1990. She chaired the parliamentary standing committee on Health, Welfare, Social Affairs, Seniors and Status of Women and two subcommittees on Child Poverty and the Status of women. Her committee's report on violence, entitled "The War Against Women", was supported by the prime minister and opposition parties, but opposed by some Progressive Conservative backbenchers on the grounds that its title was "confrontational and inflammatory". This subsequently resulted in a significant program to combat violence against women which included funds for women's shelter
s and education programs for police.
Greene supported stricter firearms controls, and announced plans to introduce a bill creating a national firearms registry in late 1991. The initiative was opposed by many in her party. She also supported changing Canadian laws to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation
In April 1991, Greene called for existing tax and social benefits to be rolled into a single national child support program targeted to benefit low-income Canadians. Greene argued that existing benefits favoured wealthier families over the poor, and that the balance needed to be changed. Critics expressed concern that the proposed changes would threaten the universality of these programs, and reduce benefits for vulnerable middle-income families. The Mulroney government implemented the child tax credit program but did not implement the recommendations in the report for a national day care program which it had initially supported. Greene tried to convince her government to re-establish the program later in the year, without success. Greene also sought to create a national standard for social assistance to eliminate the wide disparities between the provinces.
Greene called for an adequate income and programs to assist social assistance recipients to become independent as an alternative to food banks, which she argued were creating an unwanted culture of dependence. Gerard Kennedy
, the director of Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, said that her comments reflected a "superficial analysis" of hunger issues in Canada. Greene did not call for food banks to be shut down, despite some reports to the contrary.
Greene also argued that poverty had become a poorly-defined concept in Canada, as the Low Income Cut Offs used to determine poverty levels in Canada did not include other subsidies. She argued that many people listed as being below the poverty line in Canada were not actually poor, while some of the real poor were not being assisted. She was quoted as saying, "Some of our poor may be the most well-off poor in the world. Our poor have their own apartments and televisions." Several opposition MPs and social agencies criticized Greene's comments, arguing that she was misrepresenting the issue.
Greene argued that breast cancer
was becoming a problem of epidemic proportions in 1992, and argued that the federal Department of Health had become too dependent on information from drug manufacturers in regulating its treatment. She supported the creation of a new arms-length agency to approve drugs and other biomedical products. Her committee report on breast cancer resulted in a $50 million research funding program for which she received a national award from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in 1992.
Greene supported Kim Campbell
's 1993 bid to succeed Mulroney as Progressive Conservative leader and prime minister, arguing that Campbell's ideology was fiscally conservative and socially liberal. After Campbell's victory at the 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership convention, there was renewed speculation that Greene would be appointed to cabinet. She was not, although she was appointed as parliamentary secretary
to the President of the Treasury Board
on September 1, 1993.
The Progressive Conservatives were resoundingly defeated in the 1993 federal election
, and Greene lost to Liberal candidate Sarkis Assadourian
by a significant margin in a rematch from 1988.
, but was defeated by Liberal
David Caplan
in the North York riding of Oriole.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. She served in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
from 1988 to 1993 as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
. She was previously a municipal politician in North York, and campaigned for mayor of the city in 1985. She is a Red Tory
Red Tory
A red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...
, and holds progressive views on most social issues.
Early life and career
Greene was born in PembrokePembroke, Ontario
Pembroke is a city in the province of Ontario, Canada, at the confluence of the Muskrat River and the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley...
in eastern Ontario, where her father was stationed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Her parents were Alfred Greene and Mary Margaret Greene (née Hutchinson) of Toronto. Both were graduates of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. Her parents returned to Toronto following the war, and she attended St. Monica's Separate School in North Toronto. She graduated from St Michael's College, University of Toronto in 1966 with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in English and from the College of Education in 1967 with qualifications in English and Theatre Arts. She taught English at Victoria Park Secondary School for the North York Board of Education from September 1967 until she was elected to office in 1971.
North York City Controller, 1972-1980
Greene was first elected to the North York City Council in December 1972, winning a position on the city's Board of Control. The position gave her an automatic seat on the Metropolitan Toronto council. Greene's first campaign was centred primarily around a zoning issue: she opposed a municipal bylawBylaw
By-law can refer to a law of local or limited application passed under the authority of a higher law specifying what things may be regulated by the by-law...
restricting cohabitation by people unless they were related or one person was an owner (she and her female housemates had been threatened with eviction under the terms of this bylaw). Greene also argued that she would speak for the rights of women, single persons, tenants and salaried workers. One of the first issues she was involved in was the Ambulance service. She fought a "one woman war" which resulted in the amalgamation of ambulances services in Metropolitan Toronto and the establishment of the Toronto Ambulance Service.
She was re-elected to the Board of Control in 1974, 1976 and 1978 before standing down in 1980. As a result of topping the poll for the Board of Control (on which sat the Mayor and four Controllers elected at-large), Greene became the Deputy Mayor of North York in 1974. In this capacity she sat on the Executive Committee and Budget sub committee of Metropolitan Toronto and reviewed the budgets of numerous departments at various times including those of the Community Services and Housing departments, the Police and the Ambulance Departments. She also ran for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
in the 1975 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1975
The Ontario general election of 1975 was held on September 18, 1975, to elect the 125 members of the 30th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, losing to New Democrat Odoardo Di Santo
Odoardo Di Santo
Odoardo Di Santo is a politician and administrator in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, as a member of the New Democratic Party ....
in Downsview
Downsview (electoral district)
Downsview was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It was created for the 1963 provincial election, and was retained until redistribution in 1999...
.
Greene's support for cohabitation law reform placed her in opposition to North York Mayor Mel Lastman
Mel Lastman
Melvin Douglas "Mel" Lastman , nicknamed "Mayor Mel", is a former businessman and politician. He is the founder of the Bad Boy Furniture chain. He served as the mayor of the former city of North York, Ontario, Canada from 1972 until 1997. At the end of 1997, North York, along with five other...
, who initially supported her but then attempted to exclude boarding houses from the city. Following an eight-year legal battle conducted by lawyer Barry Swadron QC, on behalf of Doug Bell, a resident of North York who had been charged with living with other people to whom he was not related, the Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
upheld Greene's position and struck down the municipal bylaw
Bylaw
By-law can refer to a law of local or limited application passed under the authority of a higher law specifying what things may be regulated by the by-law...
in April 1979.
Greene favoured market-value assessment reforms for Metro Toronto properties, and criticized provincial Treasurer Darcy McKeough
Darcy McKeough
William Darcy McKeough, is a Canadian businessman and former politician. He is a member of the board of Hydro One and is chairman of McKeough Investments and McKeough Supply, and former CEO of Union Gas....
for backing away from this proposal in 1978. In 1979, she spoke out against tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
advertising on the Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
. She also supported electoral reforms, including the abolition of regional Boards of Control and the direct election of the Metro Chair.
She considered running against Lastman for Mayor of North York in 1980, but declined on the grounds that she did not have the financial resources to conduct a successful campaign. She did not seek re-election to the Board of Control, and instead announced that she would enrol in a Master of Public Administration (postgraduate) program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Greene sought a prominent civil service position after returning to Toronto, but was unsuccessful and returned to teaching high-school English.
North York City Controller, 1982-1985
Greene returned to municipal politics in 1982, winning election to the second position on North York's Board of Control and receiving an automatic position on Metro's executive committee. She argued for cutbacks to the Toronto Transit CommissionToronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
's budget, arguing that it had become "out of control" by 1984. Greene supported the direct election of Metro Councillors, on the grounds that indirectly elected council members were not sufficiently accountable.
She resumed her previous role as a prominent critic of Mel Lastman, arguing that his style of politics favoured backroom deals and often removed councillors from the decision-making process. Greene also called for the resignation of city planning commissioner Bruce Davidson in August 1983, arguing that his $265,000 debt to a major developer created a serious conflict-of-interest situation. She was one of only four councillors to oppose significant cutbacks to North York's public health department in June 1984, and was subsequently the only City Controller to support an affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
program for city.
Greene accused North York Councillor Andrew Borins of improper behaviour in 1983-84, arguing that his family's property holdings put him in an undeclared conflict of interest over the proposed North York Civic Centre. Borins sued Greene for slander and Greene responded by charging Borins with Conflict of Interest. Borins was successful in the lower courts on March 20, 1984, but this decision was overturned on appeal. A Divisional Court judge subsequently upheld Greene's accusation, and stripped Borins of his council seat on April 16, 1985.
She was offered the Progressive Conservative Party's nomination for Eglinton—Lawrence
Eglinton—Lawrence
Eglinton—Lawrence is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
in the 1984 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, but declined.
Greene challenged Mel Lastman for Mayor of North York in 1985, promising a more open government and arguing that Lastman had "den[ied] North York residents the right to participate in planning their neighborhoods". She was defeated by a significant margin, in a contest marked by undisguised animosity between the candidates. Greene returned to teaching after the election, teaching Media Studies, English and Dramatic Arts with the North York Board of Education.
Member of Parliament
Greene returned to political life again in 1988, narrowly winning the federal Progressive Conservative nomination for Don Valley NorthDon Valley North
Don Valley North was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. It was located the city of North York, in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1987, and was first used in the federal election of 1988...
over Peter Ayre Phillips. She subsequently won the riding in the 1988 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, defeating Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
Sarkis Assadourian
Sarkis Assadourian
Sarkis Assadourian is an Armenian-Canadian politician from the Liberal Party of Canada. He became the first Armenian-Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons, with great support of the Armenian community of Toronto.Assadourian has grown distant to some in the Armenian-Canadian community by...
by a close margin. (Concert pianist Anton Kuerti
Anton Kuerti
Anton Kuerti, OC is an Austrian-born Canadian pianist, music teacher, composer, and conductor. Since his performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra at age 11, he has developed international recognition as a solo pianist, particularly focusing on the works of Beethoven...
finished third for the New Democratic Party
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
.) There was some media speculation that Greene would be appointed to cabinet
Cabinet of Canada
The Cabinet of Canada is a body of ministers of the Crown that, along with the Canadian monarch, and within the tenets of the Westminster system, forms the government of Canada...
, but she instead served in parliament as a backbench supporter of Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
's government.
Greene encouraged the Progressive Conservative government to change a section of the Immigration Act in 1989, saying that it discriminated against disabled people. She also argued that Canadian copyright laws should be adjusted to permit teachers to copy and reproduce material for classroom analysis. In late November 1989, she was appointed to a parliamentary task force examining Canada's abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
laws.
Greene protested against her own government's cutbacks to multicultural organizations in 1990. She chaired the parliamentary standing committee on Health, Welfare, Social Affairs, Seniors and Status of Women and two subcommittees on Child Poverty and the Status of women. Her committee's report on violence, entitled "The War Against Women", was supported by the prime minister and opposition parties, but opposed by some Progressive Conservative backbenchers on the grounds that its title was "confrontational and inflammatory". This subsequently resulted in a significant program to combat violence against women which included funds for women's shelter
Women's shelter
A women's shelter is a place of temporary refuge and support for women escaping violent or abusive situations, such as rape, and domestic violence....
s and education programs for police.
Greene supported stricter firearms controls, and announced plans to introduce a bill creating a national firearms registry in late 1991. The initiative was opposed by many in her party. She also supported changing Canadian laws to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
In April 1991, Greene called for existing tax and social benefits to be rolled into a single national child support program targeted to benefit low-income Canadians. Greene argued that existing benefits favoured wealthier families over the poor, and that the balance needed to be changed. Critics expressed concern that the proposed changes would threaten the universality of these programs, and reduce benefits for vulnerable middle-income families. The Mulroney government implemented the child tax credit program but did not implement the recommendations in the report for a national day care program which it had initially supported. Greene tried to convince her government to re-establish the program later in the year, without success. Greene also sought to create a national standard for social assistance to eliminate the wide disparities between the provinces.
Greene called for an adequate income and programs to assist social assistance recipients to become independent as an alternative to food banks, which she argued were creating an unwanted culture of dependence. Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
, the director of Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, said that her comments reflected a "superficial analysis" of hunger issues in Canada. Greene did not call for food banks to be shut down, despite some reports to the contrary.
Greene also argued that poverty had become a poorly-defined concept in Canada, as the Low Income Cut Offs used to determine poverty levels in Canada did not include other subsidies. She argued that many people listed as being below the poverty line in Canada were not actually poor, while some of the real poor were not being assisted. She was quoted as saying, "Some of our poor may be the most well-off poor in the world. Our poor have their own apartments and televisions." Several opposition MPs and social agencies criticized Greene's comments, arguing that she was misrepresenting the issue.
Greene argued that breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
was becoming a problem of epidemic proportions in 1992, and argued that the federal Department of Health had become too dependent on information from drug manufacturers in regulating its treatment. She supported the creation of a new arms-length agency to approve drugs and other biomedical products. Her committee report on breast cancer resulted in a $50 million research funding program for which she received a national award from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation in 1992.
Greene supported Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
's 1993 bid to succeed Mulroney as Progressive Conservative leader and prime minister, arguing that Campbell's ideology was fiscally conservative and socially liberal. After Campbell's victory at the 1993 Progressive Conservative leadership convention, there was renewed speculation that Greene would be appointed to cabinet. She was not, although she was appointed as parliamentary secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
to the President of the Treasury Board
President of the Treasury Board (Canada)
The position of President of the Treasury Board was created as a ministerial position in the Canadian Cabinet in 1966 when the Treasury Board became a full-fledged department. From 1867 to 1966 the Treasury Board had been part of the Department of Finance....
on September 1, 1993.
The Progressive Conservatives were resoundingly defeated in the 1993 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, and Greene lost to Liberal candidate Sarkis Assadourian
Sarkis Assadourian
Sarkis Assadourian is an Armenian-Canadian politician from the Liberal Party of Canada. He became the first Armenian-Canadian to be elected to the House of Commons, with great support of the Armenian community of Toronto.Assadourian has grown distant to some in the Armenian-Canadian community by...
by a significant margin in a rematch from 1988.
After 1993
Greene again returned to her teaching career after leaving federal politics. She attempted a political comeback as a provincial Progressive Conservative candidate in a 1997 by-electionBy-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
, but was defeated by Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
David Caplan
David Caplan
David Caplan is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty...
in the North York riding of Oriole.