David James Ramsay
Encyclopedia
David James Ramsay is a politician in Ontario
, Canada
.
, Ramsay moved to Canada with his parents at age one after having been adopted in Sydney
, and was raised in Oakville, Ontario
. He attended Concordia University in Montreal
, and after graduation worked as a farmer in New Liskeard and a clerk-treasurer in Casey Township
, in northern Ontario. In 1977, he briefly joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
to support a friend's bid for the party's nomination. He later served as president of the Timiskaming Federation of Agriculture in 1984-85, was a founding member of the Timiskaming Grain Growers Board, and served as chair of the Timiskaming Hospital Board for a time.
in the 1985 provincial election
. He served as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) as part of the Ontario New Democratic Party
caucus, representing the riding
of Timiskaming
. He defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative
Ed Havrot
by almost 3000 votes, as the once-powerful Tory machine in northern Ontario began to lose its support base.
s, claiming that Northern Ontario needed greater representation in government. (Ramsay also seems to have disliked the Toronto leadership of the NDP, describing it as of touch with his rural/populist base.)
Despite an intense effort by the NDP to defeat Ramsay in the 1987 election
, he won re-election by over 4,000 votes and was appointed to Liberal Premier
David Peterson
's cabinet
. On 29 September 1987, Ramsay became Ontario Minister of Correctional Services
. Following a cabinet shuffle on 2 August 1989, he was named Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. Ramsay kept his seat in the 1990 election
that defeated the Liberal government and brought Ramsay's former party, the NDP, to power under Bob Rae
.
He ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party in the 1992 Ontario Liberal leadership convention
, but placed last in a field of six candidates. Like fellow candidate Greg Sorbara
, his campaign included both right-wing and left-wing elements. He supported tax reduction (including lower gasoline taxes, a reduction in the Provincial Sales Tax and a one-year moratorium on the federal Goods and Services Tax
), and favoured open Sunday shopping and allowing corner stores to sell beer and wine. He also supported pay equity measures, and described himself as pro-choice on abortion
.
In the provincial elections of 1995
and 1999
, Ramsay's primary opposition came not from the New Democrats but the Progressive Conservatives, whose leader Mike Harris
represented a neighbouring riding. He won by a clear margin on both occasions. In 1996, he endorsed Dwight Duncan
's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.
Ramsay served as chair of the caucus from 1993 to 1994 and again from 1999 to 2003.
With the victory of the Liberals under the leadership of Dalton McGuinty
in the 2003 election
, Ramsay returned to cabinet as Ontario Minister of Natural Resources on 23 October 2003. He was also given responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs on 29 June 2005. In June 2007, Ramsay was appointed Ontario's first Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
In the 2007 provincial election
, Ramsay won by an uncharacteristically narrow margin of just 634 votes over New Democrat candidate John Vanthof. Ramsay expected to continue as a minister but was dropped from cabinet and appointed as Premier Dalton McGuinty's Parliamentary Assistant.
He announced in January 2011 that he will be retiring from politics at the 2011 election
.
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
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...
.
Early life and career
Born in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Ramsay moved to Canada with his parents at age one after having been adopted in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, and was raised in Oakville, Ontario
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
. He attended Concordia University in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, and after graduation worked as a farmer in New Liskeard and a clerk-treasurer in Casey Township
Casey, Ontario
Casey is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario, located within the Timiskaming District.The township had a population of 385 in the Canada 2006 Census...
, in northern Ontario. In 1977, he briefly joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
to support a friend's bid for the party's nomination. He later served as president of the Timiskaming Federation of Agriculture in 1984-85, was a founding member of the Timiskaming Grain Growers Board, and served as chair of the Timiskaming Hospital Board for a time.
Election as a New Democrat
Ramsay was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of OntarioLegislative 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 1985 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1985
The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...
. He served as Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) as part of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
caucus, representing the riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Timiskaming
Timiskaming (provincial electoral district)
Timiskaming was a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1908 to 1999...
. He defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
Ed Havrot
Ed Havrot
Edward Michael Havrot is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1975 and again from 1977 to 1985, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
by almost 3000 votes, as the once-powerful Tory machine in northern Ontario began to lose its support base.
Becoming a Liberal
On 6 October 1986, Ramsay crossed the floor to join the governing LiberalOntario 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...
s, claiming that Northern Ontario needed greater representation in government. (Ramsay also seems to have disliked the Toronto leadership of the NDP, describing it as of touch with his rural/populist base.)
Despite an intense effort by the NDP to defeat Ramsay in the 1987 election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, he won re-election by over 4,000 votes and was appointed to Liberal Premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
's cabinet
Cabinet (government)
A Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
. On 29 September 1987, Ramsay became Ontario Minister of Correctional Services
Ministry of Correctional Services (Ontario)
The Ministry of Correctional Services is a former cabinet department in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was eliminated in 2002, and its responsibilities were shifted to the newly-created Ministry of Public Safety and Security...
. Following a cabinet shuffle on 2 August 1989, he was named Ontario Minister of Agriculture and Food. Ramsay kept his seat in the 1990 election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
that defeated the Liberal government and brought Ramsay's former party, the NDP, to power under Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
.
He ran for the leadership of the Liberal Party in the 1992 Ontario Liberal leadership convention
Ontario Liberal leadership conventions
Ballot-by-ballot results of leadership elections in the Ontario Liberal Party, a political party in the Province of Ontario, Canada.Note: Before 1919, the leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party were chosen by the party's elected Members of the Legislative Assembly...
, but placed last in a field of six candidates. Like fellow candidate Greg Sorbara
Greg Sorbara
Gregory Sam "Greg" Sorbara, MPP a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for Vaughan. Sorbara served as the Minister of Finance in the Ontario Liberal Party government of Premier Dalton McGuinty from 2003 to 2007.He resigned on October 11, 2005, following a police investigation involving...
, his campaign included both right-wing and left-wing elements. He supported tax reduction (including lower gasoline taxes, a reduction in the Provincial Sales Tax and a one-year moratorium on the federal Goods and Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
), and favoured open Sunday shopping and allowing corner stores to sell beer and wine. He also supported pay equity measures, and described himself as pro-choice on 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...
.
In the provincial elections of 1995
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
and 1999
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Ramsay's primary opposition came not from the New Democrats but the Progressive Conservatives, whose leader Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
represented a neighbouring riding. He won by a clear margin on both occasions. In 1996, he endorsed Dwight Duncan
Dwight Duncan
Dwight Duncan, MPP is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1995, and is the Minister of Finance in the government of Dalton McGuinty...
's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party.
Ramsay served as chair of the caucus from 1993 to 1994 and again from 1999 to 2003.
With the victory of the Liberals under the leadership of Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
in the 2003 election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Ramsay returned to cabinet as Ontario Minister of Natural Resources on 23 October 2003. He was also given responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs on 29 June 2005. In June 2007, Ramsay was appointed Ontario's first Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.
In the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
, Ramsay won by an uncharacteristically narrow margin of just 634 votes over New Democrat candidate John Vanthof. Ramsay expected to continue as a minister but was dropped from cabinet and appointed as Premier Dalton McGuinty's Parliamentary Assistant.
He announced in January 2011 that he will be retiring from politics at the 2011 election
Ontario general election, 2011
The 40th Ontario general election was held on October 6, 2011 to elect members of the 40th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The Ontario Liberal Party will form a minority government, with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario serving as the Official Opposition and the Ontario New...
.