Mike Farnan
Encyclopedia
Michael Liam Farnan is a former politician
in Ontario
, Canada
. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1987 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae
.
Farnan was educated at University College in Dublin, the National University of Dublin, the University of London
in England
and McGill University
in Montreal
. He has a Master's Degree
in Education, and a Bachelor degree of arts. He has worked as a primary and secondary school teacher in London, Montreal, Cambridge, Ontario
and Brampton Ontario for twenty-seven years. A devout Roman Catholic working within Ontario's separate school
system, he served as provincial director of the Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association for a time, as well as participating in a variety of community outreach projects in Cambridge. After he retired from teaching in 2002, he studied to become a Real Estate Agent and Broker of his own company Mike Farnan Realty in Cambridge. He also served as associate broker for Crown Realty Royal Le Page and for Peak Realty, both located in Cambridge, Ontario.
Farnan ran for the federal New Democratic Party
in Cambridge
during the 1980 federal election
, and finished a strong second against Progressive Conservative
Chris Speyer
. He also served on the Cambridge city council for the period in the 1980s.
Farnan was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election
, defeating Liberal
candidate Claudette Millar in the provincial riding of Cambridge (incumbent Progressive Conservative
Bill Barlow
finished third). The NDP were the official opposition in this period, and Farnan served as his party's critic for Correctional Services and Tourism and Recreation.
The NDP won an unexpected majority government in the 1990 provincial election
, and Farnan was re-elected by a landslide in Cambridge. On October 1, 1990, he was appointed as the Rae government's first Solicitor-General and Minister of Correctional Services.
As Solicitor-General, Farnan introduced employment equity provisions for Ontario's police force and established a "common pause day" which continued the province's previous restrictions on Sunday shopping. He also became involved in a controversy concerning two letters which had been sent from his staff to Justices of the Peace in Ontario, one of which requested the review of a case. This was seen by some as inappropriate interference from his office, and while Farnan did not write the letters himself, he was nonetheless dropped from cabinet on July 31, 1991. He served as a Deputy Speaker
in the house for the next two years.
On June 17, 1993, was re-appointed as a junior minister without portfolio
responsible for Education and Training. In this capacity, he served as an assistant to Minister of Education Dave Cooke
.
Farnan returned to a full cabinet position on October 21, 1994, having been appointed Minister of Transportation. He supported a policy of publishing the names of truck safety violators in northern Ontario, despite opposition from many in the industry.
In 1994, Farnan was one of twelve NDP cabinet ministers to vote against Bill 167, a government bill extending financial benefits to same-sex partners. This decision cost him significant support within his party.
The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election
, and Farnan lost the Cambridge seat to Progressive Conservative
Gerry Martiniuk
by about 5,500 votes. He ran a second time for the Canadian House of Commons
in the 1997 federal election
, but finished third against Liberal
Janko Peric
.
In the late 1990s, Farnan became a school teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton
, Ontario. He specialized in social science courses (mainly Religion), and left the school a few years later.
Federal
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario
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...
. He was a New Democratic Party member of 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...
from 1987 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of 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....
.
Farnan was educated at University College in Dublin, the National University of Dublin, the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the 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...
. He has a Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Education, and a Bachelor degree of arts. He has worked as a primary and secondary school teacher in London, Montreal, Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge, Ontario
Cambridge is a city located in Southern Ontario at the confluence of the Grand and Speed rivers in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an amalgamation of the City of Galt, the towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair.Galt covers the largest portion of...
and Brampton Ontario for twenty-seven years. A devout Roman Catholic working within Ontario's separate school
Separate school
In Canada, separate school refers to a particular type of school that has constitutional status in three provinces and statutory status in three territories...
system, he served as provincial director of the Ontario English Catholic Teacher's Association for a time, as well as participating in a variety of community outreach projects in Cambridge. After he retired from teaching in 2002, he studied to become a Real Estate Agent and Broker of his own company Mike Farnan Realty in Cambridge. He also served as associate broker for Crown Realty Royal Le Page and for Peak Realty, both located in Cambridge, Ontario.
Farnan ran for the federal 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...
in Cambridge
Cambridge (electoral district)
Cambridge is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979. Its population in 2001 was 119,140.-Geography:...
during the 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
, and finished a strong second against Progressive Conservative
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....
Chris Speyer
Chris Speyer (politician)
Chris Speyer was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a criminal lawyer by career.He represented the Ontario riding of Cambridge where he was first elected in 1979...
. He also served on the Cambridge city council for the period in the 1980s.
Farnan was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial 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...
, defeating 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...
candidate Claudette Millar in the provincial riding of Cambridge (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...
Bill Barlow
Bill Barlow
William Walter Barlow is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1987, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party....
finished third). The NDP were the official opposition in this period, and Farnan served as his party's critic for Correctional Services and Tourism and Recreation.
The NDP won an unexpected majority government in the 1990 provincial 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....
, and Farnan was re-elected by a landslide in Cambridge. On October 1, 1990, he was appointed as the Rae government's first Solicitor-General and Minister of Correctional Services.
As Solicitor-General, Farnan introduced employment equity provisions for Ontario's police force and established a "common pause day" which continued the province's previous restrictions on Sunday shopping. He also became involved in a controversy concerning two letters which had been sent from his staff to Justices of the Peace in Ontario, one of which requested the review of a case. This was seen by some as inappropriate interference from his office, and while Farnan did not write the letters himself, he was nonetheless dropped from cabinet on July 31, 1991. He served as a Deputy Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
in the house for the next two years.
On June 17, 1993, was re-appointed as a junior minister without portfolio
Minister without Portfolio
A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister that does not head a particular ministry...
responsible for Education and Training. In this capacity, he served as an assistant to Minister of Education Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke
Dave Cooke is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an NDP member of the provincial legislature from 1977 to 1997, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Early career:...
.
Farnan returned to a full cabinet position on October 21, 1994, having been appointed Minister of Transportation. He supported a policy of publishing the names of truck safety violators in northern Ontario, despite opposition from many in the industry.
In 1994, Farnan was one of twelve NDP cabinet ministers to vote against Bill 167, a government bill extending financial benefits to same-sex partners. This decision cost him significant support within his party.
The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election
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 Farnan lost the Cambridge seat to 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...
Gerry Martiniuk
Gerry Martiniuk
Gerry Martiniuk is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Cambridge for the Progressive Conservative Party....
by about 5,500 votes. He ran a second time for 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...
in the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, but finished third against 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...
Janko Peric
Janko Peric
Janko Peric , is a former Canadian politician. Peric was the Liberal Party MP for the riding of Cambridge from 1993 to 2004.He was born Janko Perić in Orehovica near Bedekovčina, Croatia and was a welder and airplane pilot....
.
In the late 1990s, Farnan became a school teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Brampton
Brampton, Ontario
Brampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada and the seat of Peel Region. As of the 2006 census, Brampton's population stood at 433,806, making it the 11th largest city in Canada. It is also one of Canada's fastest growing municipalities, with an average...
, Ontario. He specialized in social science courses (mainly Religion), and left the school a few years later.
Electoral record
ProvincialFederal