Robert Mackenzie
Encyclopedia
Robert Warren Mackenzie (June 26, 1928 - January 17, 2011) was a politician
in Ontario, Canada
. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1975 to 1995, and a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae
.
, and quit school after grade seven to work at the E.B. Eddy Company paper mill in Hull
. He later worked as a merchant seaman, and claims that he was introduced to social democracy
in this period by a Scandinavia
n co-worker. He later moved to Windsor, Ontario
, and worked in an auto plant. Finally settling in Hamilton
, he was a member of the United Steelworkers of America Local 5328 and an executive member of the Hamilton and District Labour Council. His son Andrew Mackenzie ran for the Hamilton East seat, but was defeated by Liberal Dominic Agostino
. His son David is a personal advisor to New Democratic Party
leader, Jack Layton
.
, as a candidate of the Ontario CCF in the riding of Windsor—Walkerville
. He finished second, losing to Progressive Conservative
Cooke Davies by about 3,000 votes.
He ran for the Canadian House of Commons
for the federal New Democratic Party
in the 1972 federal election
, but finished third in the riding of Hamilton—Wentworth
in a close three-way race. He ran again in the 1974 federal election
, and lost by a wider margin. Progressive Conservative
candidate Sean O'Sullivan won the riding on both occasions.
Mackenzie was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1975
, winning the working class
riding of Hamilton East by a wide margin. He was re-elected in the elections of 1977
, 1981
, 1985
, 1987
and 1990
. The only time he faced a serious challenge was in 1985, when Liberal
Shirley Collins came within 1,600 votes of defeating him. On all other occasions, he won by significant margins. Mackenzie supported Bob Rae for the NDP leadership in 1982.
Following the inconclusive 1985 election, the NDP under Bob Rae allowed the Liberal Party under David Peterson
to form a minority government
, which lasted for two years. Mackenzie was part of a minority group in the NDP caucus that recommended supporting the Progressive Conservatives instead, on the grounds that urban-based "Red Tories
" would be more likely to support labour issues than the Liberal Party (which was then dominated by rural members). Mackenzie served as his party's Labour Critic from 1985 to 1990.
). Mackenzie also introduced legislation dealing with pay equity for nurses and child-care attendants, and extended unionization rights to farm workers. In 1993, he accepted the Rae government's Social Contract
legislation as necessary for the province.
In office, Mackenzie was known as a passionate supporter of labour interests within cabinet. Journalist Thomas Walkom recounted the following story in his book, Rae Days:
There was some controversy in early 1994 when Mackenzie's son David was hired as a special advisor to the Premier's office. Mackenzie resigned as Labour Minister on October 20, 1994, and did not seek re-election in 1995.
's successful campaign to replace Agostino in a by-election
.
Mackenzie died on January 17, 2011 at the age of 82.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario, 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 1975 to 1995, and a prominent 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....
.
Background
Mackenzie was a longtime member of Canada's union movement. He was raised in western QuebecQuebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and quit school after grade seven to work at the E.B. Eddy Company paper mill in Hull
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
. He later worked as a merchant seaman, and claims that he was introduced to social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
in this period by a Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n co-worker. He later moved to Windsor, Ontario
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
, and worked in an auto plant. Finally settling in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, he was a member of the United Steelworkers of America Local 5328 and an executive member of the Hamilton and District Labour Council. His son Andrew Mackenzie ran for the Hamilton East seat, but was defeated by Liberal Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino
Dominic Agostino was a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Hamilton East for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 until his death in 2004.-Biography:...
. His son David is a personal advisor to 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...
leader, Jack Layton
Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC was a Canadian social democratic politician and the Leader of the Official Opposition. He was the leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, serving at times during that period as acting mayor and deputy mayor of...
.
Politics
Mackenzie first ran for provincial office in the provincial election of 1955Ontario general election, 1955
The Ontario general election of 1955 was held on June 9, 1955, to elect the 98 members of the 25th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, as a candidate of the Ontario CCF in the riding of Windsor—Walkerville
Windsor—Walkerville
Windsor—Walkerville was a federal electoral district that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1988. It was located in the southwest corner of the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of Essex East and Essex West ridings. The electoral district...
. He finished second, losing 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...
Cooke Davies by about 3,000 votes.
He ran 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...
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 the 1972 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1972
The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...
, but finished third in the riding of Hamilton—Wentworth
Hamilton—Wentworth
Hamilton—Wentworth was a provincial electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1934 to 1971.It was located in the province of Ontario.-Members of Provincial Parliament:...
in a close three-way race. He ran again in the 1974 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
, and lost by a wider margin. 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....
candidate Sean O'Sullivan won the riding on both occasions.
Mackenzie was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1975
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....
, winning the working class
Working class
Working class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
riding of Hamilton East by a wide margin. He was re-elected in the elections of 1977
Ontario general election, 1977
The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, 1981
Ontario general election, 1981
The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, 1985
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...
, 1987
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...
and 1990
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....
. The only time he faced a serious challenge was in 1985, when 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...
Shirley Collins came within 1,600 votes of defeating him. On all other occasions, he won by significant margins. Mackenzie supported Bob Rae for the NDP leadership in 1982.
Following the inconclusive 1985 election, the NDP under Bob Rae allowed the Liberal Party under 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....
to form a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
, which lasted for two years. Mackenzie was part of a minority group in the NDP caucus that recommended supporting the Progressive Conservatives instead, on the grounds that urban-based "Red Tories
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...
" would be more likely to support labour issues than the Liberal Party (which was then dominated by rural members). Mackenzie served as his party's Labour Critic from 1985 to 1990.
Government
The NDP won a majority government in the 1990 provincial election, and Mackenzie was appointed as the province's Minister of Labour on October 1 of that year. In 1992, he helped navigate the passage of Bill 40, which introduced anti-scab provisions during strikes and other positions supported by the labour movement. The bill became law on January 1, 1993, and is generally regarded as one of the most labour-friendly bills in recent Ontario history (it may be noted that many of its provisions were later undone by the government of Mike HarrisMike 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...
). Mackenzie also introduced legislation dealing with pay equity for nurses and child-care attendants, and extended unionization rights to farm workers. In 1993, he accepted the Rae government's Social Contract
Social contract
The social contract is an intellectual device intended to explain the appropriate relationship between individuals and their governments. Social contract arguments assert that individuals unite into political societies by a process of mutual consent, agreeing to abide by common rules and accept...
legislation as necessary for the province.
In office, Mackenzie was known as a passionate supporter of labour interests within cabinet. Journalist Thomas Walkom recounted the following story in his book, Rae Days:
- "At one early cabinet meeting, for instance, Mackenzie had just finished delivering a passionate plea for aid to jobless Steelworkers in the hard-hit uraniumUraniumUranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
-mining town of Elliot Lake. Suddenly Energy minister Jenny CarterJenny CarterJenny Carter is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:...
spoke up. "Why bother?" said the PeterboroughPeterborough, OntarioPeterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
anti-nuclear activist. "They'll all be dead of cancer soon anyway." Mackenzie, according to one participant at the meeting, was so furious he literally lunged across the cabinet table at the hapless Carter. Luckily, it was a wide table."
There was some controversy in early 1994 when Mackenzie's son David was hired as a special advisor to the Premier's office. Mackenzie resigned as Labour Minister on October 20, 1994, and did not seek re-election in 1995.
After politics
In 2004, Mackenzie supported Andrea HorwathAndrea Horwath
Andrea Horwath , is a Canadian activist and politician. She is the Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party in Canada. She is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Hamilton Centre, and was chosen as the party's leader at its 2009 leadership convention.She is...
's successful campaign to replace Agostino in a by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
.
Mackenzie died on January 17, 2011 at the age of 82.