David William Warner

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

David William Warner (born November 18, 1941 in Toronto, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on four occasions between 1975 and 1995, and served as Speaker of the Assembly during Bob Rae's administration.

Warner worked as a teacher in private life, and served as chair of Elementary Public Schools in Scarborough. He ran for the Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the federal New Democratic Party in the elections of the 1972 and 1974, but finished a distant third in the riding of York—Scarborough on both occasions.

Warner was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Brian Harrison by fewer than 1,000 votes in the riding of Scarborough—Ellesmere. He was re-elected by roughly the same margin in the 1977 provincial election. The Progressive Conservatives under Bill Davis held a minority government throughout this period, and Warner served as a member of the opposition. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Alan Robinson in the 1981 election, when the Davis government won a majority victory.

Warner was re-elected in the 1985 provincial election, defeating Robinson by 219 votes as the Tories were reduced to a precarious minority government under the new leadership of Frank Miller. The Liberals under David Peterson were able to form a minority government with outside support from the NDP, and Warner served as his party's critic for Education and Skills Development over the next two years. He was again defeated in the 1987 provincial election, losing to Liberal Frank Faubert by 481 votes.

The NDP won an unexpected majority government in the 1990 provincial election, as Warner defeated Faubert by about 4,500 votes in a rematch from 1987. He was chosen Speaker of the Legislature on November 19, 1990, and held this position throughout the Rae government's mandate. He was the first speaker to be elected by the legislature, rather than appointed by the premier. His tenure in this office was generally free of controversy, unlike the tenures of his Progressive Conservative successors.

The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Warner lost his seat to Progressive Conservative Marilyn Mushinski by over 5,000 votes. He has not sought a return to elected office since this time. Warner is now a board member of the United Nations Association of Canada, and is also the president of the Canadian Cuban Friendship Association in Toronto.

His daughter Barbara Warner ran for the Ontario NDP in the 2003 provincial election, in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, and in 2005 unsuccessfully sought the nomination as the NDP candidate to succeed Marilyn Churley in the provincial riding of Toronto-Danforth.

Preceded by: Hugh Edighoffer	Speaker of the Ontario Legislature 1990–1995	Succeeded by: Al McLean
Preceded by: Liberal Frank Faubert	Scarborough-Ellesmere 1990–1995	Succeeded by: PC Marilyn Mushinski