Dean Wasson

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Dean Wasson is an Ontario politician and public servant. He was a founding member of the Ontario Confederations of Regions Party, and was leader of the Ontario Confederation of Regions Party in the 1990 provincial election.

Wasson's family arrived in the Peterborough region in 1831. Before entering political life, he spent many years in volunteer positions in minor hockey and minor and Senior Lacrosse and church organizations.

In 1991, Wasson testified before a provincial committee on bilingualism that the Canadian Charter of Rights should allow "cultural diversity by region". He also called for Ontario to promote the de-Confederation of Quebec from Canada in the event that a compromise on federal issues could not be reached, and spoke of the importance of English cultural heritage within Canada.[1] (Critics of the Ontario Confederation of Regions party have argued that references to "English heritage" are code phrases for cultural intolerance, although the CoR has denied this.)

The National Confederation of Regions party was initially formed to promote western autonomy within Canada, and to oppose official bilingualism. The Ontario Party (an autonomous organization) first appeared shortly before the 1990 election, after a number of municipalities in the province declared themselves unilingually English and the provincial Liberal Party indicated that they were moving towards official bilingualism for Ontario. It was formed to address the perceived reverse discrimination inherent in government services through bilingualism.

The party's leadership and executive developed policy and promoted riding association development prior to the election. There is no evidence that Wasson played a major role in the provincial campaign. He received 1,586 votes in the riding of Peterborough, finishing fifth out of six candidates. The winner was Jenny Carter of the Ontario New Democratic Party.

Wasson was also a Peterborugh City councillor from 1993 to 1995. In 2002-03, he served as chairman of the Peterborough Flood Relief Committee, assisting those who lost property in recent rainfall.

From 1995 to 2000 he was active in the Kawartha Food Share serving as its founding President, General Manager and warehouse manager. Kawartha Food Share was formed and has successfully served a mandate to collect and redistributed food to local food banks.