Dan Newman

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For the ice hockey player, see Dan Newman (ice hockey)

Dan Newman (born January 16, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.

Newman was educated at University College at the University of Toronto, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1987. From 1985 to 1995, he worked as manager of the Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation. Many would later accuse the Sun, a right-wing tabloid, of being uncritically supportive of the Mike Harris government. Newman also served as President of the Scarbrough PC Association in 1992–93.

Newman was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal Mary Anne Plimbett and incumbent New Democrat Steve Owens in the riding of Scarborough Centre. The Tories won a majority government in this election, although Newman was not appointed to cabinet in the parliament which followed.

He was re-elected in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal Adrian Heaps and New Democrat Michael Yorke in the re-distributed riding of Scarborough Southwest. Many suspect that Newman's re-election (with less than 40% of the vote) was primarily due to a vote-split among the opposition parties.

On May 3, 2000, Newman was appointed to cabinet as Minister of the Environment. This appointment occurred just before a serious outbreak of E. coli poisoning in Walkerton, Ontario, in which several people died following the contamination of the town's water supply. Many blamed the Harris government's privatization of water inspection for the tragedy.

Newman, as Environment Minister, bore the brunt of this criticism and was forced to defend his government's policies before an increasingly sceptical public. In the aftermath of the tragedy, he announced a public investigation and stricter standards for municipal water treatment.

On February 8, 2001, Newman was transferred from the Ministry of the Environment and named Minister of Northern Development and Mines (despite the fact that his riding is located in Toronto). When Ernie Eves replaced Harris as Premier on April 15, 2002, he named Newman as an Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Newman was defeated in the 2003 provincial election, losing to Liberal Lorenzo Berardinetti by almost 6,000 votes.