Ken Black

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Ken Black (born March 11, 1932 in Bracebridge, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1987 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.

Black was educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Nottingham, receiving a Master's Degree in Education. He worked as a secondary school principal from 1959 to 1980, and was a Superintendent of Education from 1980 to 1987. He has also served as past president of Muskoka Children's Aid.

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative George Beatty over 3,000 votes in the constituency of Muskoka. In 1988, he published a Task Force Report on Illegal Drug Use in Ontario. Black was appointed Minister of Tourism and Recreation with responsibility for the Provincial Anti-Drug Strategy on August 2, 1989.

Black's time in cabinet was brief. The Liberals were upset by the New Democratic Party in the 1990 provincial election, and Black finished third in his bid for re-election, coming about 4,000 votes behind NDP candidate Dan Waters. He made a bid for re-election in the 1995 campaign, but finished well behind Progressive Conservative Bill Grimmett.

Black wrote a column in a local Muskoka paper following his defeat. He now serves on the Muskoka Watershed Council.