Mike Davison
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Michael Norman Davison (born March 31, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1981 and again from 1984 to 1985 as a member of the New Democratic Party. He was arrested on criminal charges in 2004.
Davison was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and attended Hamilton Collegiate Institute. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election, succeeding his father Norm Davison in Hamilton Centre. He was re-elected over Liberal candidate Sheila Copps by fourteen votes in the 1977 election, but lost to Copps in a 1981 rematch.
Davison won a seat on the Hamilton City Council in 1982, and was re-elected to the provincial legislature in a 1984 by-election over Liberal candidate Lily Oddie Munro by 55 votes. He never actually returned to sit in the legislature, however, as it was not convened before the writs were dropped for the 1985 general election, in which Davison lost to Oddie by 384 votes. He opened a consulting firm after leaving the legislature, and wrote a column for the Hamilton Spectator newspaper until 2002. He later became a political commentator for CH TV, a local channel.
In 2004, Davison was arrested on three counts of criminal harassment and one count of attempting to lure a 16-year-old girl into prostitution. He rejected the terms of his bail agreement in July 2004, and chose to remain in jail during the pre-trial period. A number of Davison's former associates indicated that they had lost touch with him prior to his arrest, and sometimes saw him "wandering downtown streets" in an aimless manner. Political columnist Eric Dowd wrote that heavy drinking played a significant role in Davison's downfall.[3] He pleaded guilty, and was given a conditional discharge and probation.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Barbara Brown, "Davison fires lawyer, remains in custody", Hamilton Spectator, 31 July 2004.
- ^ Brown, "Davison opts for jail over bail restrictions", Hamilton Spectator, 24 July 2004.
