New Democratic Party candidates, 1988 Canadian federal election

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The New Democratic Party ran a full slate of 298 candidates in the 1988 federal election, and elected 43 members to become the third-largest party in parliament. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

Contents

[edit] Ontario

[edit] Vittoria Levi (Eglinton—Lawrence)

Levi was born in Italy. She was a vocational rehabilitation counseller and served as a representative of the National Congress for Italian Canadians in the 1980s. Early in 1988, she criticized Robert Elgie's proposals for provincial labour law reform as "a change for the worse" with respect to the rights of injured workers.[1] She was forty-nine years old at the time of the election.[2] She received 6,241 votes (15.57%), finishing third against Liberal candidate Peter Milliken.

[edit] Len Johnson (Kingston and the Islands)

Major-General Leonard V. Johnson is from a military background. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1950, rose to the rank of major-general and served as Commandant of the National Defence College. He retired from the service in 1984.

He represented the New Democratic Party in a national debate on defence issues in 1988 (Kingston Whig-Standard, 31 October 1988), and was the only candidate in Kingston and the Islands to argue that Canada should be made a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (KWS, 11 November 1988). He also called for Canadian soldiers to be returned from Europe, arguing that large expenditures on overseas troops were hindering Canada's ability to run a modern navy (KWS, 11 November 1988).

Johnson was considered a star candidate, and was backed by a strong local organization that outspent all other campaigns in the city (KWS, 25 May 1989). His support base was eroded by a strong Liberal campaign, however, and he finished third against Liberal Peter Milliken with 11,442 votes (20.10%).

Following the election, Johnson was named Kingston chair of the peace group Project Plowshares (KWS, 21 December 1988).

[edit] Bill Major (Sudbury)

The Rev. William Major is a United Church minister. He joined the New Democratic Party in 1962 after hearing Tommy Douglas speak in Hamilton. He was ordained as a minister in 1969, moved to Sudbury in 1978, and served for nine years as coordinator for the Pastoral Institute of Northeastern Ontario.

Major sought the provincial New Democratic Party nomination for Sudbury East in 1987, but lost to Shelley Martel.[3] He subsequently spoke against the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, arguing that it allow Northern Ontario to become a source of income for giant American manufacturers.[4] He ran a strong campaign, but ultimately finished second against Liberal candidate Diane Marleau with 11,811 votes (27.77%).[5]

In 1989, Major led an anti-poverty protest march from Sudbury to Toronto. The march lasted for fifteen days, and ended with a rally in support of changes to Ontario's social assistance system.[6] Major relocated to Toronto in the same year, and became executive director of the anti-poverty Downtown Churchworkers' Association.[7] He also became co-chairman of the Rupert Hotel Coalition, a series of community groups working with low-income people.[8] Major opposed the federal government's proposed changes to unemployment insurance.[9] He led a "pilgrimage of peace and prayer" to Israel in 1996, after a series of bombings in the region.[10] He became the minister of Mono Mills United Church in Orangeville in 1999.[11]

In 2006, Major was charged with three counts of historical sexual assault that police alleged occurred from 1997 to 2005. He stepped down as pastor of his church while the investigation was ongoing.[12] The Toronto Sun subsequently reported that Major was facing a lawsuit from a former member of his Toronto church for "heinous sexual, physical, and emotional assaults". None of the charges have been proven in court. Major's lawyer has indicated that he "is innocent and will be vigorously defended".[13]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Pat McNenly, "Reforms for injured workers 'just tinkering', critics say", Toronto Star, 22 April 1988, H11.
  2. ^ Murray Campbell, "Nomination scars Liberals in Eglinton-Lawrence", Globe and Mail, 3 November 1988, A15.
  3. ^ "'Tired' Sudbury MPP is expected to retire", Globe and Mail, 6 April 1987, A10; Duncan McMonagle, "'Emperor of North' bows out of politics", Globe and Mail, 5 May 1987, A3.
  4. ^ William Walker, "Free trade jeopardizes North economy hearing told", Toronto Star, 27 October 1987, A2.
  5. ^ D. Munroe Eagles et al, The Almanac of Canadian Politics, (Peterborough: Broadview Press), 1991, p. 414.
  6. ^ Shelley Page, "3,000 rally to demand Queen's Park fight poverty", Toronto Star, 9 April 1989, A1.
  7. ^ Susan Reid, "Food bank expands into housing poor", Toronto Star, 17 June 1990, B4.
  8. ^ Gene Allen, "$10-million pledged for rooming houses 100 units to be built in Toronto", Globe and Mail, 1 February 1991, A8.
  9. ^ Linda Diebel and Nancy Wood, "MPs face storm over bid to alter jobless aid", Toronto Star, 7 September 1989, A1.
  10. ^ Leslie Scrivener, "Christians fly to Israel", Toronto Star, 16 March 1996, L16.
  11. ^ Carol Mulligan, "Job is done", 15 December 2003, A1.
  12. ^ [Former Leaside minister faces sex assault charges Loranna Di Giorgio, " Former Leaside minister faces sex assault charges"], Town Crier Online, 22 September 2006, accessed 6 May 2008.
  13. ^ Sam Pazzano, "Pastor Faces $1.3M Sex Suit", Toronto Sun, 27 September 2007.