Robert Frankford
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Robert T.S. Frankford (born August 1, 1939 in Nottingham, England) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.
Frankford is a medical doctor. He was educated at the University of London in England, and became a family physician before entering political life. He was responsible for inaugurating the first Health Service Organization in Toronto.
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, defeating Liberal incumbent Ed Fulton by 1,774 votes in Scarborough East as the NDP won an unexpected majority government. Despite his professional background, Frankford was never appointed to cabinet and only served as a parliamentary secretary from 1990 to 1991. As a backbencher, he used his medical training to advocate for sickle cell and related population health issues.
The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Dr Frankford lost his seat to Progressive Conservative candidate Steve Gilchrist by almost 12,000 votes.
He ran for the federal New Democratic Party for the Canadian House of Commons in the 1997 federal election, but finished a distant fourth against Liberal John McKay in Scarborough East. He also attempted to return to the Ontario legislature in the 1999 provincial election, but finished third against Liberal Gerry Phillips in Scarborough—Agincourt. Frankford's wife, Helen Breslauer, has also campaigned for the NDP.
He returned to his medical practice after leaving office and became a family physician at the Seaton House men's hostel, which services many poor and homeless in the city. An advocate of rostered primary care and funding through capitation 2004, he was chair of the Ontario Medical Association's section of Health Service Organization physicians.
As of 2007 he remains involved in a number of community health projects and organizations, including the Sickle Cell Association of Ontario and is chair of the Scarborough Agincourt collaborative committee of the Central East LHIN.
