Neil Young (politician)

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Neil Young
Member of Parliament
for Beaches-Woodbine
In office
1988–1993
Preceded byNew riding
Succeeded byMaria Minna
Member of Parliament
for Beaches
In office
1980–1988
Preceded byRobin Richardson
Succeeded byRiding abolished
Personal details
Born(1936-08-28)August 28, 1936
Edinburgh, Scotland
DiedMarch 7, 2015(2015-03-07) (aged 78)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyNew Democrat
SpouseVivien
Children4
ProfessionMachinist, consultant

Neil Young (August 28, 1936 – March 7, 2015) was a Canadian politician. He was a New Democratic member of the Canadian parliament from 1980 to 1993. He represented the downtown Toronto ridings of Beaches and Beaches-Woodbine.

Background[edit]

Young was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1936. He emigrated to Canada in the 1950s and worked as a machinist in the electrical industry. He later became an organizer for the United Electrical Workers Union. After leaving politics he worked as a consultant on people with disabilities. He and his wife Vivien raised four children.[1] He died on March 7, 2015, in Toronto.[1]

Politics[edit]

He ran unsuccessfully for Toronto City Council's Ward 9 in 1976. He came in 6th place behind winners Pat Sheppard and Tom Wardle Jr.[2] In a closely contested nomination race, he won the NDP nomination for the Beaches federal electoral district by two votes in 1977.[3] In the federal election of 1979 he lost narrowly to Progressive Conservative candidate Robin Richardson by 518 votes. The PC's won and Richardson served in the short lived Joe Clark minority government.[4] In 1980, Young faced Richardson again, this time defeating him by 1,496 votes.[5] He represented the electoral districts of Beaches from 1980 to 1988, and Beaches—Woodbine from 1988 to 1993, in the House of Commons of Canada as a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Young served as the NDP critic on several portfolios such as pensions and veteran's affairs. He was the party's whip from 1981 to 1984.

He was defeated in the 1993 election by Liberal Party of Canada candidate Maria Minna.[6]

Electoral record[edit]

1993 Canadian federal election: Beaches—Woodbine
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Maria Minna 17,582 40.0 +6.7
New Democratic Neil Young 8,151 18.5 -16.6
Reform Hugh Prendergast 6,773 15.4
Progressive Conservative Denise Cole 4,693 10.7 -18.6
Independent Terry Kelly 4,525 10.3
National John-Frederick Cameron 1,214 2.8
Green Leane Haze 357 0.8 +0.1
Natural Law Donalda Fredeen 276 0.6
Independent Keith Meadowcroft 195 0.4
Abolitionist Zahid Tirmizi 120 0.3
Marxist–Leninist Pierre Chénier 96 0.2
Total valid votes 43,982 100.0
1988 Canadian federal election: Beaches—Woodbine
Party Candidate Votes %
New Democratic Neil Young 15,760 35.2
Liberal Terry Kelly 14,900 33.2
Progressive Conservative Jim O'Malley 13,107 29.2
Libertarian Dennis Corrigan 351 0.8
Green Michael Tegtmeyer 317 0.7
Independent Ronald Clifford 259 0.6
Independent Wally Pearson 71 0.2
Commonwealth of Canada Charles Odell 48 0.1
Total valid votes 44,813 100.0

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Obituary: Neil Young". Canadian obituaries. 7 March 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Voting Results". Toronto Star. 7 December 1976. p. A11.
  3. ^ York, Marty (26 November 1977). "Brewin ends long career, heir picked". The Globe and Mail. p. 5.
  4. ^ "Counting the votes: The Liberals watch from their Quebec fortress...as Conservatives sweep most of the West". The Globe and Mail. 24 May 1979. pp. 10–11. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. ^ "Federal general election results listed riding-by-riding". The Ottawa Citizen. 19 February 1987. pp. 29–30.
  6. ^ "Results may be more complete than as published Riding-by-riding results from across Canada Ontario Algoma". Toronto Star. 26 October 1993. p. B10.

External links[edit]