Neil Young (politician)

For other people named Neil Young, see Neil Young (disambiguation).

Neil Young
Member of Parliament for Beaches-Woodbine
In office 1988–1993
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	Maria Minna
Member of Parliament for Beaches
In office 1980–1988
Preceded by	Robin Richardson
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Personal details
Born	(1936-08-28)August 28, 1936 Edinburgh, Scotland
Died	March 7, 2015(2015-03-07) (aged 78) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political party	New Democrat
Spouse	Vivien
Children	4
Profession	Machinist, 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

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. He died on March 7, 2015, in Toronto.

Politics

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. In a closely contested nomination race, he won the NDP nomination for the Beaches federal electoral district by two votes in 1977. 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. In 1980, Young faced Richardson again, this time defeating him by 1,496 votes. 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.

Electoral record

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

External links

• Neil Young – Parliament of Canada biography