Marion Dewar
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| Marion Dewar | |
 Marion Dewar |
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52nd Mayor of Ottawa
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| In office 1978 – 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Lorry Greenberg |
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| Succeeded by | Jim Durrell |
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| In office 1987-07-20 – 1988-10-01 |
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| Preceded by | Ian Deans |
| Succeeded by | Beth Phinney |
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| Born | February 17, 1928 Montreal |
| Political party | New Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Ken Dewar |
| Children | Paul Dewar |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism [1] |
Marion Dewar, C.M. was mayor of Ottawa, Canada, from 1978 to 1985, and a member of the Parliament of Canada from 1986 to 1988.
Born Marion Bell in Montreal in 1928, she was raised in the town of Buckingham, Quebec, just outside of Ottawa.[1] She graduated from Saint Joseph's School of Nursing in Kingston, Ontario in 1949 and was a nurse in the Ottawa region until 1952.[2] She married civil servant Ken Dewar in 1951 and went into public health with the Victorian Order of Nurses.[1] She later returned back to school and studied at the University of Ottawa in nursing science/public health. She was a public health nurse from 1969 to 1971.[2]
She became an Ottawa alderman for Britannia Ward in 1972, and was elected Deputy Mayor in 1974, a position she held until 1978.[1] In 1977 she ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the provincial election in the riding of Ottawa West.
She was elected mayor in 1978. She is a committed peace activist pushing for nuclear disarmament, and personally picketing the American embassy after the invasion of Grenada. Dewar appeared in the 1985 documentary Speaking our Peace.[1] As mayor she convened a convention on the issue of homosexuality six months after taking office. In 1979, she helped launch Project 4000 with the aim of finding sponsors for 4,000 Vietnamese refugees in Ottawa. Ottawa today still has a large Vietnamese community.
From 1985 to 1987, she was president of the federal New Democratic Party[2], succeeding Tony Penikett. She was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in a 1987 by-election in the riding of Hamilton Mountain, replacing NDP incumbent Ian Deans.[3] She had been invited to the riding in the hopes that a star candidate would keep the riding in NDP hands, but faced a strong competition for the nomination from future MP David Christopherson.[4] She was defeated in the 1988 general election, losing to Liberal Beth Phinney by only 73 votes.[3]
Continuing to play a prominent role in the NDP, she was one of the leading backers of Audrey McLaughlin's leadership bid. In the 1993 election, she attempted to return to Parliament for the riding of Ottawa Centre, but lost by a wide margin to Liberal incumbent Mac Harb in an election where the NDP fared poorly across the country.[5]
In 1995, she became chair of Oxfam Canada.[2] She also served as the chair of the Ottawa-Carleton Police Services Board which oversaw the merger of the Ottawa, Nepean, and Gloucester police forces into a unified organization.[2] However, in December 1995, she, along with the other three provincially appointed members of the board, were fired in mid-term by the new government of Mike Harris who disagreed with their political views.[6] (The three Ottawa City Council appointees to the OCPSB, however, were not dismissed.) Dewar and fellow board member Judy Hunter sued the government for unfair dismissal. In a precedent-setting case, the court ruled in their favour, and again on appeal.[7]
In 2002, Dewar was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honour.[8]
She has five children, and a number of grandchildren. Her son, Paul Dewar, was elected to Parliament in the 2006 federal election, winning the Ottawa Centre riding for the NDP.
In recent years, she has been politically active; supporting her son Paul's political career; supporting Alex Munter's 2006 mayoral candidacy; and volunteering her time for many community pursuits including the Ottawa Women's Credit Union.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Norma McCabe. "Ottawa Mayor Marion Dewar is a Product of On-the-Job Training", The Globe and Mail, January 14, 1984, p. L5.
- ^ a b c d e Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry. University of Toronto Press.
- ^ a b Hamilton Mountain - History of Federal Ridings since 1867.
- ^ "Dewar wins Hamilton nomination", The Globe and Mail, January 24, 1987, p. A5.
- ^ Ottawa Centre - History of Federal Ridings since 1867.
- ^ "Ontario Police chairwoman fired", The Globe and Mail, December 16, 1995, p. N6.
- ^ Thomas Claridge. "Tory actions illegal, court rules", The Globe and Mail, July 29, 1996, p. A7.
- ^ Order of Canada citation.
[edit] External links
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