Margery Ward
Margery Ward | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1990–1993 | |
| Preceded by | Murad Velshi |
| Succeeded by | David Johnson |
| Constituency | Don Mills |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 18, 1942 Bass River, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died | January 22, 1993 (aged 50) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | New Democrat |
| Occupation | Computer systems designer |
Margery Ward (July 18, 1942 – January 22, 1993) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 until her death in 1993.
Background[edit]
Ward grew up in Bass River, New Brunswick. She came from a family of eight children, six girls and two boys. She left there as a teenager after dropping out of high school and moved to Toronto. She worked as a grocery store clerk for twenty years. During this time she completed her high school diploma at night school. She attended York University, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in computer science. She went to work at Manufacturer's Life Insurance Company as a data processing manager and as a computer systems designer. She was active in the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, eventually becoming secretary of the Toronto local.[1][2]
Politics[edit]
Ward ran in the 1987 provincial election in the riding of Don Mills. She placed third behind winner Liberal Murad Velshi tallying 6,3681 votes, about 24% of the votes cast.[3] She tried again in the 1990 provincial election and this time was elected over Velshi by 746 votes.[4] Ward attributed her win to her opposition to the rent control system as 60% of the voters in the riding were tenants. She said, "The current legislation provides no protection whatsoever for the tenants."[5]
She was appointed parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government Services on October 1, 1990, and held this position until her death from cancer in early 1993.[6]
York University now offers a Margery Ward Memorial Bursary in political science.[7]
Electoral results[edit]
| 1987 Ontario general election: Don Mills | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Murad Velshi | 11,083 | 40.70 | +16.11 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | David Lindsay | 8,666 | 31.82 | -18.90 | ||||
| New Democratic | Margery Ward | 6,424 | 23.59 | +3.43 | ||||
| Independent | David Smith | 586 | 2.15 | |||||
| Freedom | David Pengally | 475 | 1.74 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 27,234 | 98.96 | ||||||
| Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | 285 | 1.04 | +0.19 | |||||
| Turnout | 27,519 | 59.14 | +1.61 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 46,534 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +17.51 | ||||||
| Source: [8][9] | ||||||||
| 1990 Ontario general election: Don Mills | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Margery Ward | 9,740 | 34.20 | +10.61 | ||||
| Liberal | Murad Velshi | 8,786 | 30.85 | -9.85 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Nola Crewe | 7,631 | 26.79 | -5.03 | ||||
| Libertarian | David Miller | 742 | 2.61 | |||||
| Green | Katherine Mathewson | 608 | 2.13 | |||||
| Independent | Colin McKay | 562 | 1.97 | |||||
| Freedom | David Pengally | 414 | 1.45 | -0.29 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 28,483 | 98.54 | ||||||
| Total declined, rejected and unmarked ballots | 421 | 1.46 | +0.42 | |||||
| Turnout | 28,904 | 64.23 | +5.10 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 44,998 | |||||||
| New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.23 | ||||||
| Source: [10] | ||||||||
References[edit]
- ^ Hall, Joseph (September 27, 1990). "Computer addict's social conscience leads to Legislature". Toronto Star. p. A8.
- ^ "Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills". Toronto Star. January 23, 1993. p. A8.
- ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. September 11, 1987. p. A12.
- ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. September 7, 1990. p. A10.
- ^ Mahood, Casey (September 7, 1990). "Don Mills NDP winner is a surprise in former Tory stronghold". Toronto Star. p. A13.
- ^ "Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills". Toronto Star. January 23, 1993. p. A8.
- ^ "Awards and Scholarships". York University: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
- ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=1867&toYear=2021&edIds=-19_17&electionType=GE&electionId=293&levelOfDetail=district
- ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=1867&toYear=2021&edIds=-19_17&electionType=GE&electionId=293&levelOfDetail=candidate
- ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/publications