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Margery Ward

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Margery Ward
Ontario MPP
In office
1990–1993
Preceded byMurad Velshi
Succeeded byDavid Johnson
ConstituencyDon Mills
Personal details
Born(1942-07-18)July 18, 1942
Bass River, New Brunswick, Canada
DiedJanuary 22, 1993(1993-01-22) (aged 50)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Political partyNew Democrat
OccupationComputer 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

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ Hall, Joseph (September 27, 1990). "Computer addict's social conscience leads to Legislature". Toronto Star. p. A8.
  2. ^ "Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills". Toronto Star. January 23, 1993. p. A8.
  3. ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. September 11, 1987. p. A12.
  4. ^ "How Metro-Area Voted". The Toronto Daily Star. September 7, 1990. p. A10.
  5. ^ Mahood, Casey (September 7, 1990). "Don Mills NDP winner is a surprise in former Tory stronghold". Toronto Star. p. A13.
  6. ^ "Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills". Toronto Star. January 23, 1993. p. A8.
  7. ^ "Awards and Scholarships". York University: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
  8. ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=1867&toYear=2021&edIds=-19_17&electionType=GE&electionId=293&levelOfDetail=district
  9. ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/data-explorer?fromYear=1867&toYear=2021&edIds=-19_17&electionType=GE&electionId=293&levelOfDetail=candidate
  10. ^ https://results.elections.on.ca/en/publications
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