William Munro Wrye (born December 25, 1944) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

former politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

from 1981 to 1990, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgro ...

Background

Wrye was educated at the

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and worked as a television producer for CBC before entering political life.

Politics

In the 1981 provincial election he was elected to the Ontario legislature defeating incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

Ted Bounsall Edwin J. "Ted" Bounsall (born November 6, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a NDP member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1981. He represented the ridings of Windsor West from 1971 to 1975 and Windsor—S ...

by 134 votes in the constituency of

Windsor—Sandwich Windsor—Sandwich was an electoral riding in Ontario, Canada. It was created in 1934 and was abolished with the 1967 election as a result of redistribution. The area was restructured as Windsor West from 1967 to 1975, during which time it was r ...

. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 1985 election. After serving in opposition for two years, the Ontario Liberal Party formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

following the 1985 election. Wrye, who represented a large working-class constituency, was appointed

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

on June 26, 1985. As Labour Minister, Wrye brought forward legislation providing automatic yearly adjustments of workers-compensation benefits to the

consumer price index A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statistica ...

. He defeated George Dadamo of the NDP by 2,353 votes in the 1987 election, and was named Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations on September 29, 1987. After a cabinet shuffle on August 2, 1989, he was named

Minister of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

. The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 provincial election, and Wrye lost his seat to George Dadamo by over 4,000 votes.

Peterson cabinet

Later life

Wrye has recently served with the Windsor- Essex County branch of the

Canadian Mental Health Association The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is a Canadian non-profit mental health organization that focusing on resources, programs and advocacy. It was founded on April 22, 1918, by Dr. Clarence M. Hincks and Clifford W. Beers. Originally nam ...

. Wrye was a party delegate supporting

Dwight Duncan Dwight Duncan (born 3 January 1959) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2013 who represented ridings of Windsor—Walkerville, Windsor—St. Clair and Windso ...

at the Liberal Party's 1996 leadership convention. After Duncan's elimination, he shifted his allegiance to

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of C ...

(''Windsor Star'', December 3, 1996). In 2003, Wrye was named as executive assistant to Duncan, who was by this time the government house leader and Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for Windsor—St. Clair. Ironically, Duncan had once been a member of Wrye's staff.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrye, Bill 1944 births Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Members of the Executive Council of Ontario