Charles R. Bowen (1923 – May 17, 1992) was a politician in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Ontario. He served as
mayor of
Brantford from 1973 to 1980.
Bowen was born in
Oshawa
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...
and served in the
Canadian army for five years during
World War II. He graduated from the
Canadian Institute of Science and Technology as a mechanical engineer. Bowen later received a
Theology degree from
McMaster University in 1977 and was ordained at the city's First
Baptist Church later in the year.
Bowen first ran for municipal office in Brantford in 1958 and was first elected to council in 1963, when he won a seat in Brantford's fifth ward. He served as a councillor until being elected as mayor of Brantford in the
1972 municipal election. He was re-elected in
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
,
1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
, and
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
.
Bowen and alderman William Tovell were sued by the
Boston Pops Orchestra in 1978, following non-payment for an August 1978 concert to raise money for Brantford's Capital Theatre. The business manager for Boston Pops charged that Bowen had guaranteed on the night of the concert that the sixty thousand dollar fee would be guaranteed by the city. Bowen denied that he had made this promise, and his claim was supported the city solicitor. The case was settled out of court in 1981. Arthur Kelly Jr., the son of the concert organizer, later wrote that Bowen had promised the money would be paid after overhearing a conversation between his father and the orchestra's business manager. Kelly added that the Pops was aware of the concert's shaky financial status and asserted that "if Bowen had kept his mouth shut
..there would have been no lawsuit."
Bowen was defeated by challenger
Dave Neumann in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
. He was re-elected to council in
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and served another three-year term before being defeated in 1991.
["New Brantford mayor shocked by victory," ''Hamilton Spectator'', 13 November 1991, B10.] He died the following year.
References
External links
Mayors of Brantford Brantford Public Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowen, Charles
1923 births
1992 deaths
Mayors of Brantford
Canadian Army personnel of World War II
Canadian Army soldiers