Dianne Poole (born June 28, 1949) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

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. She served 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 ...

member of 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 ...

from 1987 to 1995.

Background

Poole has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree in

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

from

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

, and was a law clerk and social worker before entering political life. She also served as chair of the Women's Perspective Advisory Committee, and was a member of the French Immersion Task Force of the Toronto Board of Education.

Politics

Poole ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1985 general election, losing to Progressive Conservative David McFadden by 914 votes in the

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 ...

constituency of Eglinton. She ran again in the 1987 provincial election, and defeated McFadden by 695 votes amid a landslide victory for the Liberals. In 1989, she was appointed as a

parliamentary assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the U ...

. The Liberals were defeated by the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

in the 1990 provincial election, and Poole was re-elected by only 173 votes over Progressive Conservative candidate Ann Vanstone. She served as the Liberal critic for Housing from 1990 to 1993, and for the JobsOntario program from 1993 to 1995. In 1994, Poole was one of only three Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament (MPPs), along with

Jean Poirier Jean Poirier (born January 17, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1984 to 1995 who represented the Ottawa area riding of Prescott and Russell. Background Poirie ...

and

Tim Murphy Timothy Murphy may refer to: Politics * Tim Murphy (American politician) (born 1952), American Republican Party politician from Pennsylvania * Tim Murphy (Canadian politician) (born 1959), Canadian politician * Timothy J. Murphy (1893–1949), I ...

, who supported Bill 167, a bill brought forward by the government of

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

to extend spousal benefits to same-sex couples. Poole also called for the

Ontario Film Review Board The Ontario Film Review Board (french: Commission de contrôle cinématographique de l’Ontario) is an inactive agency of the government of the Canadian province of Ontario that was formerly responsible for that province's motion picture rating sy ...

to impose greater restrictions on sexually explicit and violent materials entering the country. She was generally regarded as being on the left wing of the party. The narrow margin of Poole's victory in 1990 made her constituency a prime PC target in 1995. She lost to Progressive Conservative fundraiser Bill Saunderson by about 4,500 votes, as the Progressive Conservatives won a majority government provincially. After leaving politics, Poole became the president of Politrain, Inc. She supported

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 ...

for the Liberal Party leadership in 1996.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Poole, Dianne 1949 births Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Trent University alumni Women MPPs in Ontario