Elmer Buchanan (born ) is a 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 was a
New Democratic 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 1990 to 1995 who represented the eastern Ontario riding of
Hastings—Peterborough. He 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’, â ...
in 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 ...
. Buchanan left the NDP to support
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 ...
's 2006 Liberal party leadership bid.
Background
Buchanan was born in Havelock, Ontario and raised on a farm in Belmont Township where his family has lived since 1834. Buchanan studied at
Queen's University where he graduated with 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, and also has a certificate from Teacher's College in
Peterborough County
Peterborough County is located in Southern Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Peterborough, which is independent of the county.
The southern section of the county is mix of agriculture, urban and lakefront properties. The northern section of th ...
. He worked as a high-school teacher in
Hastings County
Hastings County is located in the province of Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it is located on the border of Eastern Ontario and Central Ontario. Hastings County is the second-largest county in Ontario, after Renfrew County, and its county sea ...
, and was vice-principal of North Hastings High School for four years.
Politics
Buchanan helped form the NDP association in Hastings in 1972. From 1975 to 1987 he campaigned for provincial office five times before his election in 1990.
The NDP won a majority government under Bob Rae in the
provincial election of 1990, and Buchanan defeated
Jim Pollock by 896 votes.
He was named
Minister of Agriculture and Food on October 1, 1990, and held this position for the entirety of the Rae government.
Buchanan was one of the most successful ministers in the Rae government, and was widely praised for his handling of the agriculture portfolio. Premier
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 ...
said that he was "a constant source of sound advice, political savvy and practical intelligence." While the Ontario NDP lost much of its rural support between 1990 and 1995, Buchanan remained personally popular within rural Ontario and with the agricultural community.
Buchanan stabilized funding to many rural centres in 1994, and was a supporter of fuel
ethanol
Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...
throughout his time in government. He also promoted a rural investment pool, and extended unionization rights to farm workers while ensuring that farms with fifty or fewer employees would not be affected.
The NDP was defeated in the
provincial election of 1995, and Buchanan's personal popularity was not enough to save him from the party's loss of support in rural areas. He lost to Progressive Conservative
Harry Danford
Harry Danford (born ) is a Canadian former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999.
Background
Danford worked as a farmer before entering politics, and wa ...
by almost 8,000 votes, amid a provincial majority for the Progressive Conservative Party.
Despite some cutbacks during Ontario's recession of the early 1990s, the agriculture ministry had a budget of about $600 million in 1994 and kept an agricultural representative in each of the 52 county offices. By 2000, under the government of
Mike Harris
Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...
, the budget had been cut to $300 million and the local representatives had been eliminated.
Cabinet positions
Later life
Buchanan initially considered running for the leadership of the NDP in 1996, but declined. He was instead elected as treasurer of the Ontario NDP, and set tough targets for eliminating the party's post-1995 debt. He also served as a vice-president on the party's executive, and became a board member of the
Children's Aid Society
Children's Aid, formerly the Children's Aid Society, is a private child welfare nonprofit in New York City founded in 1853 by Charles Loring Brace. With an annual budget of over $100 million, 45 citywide sites, and over 1,200 full-time employee ...
.
In early 2005, he assisted the NDP's
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
campaign in the rural riding of
Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey
Dufferin—Peel—Wellington—Grey was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004.
Federal electoral district
The federal riding was created as a result of redistri ...
. However, since his endorsement of Bob Rae's bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party, he has severed his ties to the NDP.
In 2008, Buchanan was named Acting Chair of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission.
On October 11, 2013 Buchanan was appointed Board Chair of the Ontario Racing Commission.
[The Peterborough Examiner, October 11, 2013]
References
Notes
Citations
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan, Elmer
1946 births
Living people
Members of the Executive Council of Ontario
Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs
People from Peterborough County