George Eamon Park (26 November 1916 – 28 April 1975) was a Canadian politician and political organizer for the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...

and 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 ...

. He was elected in the Toronto riding of Dovercourt in 1948.

Background

Park was born in Monkstown, County Cork,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 1916. His father, Robert Park Sr., was in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and on manoeuvers at the time of his son's birth. Catherine Mary Park left Portsmouth, England to be with her family in Ireland to have the baby. George was the eldest of four children; Catherine (called Kae), Thomas and Robert Jr. followed. In 1925 the family moved to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

where Robert Park was working as a foreman at a mine. A long strike led the Parks to decide to move to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. They arrived in

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 ...

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 ...

in 1927. George attended

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Toronto and graduated from De La Salle Academy. Upon graduation he got involved with the

labour movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

, becoming a staff member at the

United Steel Workers The United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, commonly known as the United Steelworkers (USW), is a general trade union with members across North America. Headqua ...

and an activist with the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation. It was during this time he dropped his first name and began to use the name Eamon instead. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Park was living in Ottawa and met and married Anne Clare, a

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

er originally from

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. They had two children; Patricia Anne and Kevin Robert. His wife Anne returned to Canada and remained an NDP activist until her death in January 1991. Both of their children followed in the Park family footsteps. Patty is a social worker, who also worked for the NDP government in Ontario in the 1990s. Her first husband, Dick Proctor, later became federal secretary of the NDP and a Member of Parliament for

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. Her current husband, Murray Weppler, is a former executive assistant to federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent and Ontario leaders Michael Cassidy and

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 ...

. Kevin Park became a union activist, working for the United Food and Commercial Workers and the

Canadian Auto Workers The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW; formally the National Automobile, Aerospace, Transportation and General Workers Union of Canada) was one of Canada's largest and highest profile labour unions. In 2013, it merged with the Communications, Energy and ...

union. He worked on staff at the British Columbia Government Employees Union in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. He died in Vancouver in 2007. Kevin's twin children are carrying on the family tradition. Gareth Robert is a social worker in Ottawa, currently working with the Canadian Mental Health Association. He was a delegate to the 1989 NDP convention, making him the third generation of Parks to vote at an NDP gathering, and worked for Howard Hampton when he was an Ontario cabinet minister. Megan Kathleen is on staff at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union in Toronto and also worked for an NDP cabinet minister in the 1990s.

Politics

In 1948 Park was elected as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (Ontario Section) (CCF) member of the

Ontario legislature 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 ...

for the Toronto riding of Dovercourt. He ran in the 1951 election and was defeated. He ran in the federal election of 1968 as the NDP candidate for York East in Toronto but was defeated, coming in third with 27.47% of the vote.

CCF/NDP organizer

Park continued his work with the union and the party, holding many roles within the provincial and national CCF infrastructure. Following the federal party's crushing defeat in the 1958 federal election, it was decided that the

Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC (french: Congrès du travail du Canada, link=no or ) is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated. History Formation The CLC was ...

would align itself with the CCF to form a new political party. Park was a CLC representative on the Political Action Committee. The reborn group was first called The New Party, adopting a suggestion made by Park, later to become the

. At the NDP founding convention in 1961, Park was elected as secretary of the NDP executive. From 1965 to 1967 he served as president of the federal party. In 1972 the Canadian government appointed Park as labour attache to the High Commission of Canada to the United Kingdom. He also had responsibility for labour relations with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

. He died in London on 28 April 1975. His ashes were interred alongside his wife's in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Park, George Eamon Ontario Co-operative Commonwealth Federation MPPs 20th-century Canadian politicians 1916 births Presidents of the New Democratic Party of Canada New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons British emigrants to Canada 1975 deaths Politicians from County Cork People from Monkstown, County Cork