Gary L. Leadston (June 24, 1941 – December 2, 2013) was a

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 ...

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 C ...

, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999.

Background

Leadston was born in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

. He was educated at

Ontario Police College The Ontario Police College (OPC) is a police academy located in Malahide Township, just east of Aylmer, in Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. History The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) proposed the idea of a central ...

and

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...

. He worked as a police constable in

Kitchener, Ontario ) , image_flag = Flag of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , image_seal = Seal of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_shield=Coat of arms of Kitchener, Canada.svg , image_blank_emblem = Logo of Kitchener, Ontario.svg , blank_emblem_type = ...

. He was also the founding member of the Big Brothers Association in Kitchener Waterloo in the 1970s and served as its President in 1975-1976.

Politics

Leadston served as a city councillor for

Kitchener City Council Kitchener City Council is the governing body for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the Mayor of Kitchener and 10 ward councillors. 2006-2010 Council elected in the 2006 municipal election. 2010-2014 Council elect ...

from 1979 to 1994, and also served on the

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

from 1981 to 1994. In 1987, he was named as chair of the Waterloo Regional Police Commission. Leadston was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election, defeating

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 ...

candidate Shelley Schlueter and incumbent New Democratic

Mike Cooper Mike Cooper may refer to: * Mike Cooper (musician) (born 1942), English blues and jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter * Mike Cooper (politician) (born 1951), former politician in Ontario, Canada See also * Michael Cooper (disambiguation) * Mike Ho ...

by a plurality of 7,000 votes. He served as a backbench supporter of 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 ...

for the next four years. In September 1996, he put his name forward to run for speaker to replace the disgraced

Al McLean Allan Kenneth McLean (born March 20, 1937) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1999 who represented the riding of Simcoe East. He was a cabinet ...

. However Chris Stockwell won out over a slate of seven other candidates including Leadston. In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of ridings from 130 to 103. This meant that sitting MPPs had to compete for re-nomination in some ridings. Leadston ran for the

Kitchener Centre Kitchener Centre (french: Kitchener-Centre) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district includes the north-central and north-eastern parts o ...

PC nomination in 1999, but was defeated by

Wayne Wettlaufer Wayne Wettlaufer (December 16, 1943 – June 21, 2015) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003. In 2014 he was elected as a regional councillor for K ...

. In 2000, he sought the federal

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed ...

nomination in Lanark—Carleton, but lost to Scott Reid.

Later life

Leadston died at his home on December 2, 2013, from cancer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leadston, Gary 1941 births 2013 deaths Kitchener, Ontario city councillors People from Guelph Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs