John O. (Jack) Burghardt (19 September 1929 – 28 September 2002) was a Canadian television news broadcaster, politician and church minister. Born in

Port Colborne, Ontario Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after ...

, Burghardt became one of the first on-air personalities on

CHCH-TV CHCH-DT (channel 11) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero (company), Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Ham ...

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

. He moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

CFPL-TV CFPL-DT (channel 10) is a television station in London, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Kitchener-based CTV station CKCO-DT, channel 13 (although the two stations maintain separate oper ...

in 1971 and became that station's news anchor. He remained at CFPL until 1980, apart from a break in 1972 to seek a seat in federal Parliament. His first attempt to gain a seat in the House of Commons of Canada was unsuccessful. He campaigned as the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

candidate in the Hamilton West electoral district during the 1972 federal election. His second attempt was in a 1981 by-election in the

London West London West (french: London-Ouest) is a federal electoral district in London, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography The district includes the northwest part of the City of London. I ...

electoral district. He served in the remainder of the

32nd Canadian Parliament The 32nd Canadian Parliament was in session from April 14, 1980, until July 9, 1984. The membership was set by the 1980 federal election on February 18, 1980, and it only changed slightly due to resignations and by-elections prior to being disso ...

, replacing

Judd Buchanan Judd Buchanan, (born July 25, 1929) is a Canadian former politician and businessman. After a career in the life insurance industry working for London Life, Buchanan, born in Edmonton, Alberta, was elected to the House of Commons of Canada i ...

who resigned his seat. Burghardt was defeated in the 1984 federal election by Progressive Conservative candidate Tom Hockin. After leaving federal politics, Burghardt entered municipal politics. He was first elected to Board of Control in 1985. As he garnered the most votes, he attained the position of Deputy Mayor. He was re-elected to both positions in 1988 and 1991. He ran for mayor in 1994, but narrowly lost to fellow controller

Dianne Haskett Dianne Louise Haskett (born March 4, 1955) is a Canadian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the mayor of London, Ontario, Canada, serving from 1994 to 2000, and later ran unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate in the 2006 feder ...

. A long-time lay preacher, he was ordained a minister of the

United Church of Canada The United Church of Canada (french: link=no, Église unie du Canada) is a mainline Protestant denomination that is the largest Protestant Christian denomination in Canada and the second largest Canadian Christian denomination after the Catholi ...

in later life. Burghardt died in London aged 73 following surgery.

External links

*
ObituariesOnTheNet.com: Jack Burghardt
accessed 12 September 2006

accessed 12 September 2006 * 1929 births 2002 deaths Canadian television journalists Canadian people of German descent Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Ministers of the United Church of Canada London, Ontario city councillors People from Port Colborne {{Canada-tv-bio-stub