James Perry Wiseman (born April 21, 1949) is a Canadian 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 ...

. He was a

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 ...

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.

Background

Wiseman 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 from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. He worked as a high-school history teacher before entering political life. His son Evan, ran for the NDP in the 2011 election in the riding of

Ajax—Pickering Ajax—Pickering was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2011 by Conservative MP Chris Alexander. Its population in 2001 was 100,215. The district included the Town ...

. He was active in the environmental movement. He was the founding member of a local environment group called ''Pickering/Ajax Citizens Together For The Environment''.

Politics

Wiseman ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, and finished third behind

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 ...

Norah Stoner and a Progressive Conservative candidate in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

riding of

Durham West Durham West was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1867 to 1904. It was located in the province of Ontario. It was created by the British North America Act of 1867 which divided the county of Durham ...

. He ran for the federal

in the Canadian election of 1988 in the riding of

. During the campaign he spoke against Toronto dumping garbage at Brock West a local garbage dump. He finished third behind Progressive Conservative René Soetens and a

candidate. Wiseman ran again in the provincial election of 1990. This time he was elected over Norah Stoner by 1,982 votes. During the next five years in government he served as

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 ...

to several ministers between 1991 and 1995. In 1992, Wiseman and fellow Durham MPP

Drummond White Drummond White (March 19, 1951 – November 25, 2022) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995. Background White grew up in Oshawa, Ontario. He gradu ...

became involved in a minor controversy when it was found they were billing taxpayers for the cost of renting a shared apartment in Toronto. He claimed that working long hours as an MPP justified his need for the apartment. Due to the publicity, he and White ended the lease in August 1992. In 1995, Wiseman helped broker a deal between the Town of Pickering and the Pickering Harbour Company. Development around Frenchman's Bay had been frozen since 1966 when the town objected to a development proposal. The company claimed it wasn't bound by municipal rules since it was a federally chartered company. The new deal allowed development to proceed as long as municipal rules were followed. In the 1995 provincial election, Wiseman finished third in Durham West, falling almost 20,000 votes behind Progressive Conservative

Janet Ecker Janet Ecker (born October 18, 1953) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. Backgro ...

. He stood for office again in the provincial election of 1999 for the redistributed riding of

Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. This riding was created in 1996, from parts of Durham and Ontario ridings. It consisted of the ...

, but received only 2,814 votes—and again lost to Janet Ecker by almost 20,000 votes. Wiseman returned to teaching at Ajax High School after leaving the legislature.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiseman, Jim 1949 births Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto alumni