Leonard Wood (born February 4, 1942) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1999, sitting for the

New Democratic Party of Ontario The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following t ...

Background

Wood completed a four-year millwright course after graduating from high school, and worked as a millwright mechanic before entering politics. He was actively involved in the labour movement and the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church.

Politics

In 1987 he contested Cochrane North (located in the province's northeastern corner) in the 1987 provincial election, but lost to

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 ...

incumbent

René Fontaine Jacques Noe René Fontaine (November 5, 1933 – March 17, 2012) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the ...

by almost 4,000 votes. In the federal election of 1988, he contested

Cochrane—Superior Cochrane (also known as Cochrane North and Cochrane—Superior) was a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in the provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, Canada. It was represented in the House of Commons of C ...

for the federal NDP and lost to

Réginald Bélair Réginald Bélair (April 6, 1949 – March 3, 2020) was a Canadian politician. Bélair was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2004, representing the riding of Cochrane—Superior until 1997 and subsequently Timmi ...

by 1,201 votes. The NDP won the 1990 provincial election and Wood defeated Liberal Donald Grenier to win Cochrane North by 143 votes. 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 ...

to the

Minister of Natural Resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio ...

from 1990 to 1995. Voting trends in the 1995 provincial election were against the NDP in most parts of Ontario, and the party fell from government to third-party status. In Cochrane North, Wood countered the provincial trend and dramatically increased his majority: he defeated Liberal candidate Gilles Gagnon by almost 2,000 votes. In opposition, he served as critic for Northern Development and Mines. Redistribution eliminated Cochrane North in the 1999 provincial election, and Wood sought re-election in the newly formed riding of

Timiskaming—Cochrane Timiskaming—Cochrane was a federal electoral district in Ontario that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. It was located in the northeast part of Ontario. This riding was created in 1996 from parts of Cochra ...

. He finished third, behind fellow incumbent David Ramsay of the Liberal Party and Rick Brassard of the Progressive Conservatives. Wood ran again for the federal NDP in the 2000 election in

Timmins—James Bay Timmins—James Bay (french: Timmins—Baie James) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Its population in 2011 was 83,104. The district includes the extreme ...

, but lost to Bélair by 6,950 votes.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Len 1942 births Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs People from Perth County, Ontario