Margery Ward (July 18, 1942 - January 22, 1993) 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, 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 ...

, Canada. She served as 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 until her death in 1993.

Background

Ward grew up in Bass River, New Brunswick. She came from a family of eight children, six girls and two boys. She left there as a teenager after dropping out of high school and moved to Toronto. She worked as a grocery store clerk for twenty years. During this time she completed her high school diploma at night school. She attended

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, where she obtained 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 in computer science. She went to work at Manufacturer's Life Insurance Company as a data processing manager and as a computer systems designer. She was active in the

Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) is a labor union in the United States. Founded in 1937, the RWDSU represents about 60,000 workers in a wide range of industries, including but not limited to retail, grocery stores, poultry proc ...

, eventually becoming secretary of the Toronto local.

Politics

Ward ran in the 1987 provincial election in the riding of

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in the North York district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed to be a self-supporting " new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper. In 1998, North York, including the Don Mills c ...

. She placed third behind winner

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 ...

Murad Velshi Murad Velshi (born April 4, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990. He represented the riding of Don Mills in Toronto. Background Velshi was born and ra ...

tallying 6,3681 votes, about 24% of the votes cast. She tried again in the 1990 provincial election and this time was elected over Velshi by 746 votes. Ward attributed her win to her opposition to the rent control system as 60% of the voters in the riding were tenants. She said, "The current legislation provides no protection whatsoever for the tenants." She was appointed

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 the Minister of Government Services on October 1, 1990, and held this position until her death from cancer in early 1993. York University now offers a Margery Ward Memorial Bursary in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Electoral results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Margery 1942 births 1993 deaths Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs People from Kent County, New Brunswick Women MPPs in Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians