Mike Cooper (born July 31, 1951) 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 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 to 1995. He represented the riding of Kitchener—Wilmot.

Background

Cooper was educated at vocational school, and was a rubber worker at Uniroyal Goodrich for 17 years. He served as steward of

United Rubber Workers The United Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America (URW) was a labor union representing workers involved in manufacturing using specific materials, in the United States and Canada. The union was founded in 1935 as the United Rubber Wo ...

Local 667.

Politics

Cooper ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1985, but finished third against

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 John Sweeney in the riding of Kitchener—Wilmot. He ran again in the 1987 provincial election, this time finishing second against Sweeney. The NDP won a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

in the provincial election of 1990 and Cooper defeated Liberal newcomer

Carl Zehr Carl Zehr (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was the mayor of Kitchener, Ontario from 1997 to 2014. Prior to that he was a city councillor from 1985 to 1994. As of 2014, he was the longest-serving mayor in Kitchener. He was a mem ...

by over 5,000 votes. In November 1990 he was appointed as Deputy Government

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

where he remained for another four years. In November 1992 he was appointed 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 the Solicitor General. In February 1993 he was reassigned as PA to the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

. In 1994, Cooper was one of twelve NDP members to vote against Bill 167, a bill extending financial benefits to same-sex partners. Premier

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

allowed a free vote on the bill which allowed members of his party to vote with their conscience. The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election and Cooper again finished third in the Kitchener—Wilmot riding, placing over 9,000 votes behind Progressive Conservative

Gary Leadston Gary L. Leadston (June 24, 1941 – December 2, 2013) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999. Background Leadston was born in Guelph, Ontario ...

. He returned to his job making tires after his defeat. Cooper ran for the federal

in the Canadian general election of 1997 in

Waterloo—Wellington Waterloo—Wellington was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. It continued to be a provincial electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario until the 2007 provincia ...

, but finished a distant fourth against

Lynn Myers.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Mike 1951 births Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from London, Ontario Trade unionists from Ontario