Michael Patrick "Mickey" Hennessy (August 8, 1915 — March 5, 1991) was a boxer and politician in

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. He served in 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 1977 to 1987, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

Hennessy was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and educated at St. Michael's High School and Luke Callaghan High School. During the 1930s, he was a national boxing champion in Canada and was inducted to the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977. Hennessy was a

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 lette ...

, and a member of the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

Politics

Hennessy was a member of the Fort William city council from 1962 to 1969, and served on the

Thunder Bay City Council The Thunder Bay City Council is the governing body of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It consists of a mayor and twelve councillors. The mayor and five of the councillors are elected at large, with one councillor being elected for each ...

for seven years after amalgamation. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 provincial election, defeating

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 ...

candidate

Iain Angus Iain Francis Angus (born June 1, 1947) is a Canadian politician, who has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the House of Commons of Canada, as well as on Thunder Bay City Council. Then an employee with the city of Thunder Bay, ...

by 2,256 votes in Fort William. Hennessy was re-elected without difficulty in the provincial elections of

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

. He served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter of the

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

and

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on Daredevil (Marvel Comics ser ...

administrations. He lost his provincial seat in the 1987 election, falling 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 ...

Lyn McLeod Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader ...

by 1,463 votes. Hennessy campaigned for re-election to the

in 1988, and won more votes than any other candidate. He died in 1991, less than twenty-four hours after attending his last council meeting. The legislature paid tribute to Hennessy on March 18, 1991.

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

, then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, credited Hennessy with bringing "a touch of the common person back to the caucus discussions".

References

External links

*
Tribute to Hennessy in the Legislative Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hennessy, Mickey 1915 births 1991 deaths Anglophone Quebec people Boxers from Montreal Canadian people of Irish descent Canadian sportsperson-politicians Politicians from Montreal Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Thunder Bay city councillors Canadian male boxers