Montgomery Bryden "Monty" Davidson (23 October 1935 – 26 March 2017) was Canadian politician. He was a New Democratic

member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the riding of

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from 1975 until 1981.

Background

Monty Davidson was a staff representative for the Textile Workers of America and a long-time union organizer. He went to work, at the age of 15, for the Stauffer and Dobbie Co. textile plant in

Galt, Ontario Galt is a community in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario on the Grand River. Prior to 1973, it was an independent city, incorporated in 1915, but amalgamation with the town of Hespeler, Ontario, the t ...

and became

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

at the age of 17.

Politics

In the 1975 provincial election, Davidson ran as the

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candidate in the new riding of

. He defeated

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candidate Claudette Millar by 1,593 votes. He was re-elected in

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Bill Barlow by 554 votes. In the

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 ...

election he again faced Barlow but lost to him by 849 votes. During his time as an MPP, he sat in opposition under NDP leaders Stephen Lewis and Michael Cassidy.

Later life

In 1981, he took a job with the Occupational Health and Safety Branch of the

Ontario Federation of Labour The Ontario Federation of Labour is a federation of labour unions in the Canadian province of Ontario. The original OFL was established by the Canadian Congress of Labour in 1944. It was merged with the rival Ontario Provincial Federation of Lab ...

. He said, "It's a full-time job and I'm very fortunate that there were people looking out for me who were willing to give me this kind of work in an area that I'm familiar with." In his later career, he worked at the Workers Health and Safety Centre in Cambridge before retiring in 1999. Davidson died on March 26, 2017. He was survived by Margaret, his wife of 62 years, and six children. The NDP association in Cambridge established an annual award in his memory "to celebrate islife-long service to working people".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Monty 1935 births 2017 deaths Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Trade unionists from Ontario Textile workers Textile Workers Union of America people