Richard Andrew Patten (May 13, 1942 – December 30, 2021) was a Canadian politician. Patten was a

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 ...

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 1987 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2007. He represented the riding of

Ottawa Centre Ottawa Centre (french: Ottawa-Centre) is an urban federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. While the riding's boundaries (mainly to the south and west as the north a ...

. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgro ...

Personal life

Patten was educated at

Sir George Williams University Sir George Williams University was a university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It merged with Loyola College to create Concordia University on August 24, 1974. History In 1851, the first YMCA in North America was established on Sainte-Hélène S ...

in Montreal. He worked as a manager with the

Young Men's Christian Association YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

(YMCA), and served as President of the ''Canadian Council for International Cooperation''. Patten sat on an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

advisory committee to the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

while with the CCIC. He died on December 30, 2021, at the age of 79.

Politics

In the 1987 provincial election, Patten ran as the

candidate in the riding of

. He defeated incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

Evelyn Gigantes Evelyn Adelaide Gigantes (born 1 November 1942) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on three occasions between 1975 and 1995, and was a prominent cabinet m ...

by just over 2,000 votes. The Liberal party won the election and Patten was appointed Minister of Government Services. In August 1989 he was shuffled to Minister of Correctional Services. In the 1990 provincial election Patten was defeated by his NDP rival Gigantes. For the next five years, Patten served as President and CEO of the

Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario CHEO is a pediatric health-care and research centre located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. CHEO is also a tertiary trauma centre for children in Eastern Ontario, Nunavut, Northern Ontario and the Outaouais region of Quebec and one of only seven Le ...

(CHEO) Foundation, doing extensive fund-raising work for the organization. In 1995 provincial election Patten campaigned against Gigantes once again this time defeating her by 1,700 votes. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Patten joined 29 other Liberals in the opposition. He attempted to mobilize a campaign for the party's leadership in 1996, but failed in this effort and subsequently supported

Dwight Duncan Dwight Duncan (born 3 January 1959) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2013 who represented ridings of Windsor—Walkerville, Windsor—St. Clair and Windsor� ...

. When Duncan was eliminated after the third ballot, he endorsed

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nearl ...

, the eventual winner. In the 1999 provincial election, Patten was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Ray Kostuch and New Democrat

Elisabeth Arnold Elisabeth Arnold (born 1959 in Ottawa) was an Ottawa City Councillor who represented Somerset Ward from 1994 to 2003. One of her accomplishments on council was spearheading the rebuilding of the Plant Recreation Centre. Arnold graduated from L ...

. The Progressive Conservatives again won the election, and Patten remained in opposition. Patten was treated for

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight los ...

during this parliament. The Liberals won the 2003 election and he was re-elected again by over 10,000 votes. During this session 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 U ...

to the Minister of Education, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade and to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Patten maintained a strong interest in the CHEO and devoted legislative efforts towards the centre's operations. On 14 March 2007, Patten announced he would not seek re-election in the upcoming election, preferring to focus on work with the CHEO Foundation.

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patten, Richard 1942 births 2021 deaths 21st-century Canadian politicians Anglophone Quebec people Canadian Unitarians Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Montreal Politicians from Ottawa Sir George Williams University alumni