Wayne Lessard (born January 12, 1956) is former 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 ...

in Ontario,

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. He was 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 Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1990 to 1995, and again from 1997 to 1999.

Background

Lessard was educated at the University of Windsor, and worked as a barrister and solicitor. In 1986, he has operated a private law practice specializing in workplace safety,

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, criminal defence and other matters. He also served as an Assistant Crown Attorney and legal counsel for the Corporation of the City of Windsor.

Politics

He was elected to the

Ontario legislature 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 ...

in the 1990 provincial election, defeating incumbent

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 ...

Mike Ray by over 4,000 votes in the riding of

Windsor—Walkerville Windsor—Walkerville was a federal electoral district that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 1988. It was located in the southwest corner of the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1966 from parts of E ...

. The NDP won its first majority government in this election. Lessard was appointed as parliamentary assistant from 1990 to 1995. The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Lessard lost his seat to Liberal Dwight Duncan by 380 votes. He returned to the legislature two years later after winning a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Windsor—Riverside, called after the resignation of Dave Cooke. The province's electoral boundaries were radically altered between 1995 and 1999, and in the 1999 provincial election Lessard was forced to face Dwight Duncan again in the new riding of Windsor—St. Clair. Despite having the support of the

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, he lost by more than 4,000 votes.

After politics

Lessard returned to his legal practice in Windsor for a short time and then became a Prosecutor for the City of Windsor.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessard, Wayne 1956 births Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from Windsor, Ontario University of Windsor alumni University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni