Preceded by Murad Velshi Name Margery Ward Political party New Democrat | Constituency Don Mills Succeeded by David Johnson Role Politician | |
Born July 18, 1942
Bass River, New Brunswick ( 1942-07-18 ) Occupation Computer systems designer Died January 22, 1993, Toronto, Canada Party Ontario New Democratic Party | ||
Margery Ward (July 18, 1942 - January 22, 1993) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 until her death in 1993.
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Background
Ward grew up in Bass River, New Brunswick. She came from a family of eight children, six girls and two boys. She left there as a teenager after dropping out of high school and moved to Toronto. She worked as a grocery store clerk for twenty years. During this time she completed her high school diploma at night school. She attended York University where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science. She went to work at Manufacturer's Life Insurance Company as a data processing manager and as a computer systems designer. She was active in the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, eventually becoming secretary of the Toronto local.
Politics
Ward ran in the 1987 provincial election in the riding of Don Mills. She placed third behind winner Liberal Murad Velshi tallying 6,3681 votes, about 24% of the votes cast. She tried again in the 1990 provincial election and this time was elected over Velshi by 746 votes. Ward attributed her win to her opposition to the rent control system as 60% of the voters in the riding were tenants. She said, "The current legislation provides no protection whatsoever for the tenants."
She was appointed parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government Services on October 1, 1990 and held this position until her death from cancer in early 1993.
York University now offers a Margery Ward Memorial Bursary in Political Science.