Margery Ward
{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Margery Ward
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = Ontario MPP
| term_start = 1990
| term_end = 1993
| predecessor = Murad Velshi
| successor = David Johnson
| constituency = Don Mills
| party = New Democrat
| birth_date = {{birth date|1942|07|18}}
| birth_place = Bass River, New Brunswick, Canada
| death_date = {{death date and age |1993|01|22|1942|07|18}}
| death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| residence =
| occupation = Computer systems designer
| spouse =
}}
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.
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.{{cite news |title=Computer addict's social conscience leads to Legislature |first=Joseph |last=Hall |publisher=Toronto Star |date=September 27, 1990 |page=A8}}{{cite news |title=Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills |publisher=Toronto Star |date=January 23, 1993 |page=A8}}
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.{{cite news|title=How Metro-Area Voted|newspaper=The Toronto Daily Star |date=September 11, 1987 |location=Toronto |page=A12}} She tried again in the 1990 provincial election and this time was elected over Velshi by 746 votes.{{cite news |title=How Metro-Area Voted |newspaper=The Toronto Daily Star |date=September 7, 1990 |page=A10}} 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."{{cite news |title=Don Mills NDP winner is a surprise in former Tory stronghold |first=Casey |last=Mahood |publisher=Toronto Star |date=September 7, 1990 |page=A13}}
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.{{cite news |title=Margery Ward was socialist, MPP for Don Mills |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=January 23, 1993 |page=A8}}
York University now offers a Margery Ward Memorial Bursary in political science.{{cite web |title=Awards and Scholarships |url=http://www.yorku.ca/laps/pols/awards.html |publisher=York University: Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies |accessdate=March 15, 2014}}
Electoral results
{{Ontario provincial election, 1987/Don Mills}}
{{Ontario provincial election, 1990/Don Mills}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{OntarioMPPbio|id=margery-ward}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Margery}}
Category:Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs
Category:People from Kent County, New Brunswick
Category:Women MPPs in Ontario
Category:20th-century Canadian women politicians
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario