Reginald Stackhouse

Stackhouse was born in Toronto, Ontario, and educated at the University of Toronto, Wycliffe College and Yale University. He held Ph.D. and Th.D. degrees, and practised as an Anglican priest. Stackhouse was a Trustee for the Scarborough Board of Education from 1965 to 1972, served on the Canadian Council of Regents from 1969 to 1972, and was a founding board member of Centennial College.{{fact|date=August 2024}}

Stackhouse campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1967 provincial election as a candidate of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in Scarborough West, and finished second against future New Democratic Party leader Stephen Lewis.{{cite news |author=Canadian Press |title=Tories win, but... |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=18 October 1967 |location=Windsor, Ontario |page=B2 |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TDM_AAAAIBAJ&sjid=VVEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3673%2C2835192}}

He was elected to the House of Commons in the 1972 federal election, narrowly defeating Liberal incumbent Martin O'Connell in Scarborough East.{{cite news |title=How the 1,117 candidates fared across Canada |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=31 October 1972 |page=15}} The Liberal Party won a narrow minority government in this election, and Stackhouse served as an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) for the next two years. He was not a candidate in the 1974 campaign, and served as principal of Wycliffe College from 1975 to 1985.{{cite news |title=Defeated MPs get on with life after politics |first=Dan |last=Smith |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=27 December 1988 |page=A7}}

Stackhouse was returned to the House of Commons in the 1984 election, defeating Liberal incumbent David Weatherhead by nearly 5,000 votes in Scarborough West.{{cite news |title=How Canada voted |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=5 September 1984 |pages=14–15}} The Progressive Conservatives won a landslide majority government in this election under Brian Mulroney's leadership, and Stackhouse served as a government backbencher for the next four years. In 1988, he urged a strong Canadian protest against the threatened arrest of Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu in South Africa.{{cite news |title=Canada must warn Pretoria against arrest of Tutu, MP says |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=6 September 1988 |page=A13}}

He was narrowly defeated in the 1988 election, losing to Liberal challenger Tom Wappel by 440 votes.{{cite news |title=Decision '88: The vote |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=22 November 1988 |pages=C4–C5}} During this campaign, members of the group Campaign Life distributed leaflets attacking Stackhouse as a "babykiller" because he supported abortion in some circumstances.{{cite news |title=Wappel runs for leadership |first=Lorne |last=Manly |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=4 July 1989 |page=E1}} He described this attack as "disgusting and reproachful", adding "That kind of personal attack by design has no part in a democracy." The Campaign Life campaign had endorsed Wappel, who opposed abortion under all circumstances.

Stackhouse returned to teaching theology and philosophy after leaving parliament. He also served as president of the Canadian National Exhibition Association after leaving parliament,{{cite news |title=Bid to kill casino at Ex put on hold after protest |first=Royson |last=James |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=18 June 1991 |page=A6}} and was appointed to a term on the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 1990.{{cite news |title=Stackhouse appointed |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=24 July 1990 |page=A7}}

He attempted a returned to parliament in the 1993 election, but finished third against Wappel with 5,664 votes (14.45%) amid a general decline in support for his party.{{cite news |title=Results may be more complete than as published Riding-by-riding results from across Canada Ontario Algoma |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=26 October 1993 |page=B10}} In the buildup to the 1993 campaign, he called for the abolition of the Senate of Canada.{{cite news |title=Outcry may prompt Senate to vote again on raise Switchboards, talk shows buzz with resentment over $6,000 hike in expense allowances |last=York |first=Geoffrey |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=25 June 1993 |page=A1}}

Stackhouse continued teaching at the University of Toronto. In 2005, he published a work entitled The Coming Age Revolution, challenging traditional notions of retirement.{{cite news |title=Age cannot wither us -- can it? |last=Menzies |first=Heather |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=19 November 2005 |page=D4}}

In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Ontario.{{cite web |url=http://www.news.ontario.ca/mci/en/2011/01/29-appointees-named-to-ontarios-highest-honour-1.html |title=30 Appointees Named To Ontario's Highest Honour |publisher=Government of Ontario |date=21 January 2011 |access-date=10 February 2011 |archive-date=13 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213162952/https://news.ontario.ca/mci/en/2011/01/29-appointees-named-to-ontarios-highest-honour-1.html |url-status=dead }} Stackhouse died in Toronto on 14 December 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://v1.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/Deaths.20161217.93382803/BDAStory/BDA/deaths |title=Stackhouse, Reginald Francis |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=17 December 2016}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{Canadian Parliament links|ID=11405}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stackhouse, Reg}}

Category:1925 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:Canadian Anglican priests

Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario

Category:Members of the Order of Ontario

Category:Politicians from Toronto

Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs

Category:University of Toronto alumni

Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada