Russ Ramsay
{{short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Russ Ramsay
| image =
| caption =
| office = Ontario MPP
| term_start = 1978
| term_end = 1985
| predecessor = John Rhodes
| successor = Karl Morin-Strom
| constituency = Sault Ste. Marie
| party = Progressive Conservative
| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|8|5}}
| birth_place = Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|2|9|1928|8|5}}
| death_place = Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
| occupation = Radio station manager
| spouse = Margaret
| children = 5
}}
Russell Harold Ramsay (August 5, 1928 — February 9, 2003) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1978 to 1985, and was a cabinet minister in the government of William Davis. Ramsay was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.
Background
Ramsay was born in Sault Ste. Marie, and was educated in that city and at Queen's University in Kingston. He became manager of CJIC-TV in 1956, and served as vice-president of Huron Broadcasting. Ramsay was the recipient of a Centennial Medal in 1967, and was named "Man of the Year" by Sault Ste. Marie's Rotary Club in 1969. He was a member of the Sault Ste. Marie city council from January to June 1975. He was married to Margaret with whom he raised five children.
Politics
He campaigned for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1965 and lost to Liberal candidate George Nixon in Algoma West.{{cite news |title=Results in political ridings across the nation in Canada's federal election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=November 9, 1965 |page=10}} In 1968 he ran against Liberal Terry Murphy in Sault Ste. Marie and lost again.{{cite news |title=Results from parliamentary constituencies across the country, riding by riding |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=June 26, 1968 |pages=10–11}}
Ramsay was elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election held on December 14, 1978. Campaigning in the provincial division of Sault Ste. Marie, he was elected by a comfortable margin over a candidate of the New Democratic Party.{{cite news |title=Easy Tory victory in Soo by-election called vote of confidence by Davis |first=Stan |last=Oziewicz |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=December 15, 1978 |page=1}} He was re-elected without difficulty in the 1981 provincial election.{{cite news|author=Canadian Press |title=Winds of change, sea of security |newspaper=The Windsor Star |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0NtYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QlIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=1444%2C1388326 |date=March 20, 1981 |location=Windsor, Ontario |page=22}} He was appointed to cabinet as Provincial Secretary for Resources Development on April 10, 1981.{{cite news |title=Norton gets Environment as Davis shuffles Cabinet |last=Speirs |first=Rosemary |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=April 10, 1981 |page=1}} He was promoted to Minister of Labour on February 13, 1982.{{cite news |title=Grossman to Health Ontario Cabinet shuffled by Davis |last1=Stead |first1=Sylvia |last2=Speirs |first2=Rosemary |last3=Matas |first3=Robert |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=February 13, 1982 |page=1}}
Ramsay supported Larry Grossman's to replace Bill Davis as Progressive Conservative leader in February 1985,.The Globe and Mail, 25 January 1985. He lost to New Democratic Party candidate Karl Morin-Strom by 1,069 votes in the 1985 provincial election.{{cite news |title=Results of vote in Ontario election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=May 3, 1985 |page=13}} In 1996, Ramsay ran in a mayoral by-election in Sault Ste. Marie, but was defeated by former federal MP Steve Butland.
=Cabinet positions=
{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Bill_Davis}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post2preceded = Robert Elgie
| post2 = Minister of Labour
| post2years = 1982–1985
| post2note =
| post2followed = Robert Elgie
| post1preceded = René Brunelle
| post1 = Provincial Secretary for Resources Development
| post1years = 1981–1982
| post1note =
| post1followed = Lorne Henderson
}}
{{s-end}}
Later life
In January 1987, he was appointed to the Health Discipline Board and the Denture Therapists Appeal Board.{{cite news |title=Ontario Grits build network with patronage |first=Robert |last=Sheppard |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=January 2, 1987 |page=A4}} Three months later he was moved to the Industrial Accident Prevention Association.{{cite news |title=For the record... New Chairman |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=March 10, 1987 |page=A17}} He stayed in that position until 1995 when the board was axed by the Mike Harris administration.{{cite news |title=Why axe the agency? |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=August 26, 1995 |page=B2}}
Ramsay received the Paul Dalseg Community Achievement Award in 2000.{{cite web |title=Chamber Awards |url=http://www.ssmcoc.com/awards.lasso |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20021104032018/http://www.ssmcoc.com/awards.lasso |archivedate=November 4, 2002 |publisher=City of Sault Ste. Marie, Chamber of Commerce |date=November 3, 2002}} He died in 2003 at a Sault Ste. Marie nursing home, having previously been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.{{cite news |title=A former provincial cabinet minister has died |publisher=Broadcast News |date=February 10, 2003}} A boardroom at Sault Ste. Marie's City Hall is named in his honour, as is the street leading to City Hall. In 2009, Ramsay was selected for induction into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame.
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{Ontario MPP biography|id=russell-harold-ramsay}}
{{Davis Ministry}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramsay, Russ}}
Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Canada
Category:Neurological disease deaths in Ontario
Category:Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario city councillors
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni
Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario