David R. Cooke

David R. Cooke (born August 4, 1937) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990.^{[note 1]}

Background

Cooke was educated at Queen's University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree, and a law degree. He worked as a lawyer before entering political life.

Politics

He ran for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1979 federal election as a candidate of the Liberal Party of Canada, but lost to Progressive Conservative John Reimer by about 7,000 votes in the riding of Kitchener.^[1]

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the

David Cooke was appointed Chair of the Select Committee on Free trade when the Peterson government came into being in the Summer of 1985.^[4] As such he became the principal source of facts for the concern which the government expressed during all the negotiations. Cooke and the committee would cite problems; the US negotiators kept an ongoing vigil as to those concerns, and the Canadian federal negotiators would eventually respond.

When the FTA was finally signed, Cooke became the first chair of the first Standing Committee on Economic Affairs in Ontario. As such he pioneered the pre-budget hearings which continue to this day.

The Liberals were defeated by the