Reform Party of Canada candidates in the 1997 Canadian federal election

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The

Official Opposition
. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

Ontario

Charles Van Tuinen (Eglinton—Lawrence)

Van Tuinen was born on August 12, 1953, in

Scarborough during the 1990s.[1] He was once vice-president and steward of his union.[2] Van Tuinen campaigned for the Reform Party in 1993 and 1997, campaigning against high taxes, and promised to create jobs through investment.[3] When the Liberal Party won a majority government in the 1993 election, Van Tuinen suggested that the party would inflate the country's money supply.[4]

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Eglinton—Lawrence Reform 4,347 10.87 2/7 Joe Volpe, Liberal
1997 federal Eglinton—Lawrence Reform 3,547 8.09 4/5 Joe Volpe, Liberal

Peter Spadzinski (Parry Sound-Muskoka)

Peter Spadzinski was born in

reeve in 1988, and served in the latter position until 2003.[5]

Spadzinski received 10,909 votes (25.56%) in 1997, finishing third against Liberal incumbent Andy Mitchell.[6]

Robert Hesp (St. Catharines)

Hesp was born on April 3, 1962. He graduated from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, USA in 1985, served as an officer with The Royal Canadian Regiment in the Canadian Regular Force and the Lincoln & Welland Regiment, and completed a Canadian Securities Course at the Canadian Securities Institute in 1993. He became an investment adviser.[7]

Hesp joined the Reform Party on the day he left the Canadian Regular Force in 1991, and ran under its banner in two federal elections. He ran for the Niagara Regional Council in the 2006 St. Catharines municipal election, but was unsuccessful.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal St. Catharines Reform 14,011 28.69 2/6 Walt Lastewka, Liberal
1997 federal St. Catharines Reform 15,029 30.98 2/7 Walt Lastewka, Liberal
2006 St. Catharines municipal Niagara Regional Council n/a 8,145 5.98 9/10 Six candidates elected

Tom Ambas (Scarborough Southwest)

Ambas was born in

cabinet minister Sheila Copps
.

Ambas was not politically active until the spring of 1997, when he joined the Reform Party and won its nomination for Scarborough Southwest. He had previously voted for the Liberal Party (Toronto Star, 30 May 1997). He received 7,918 votes (20.45%), finishing second against Liberal incumbent Tom Wappel.

Jim Rollo (Sudbury)

Jim Rollo studied for a Bachelor of Arts degree at Laurentian University. He identified as a salesman of water conservation products at the time of the election, and indicated that he was moving into the field of automotive products.[10] He received 5,198 votes (12.96%), finishing third against Liberal incumbent Diane Marleau. He later supported the Reform Party's reconstitution as the Canadian Alliance.[11][12]

John Stewart (
Toronto Centre—Rosedale
)

Stewart was born in

United States for over two decades, and was the chief accountant and corporate secretary of a major bank in Toronto at the time of the 1997 election.[13]
He campaigned in the 1993 election in Hamilton East against prominent Liberal incumbent Sheila Copps, and finished a distant second.

Stewart ran on a platform of "lower taxes, a balanced budget, increased health spending and decentralized federal powers" in the 1997, and also called for changes to the Young Offenders Act (Toronto Star, 30 May 1997). He was accused by one major newspaper of taking a "vehement anti-French stand" during the campaign (Toronto Star, 3 June 1997), following an all-candidates' meeting where he blamed the Liberal government for "making a conscious decision to set up multiculturalism and putting French on cereal boxes" (Toronto Star, 24 May 1997). He was also criticized for blaming child poverty on alcoholic parents, saying "If a family unit is receiving a certain amount of income and the husband or wife goes out, buys a bottle of booze and drinks it and because of that the children don't have enough to eat, I mean, how can governments control such things?" (Toronto Star, 24 May 1997). He finished a distant fourth.

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Hamilton East Reform 5,814 2/9 Sheila Copps, Liberal
1997 federal
Toronto Centre—Rosedale
 Reform 3,646 7.82 4/9 Bill Graham, Liberal

Bill Serjeantson (Whitby—Ajax)

Serjeantson (born June 24, 1960) has a

Milltronics in 1996. Prior to the 1997 election, Serjeantson had held executive positions with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario association in Durham West, and with the Reform Party of Canada associations in Carleton—Gloucester, Whitby—Ajax and Ontario
. He claimed that tax cuts, crime control and jobs were the three main issues of the campaign (Toronto Star, 30 May 1997).

Serjeantson received 11,977 votes (24.25%) in the 1997 election, finishing second against Liberal candidate Judi Longfield. He later worked as Intelligent Water Systems manager for the Delcan Corporation.[14]

Manitoba

Edward George Agnew (Brandon—Souris)

Agnew is a dentist,

Goods and Services Tax during a visit to Manitoba by Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.[15] He later ran for the Reform Party in the 1993 and 1997 federal elections. Agnew has said that he joined the Reform Party because of its support for democratic populism.[16] He joined the newly formed Conservative Party of Canada in 2004.[17]

Electoral record
Election Division Party Votes % Place Winner
1993 federal Brandon—Souris Reform 11,163 30.37 2/8 Glen McKinnon, Liberal
1997 federal Brandon—Souris Reform 11,883 32.00 2/6 Rick Borotsik, Progressive Conservative

Corky Peterson (
Churchill
)

Peterson is a professional outdoorsman. He is a veteran trapper, and has frequently defended the industry against complaints from animal rights activists. Peterson has lectured to young students on ethical methods of trapping, and has argued that animals would die of starvation and disease without trapping (Globe and Mail, 22 February 1990). He also owns and operates a lodge in northern Manitoba.

In 1994, Peterson was listed as director of the Manitoba Registered Trappers Association (Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1994). He has also been a board member of the Manitoba Professional Guides Association, the Fur Institute of Canada, the Northwest Wild Rice Growers Co-op and the Grass River Corridor Tourism Association (Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 1997).

Peterson joined the Reform Party in 1991. During the 1997 campaign, he argued against the federal government's gun registry and in favour of native self-government "based on the laws of Canada". He also called for individual ownership of land by band members. He received 4,438 votes (19.00%), finishing third against

New Democratic Party candidate Bev Desjarlais
.

Peterson was still listed as leader of the Manitoba Trappers Association as of 2004 (Winnipeg Free Press, 19 January 2004). He was listed as 69 years old in 1999.[18]

Larry Tardiff (Provencher)

Larry Tardiff is a commercial

Justice Minister Allan Rock's proposed gun control legislation in January of that year.[20] He supported John Nunziata's decision to leave the Liberal Party of Canada in 1996, after the Liberal government broke a campaign promise to eliminate Canada's Goods and Service Tax.[21]

Tardiff was acclaimed as the Reform Party's candidate for Provencher in the 1997 federal election, and received 12,798 votes (35.08%) for a second-place finish against Liberal incumbent David Iftody.[22] He ran a "traditional family values" campaign centered on support for the heterosexual family unit, and also reiterated his opposition to gun control.[23]

Greg Yost (Winnipeg South)

Yost (born March 3, 1948) is a Canadian lawyer. He holds a

Canadian Constitution, the Meech Lake Accord, and the Charlottetown Accord (Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 1998). Initially a supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party, he voted for the Liberals in the 1993 election, out of frustration with Brian Mulroney's failed handling of the Meech Lake Accord
. He joined the Reform Party in 1996 (Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 1998).

At the time of the 1997 election, he was Director of Policy and Planning in the Manitoba provincial civil service, responsible for aboriginal justice, crime prevention, constitutional negotiations and other matters.[2] Unlike others in his party, Yost argued that the

Notwithstanding Clause of Canada's constitution cannot apply to Supreme Court decisions involved aboriginal matters.[24]

Yost won the Reform Party nomination over rival candidate Gary Hollingshead (Winnipeg Free Press, 5 March 1997). He received 7,510 votes (19.80%) in the general election, finishing second against Liberal incumbent Reg Alcock. He continued working for the Reform Party on justice issues after the election (Toronto Star, 6 May 1999). Yost opposes special status for Quebec, and has called for more powers to be devolved to Canada's provinces (Winnipeg Free Press, 10 May 1998).

The 1997 election was called during a major flood in Winnipeg. Yost, who was forced to evacuate his own home, described the election timing as a "callous disregard for the people of southern Manitoba" (Winnipeg Free Press, 23 May 1997). Alcock's victory was due in part to his decision to turn his election headquarters into a flood relief centre (Winnipeg Free Press, 3 June 1997).

References

  1. ^ Peter Kuitenbrouwer, "No Vacancy" Archived 2006-06-14 at the Wayback Machine, Eye Weekly, 15 May 1997.
  2. ^ Federal Election Riding Profiles: Eglinton—Lawrence Archived 2005-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1997.
  3. ^ "Eglinton-Lawrence", Toronto Star, 22 October 1993, A7.
  4. ^ John Deverell, "Huge responsibility ahead, Joe Volpe says", Toronto Star, 26 October 1993, B5.
  5. ^ The Federal Election: Riding Profiles: 162 Parry Sound-Muskoka, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; Sarah Bissonette, "Former McDougall reeve honoured with road name change" Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine, Cottage Country Now, 20 September 2006, accessed 18 January 2011.
  6. ^ Thirty-sixth General Election 1997: Official Voting Results: Synopsis, Elections Canada, accessed 18 January 2011.
  7. ^ Rob Hesp: Candidate Details Archived 2007-03-20 at the Wayback Machine, City of St. Catharines, accessed 15 November 2006.
  8. ^ [1] Archived November 17, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ Ontario Legislation Archived 2005-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Sudbury, Canada Votes 1997, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
  11. ^ Harold Carmichael, "Alliance supporters predicting close vote", Sudbury Star, 5 July 2000, A3. Rollo appears to have endorsed Stockwell Day's campaign for the new party's leadership.
  12. Huntington University
    . See Liane Beam, "Conference to tackle media stereotyping of natives", Sudbury Star, 2 March 2001, A3. It is not clear if this was the same person.
  13. ^ CBC Archived November 4, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Delcan Corporation[dead link‍]
  15. ^ Edison Stewart, "Mulroney takes sales tax defence to angry West", Toronto Star, 15 February 1990, A14.
  16. ^ Ed Agnew, "Are MPs elected to serve or to rule?", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 May 1997, A10.
  17. ^ Paul Samyn, "Borotsik bowing out of Parliament", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 January 2004, A3.
  18. ^ Peterson
  19. ^ Lydia Avery, "Industrial Parks a Little Too Quiet", Manitoba Business, 1 December 1990, p. 16. For Tardiff's editorials, see "Guns and responsibility" [editorial], Winnipeg Free Press, 20 December 1993; Larry Tardiff, "Hand guns seldom used" [letter], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 July 1994; Larry Tardiff, letter, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 October 1997, A13; Larry Tardiff, "No one listened to gun law alternatives" [letter], Winnipeg Free Press, 4 August 1999, A11.
  20. ^ "Gun-owners set up national lobby office", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 November 1994; Alexandra Paul, "Gun enthusiasts plan protest for Rock in city", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 January 1995.
  21. ^ Larry Tardiff, "Hats off to politician with real courage" [letter], Winnipeg Free Press, 25 April 1996, A9.
  22. ^ "Realtor wins Reform nomination", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 January 1997, A6. He was 47 years old at the time of the election. See Darcy Henton, "The Regions", Toronto Star, 27 May 1997, A19.
  23. ^ Larry Tardiff, Editorial, Winnipeg Free Press, 28 May 1997, A10.
  24. ^ Windspeaker Archived 2005-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Reform_Party_of_Canada_candidates_in_the_1997_Canadian_federal_election&oldid=1278537614"