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Marion Dewar
Marion Hilda Dewar CM (February 17, 1928 – September 15, 2008) was a prominent member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985 and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1987 to 1988.
Dewar was born Marion Bell in 1928 in Montreal, the daughter of Agnes and Wilson Bell. She was raised in the town of Buckingham, Quebec, just outside Ottawa. She graduated from Saint Joseph's School of Nursing in Kingston, Ontario, in 1949 and was a nurse in the Ottawa region until 1952. She married civil servant Ken Dewar in 1951 and went into public health with the Victorian Order of Nurses. A devoted Roman Catholic, she would have 5 children, the last in 1963. She later studied nursing science and public health at the University of Ottawa, and was a public health nurse from 1969 to 1971.
Dewar was elected alderman for Ottawa's Britannia Ward in 1972 and became Deputy Mayor in 1974, a position she held until 1978. In 1977, she ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the provincial election in the riding of Ottawa West. She was elected mayor in 1978.
Marion Dewar served as Mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985, during which she strongly advocated for gay rights. In 1978, six months into her term, she convened a convention on the issue of homosexuality. In 1982, Mayor Marion Dewar participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ottawa's first feminist bookstore, the Ottawa Women's Bookstore, signifying a period of growth in the women's lesbian and gay community and underscoring her commitment to addressing and promoting LGBT rights within the community.
In 1979, she led Project 4000, in which Ottawa residents sponsored 4,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees. Ottawa today still has a large Vietnamese community. In 2005, she appeared on the Vietnamese diaspora music variety show Paris By Night 77 as part of a show commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. She was interviewed and given a plaque for her support for Vietnamese refugees.
Dewar was a peace activist and campaigner for nuclear disarmament, and, for example, picketed the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa after the invasion of Grenada. She appeared in the 1985 documentary Speaking Our Peace.
From 1985 to 1987, Dewar was president of the federal NDP, succeeding Tony Penikett. She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 1987 by-election in the riding of Hamilton Mountain, replacing NDP incumbent Ian Deans. She had been invited to the riding in the hopes that, as a star candidate, she would keep the riding in NDP hands, but she faced strong competition for the nomination from future MP David Christopherson. She was defeated in the 1988 general election, losing to Liberal Beth Phinney by only 73 votes.
Continuing to play a prominent role in the NDP, she was one of the leading backers of Audrey McLaughlin's leadership bid. In the 1993 election Dewar attempted to return to Parliament for the riding of Ottawa Centre, but lost to Liberal incumbent Mac Harb in an election in which the NDP fared poorly across the country.
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Marion Dewar
Marion Hilda Dewar CM (February 17, 1928 – September 15, 2008) was a prominent member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985 and a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1987 to 1988.
Dewar was born Marion Bell in 1928 in Montreal, the daughter of Agnes and Wilson Bell. She was raised in the town of Buckingham, Quebec, just outside Ottawa. She graduated from Saint Joseph's School of Nursing in Kingston, Ontario, in 1949 and was a nurse in the Ottawa region until 1952. She married civil servant Ken Dewar in 1951 and went into public health with the Victorian Order of Nurses. A devoted Roman Catholic, she would have 5 children, the last in 1963. She later studied nursing science and public health at the University of Ottawa, and was a public health nurse from 1969 to 1971.
Dewar was elected alderman for Ottawa's Britannia Ward in 1972 and became Deputy Mayor in 1974, a position she held until 1978. In 1977, she ran unsuccessfully for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the provincial election in the riding of Ottawa West. She was elected mayor in 1978.
Marion Dewar served as Mayor of Ottawa from 1978 to 1985, during which she strongly advocated for gay rights. In 1978, six months into her term, she convened a convention on the issue of homosexuality. In 1982, Mayor Marion Dewar participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Ottawa's first feminist bookstore, the Ottawa Women's Bookstore, signifying a period of growth in the women's lesbian and gay community and underscoring her commitment to addressing and promoting LGBT rights within the community.
In 1979, she led Project 4000, in which Ottawa residents sponsored 4,000 Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian refugees. Ottawa today still has a large Vietnamese community. In 2005, she appeared on the Vietnamese diaspora music variety show Paris By Night 77 as part of a show commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. She was interviewed and given a plaque for her support for Vietnamese refugees.
Dewar was a peace activist and campaigner for nuclear disarmament, and, for example, picketed the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa after the invasion of Grenada. She appeared in the 1985 documentary Speaking Our Peace.
From 1985 to 1987, Dewar was president of the federal NDP, succeeding Tony Penikett. She was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in a 1987 by-election in the riding of Hamilton Mountain, replacing NDP incumbent Ian Deans. She had been invited to the riding in the hopes that, as a star candidate, she would keep the riding in NDP hands, but she faced strong competition for the nomination from future MP David Christopherson. She was defeated in the 1988 general election, losing to Liberal Beth Phinney by only 73 votes.
Continuing to play a prominent role in the NDP, she was one of the leading backers of Audrey McLaughlin's leadership bid. In the 1993 election Dewar attempted to return to Parliament for the riding of Ottawa Centre, but lost to Liberal incumbent Mac Harb in an election in which the NDP fared poorly across the country.