Andrew Witer (born November 23, 1946) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

politician. He served in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1984 to 1988, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

Witer was born to a Ukrainian family in

Leonberg Leonberg (; ) is a town in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg about to the west of Stuttgart, the state capital. About 45,000 people live in Leonberg, making it the third-largest borough in the rural district () of Böblingen (afte ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He came to Canada in his youth. He was educated at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University and worked as a management consultant.

Politics

He first campaigned for the House of Commons in the 1980 federal election, and lost to Liberal incumbent Jesse Flis by 5,097 votes in Parkdale—High Park. He ran again in the 1984 election, and defeated Flis by 1,460 votes amid a landslide

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. Such a government can consist of one party that holds a majority on its own, or be a coalition government of multi ...

victory for the Conservatives under

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

. Witer was on the right-wing of the Progressive Conservative Party, and was part of a group in the party caucus informally known as the "brat pack" (''Toronto Star'', 17 January 1987). In 1987, Witer and

Alex Kindy Alex Kindy, M.D. (January 8, 1930 – May 6, 2011) was a Canadian politician. Kindy was born in Warsaw, Poland. His first attempt at entering federal politics was in the 1962 federal election when he ran as an "Independent Liberal" in the Quebec ...

used a procedural mechanism to prevent the quick passage of a bill to establish a permanent war criminal investigative agency in Canada. Many supported such an agency as a means of prosecuting

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

war criminals in Canada. Witer was quoted as saying, "Canada doesn't need a witch-hunting brigade like the Americans have, because it would only cause anger and panic in East European communities" (''Houston Chronicle'', 8 February 1987). He was defeated in the 1988 election, falling to Flis by 3,196 votes.

Later life

Witer was appointed to the board of the Metro Toronto Housing Authority in 1989 (''Globe and Mail'', 28 April 1989). Witer was named "Person of the Year" by the Canadian Ukrainian Congress in 1988, and chaired the World Congress of Ukrainians Human Rights Commission from 1989 to 1991. He joined the Romyr and Associates Public Relations Firm in 1993, and became its president in 2001 (''Eastern Economist Daily'', 26 July 2001). In this capacity, he has done extensive work in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

.Andrew Witer, founding partner and president of Romyr & Associates. Romyr Public Relations. Last Accessed April 4, 2009

/ref> Witer campaigned for the Metropolitan Toronto Council in 1994, and lost to future

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

David Miller in the city's 19th ward.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Witer, Andrew 1946 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Ukrainian emigrants to Canada German emigrants to Canada German people of Ukrainian descent German people of Canadian descent 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada