Andrew Naismith (Andy) Watson (born April 1, 1937) is a former politician in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1978 to 1985, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

Watson was born in

Woodbridge, Ontario Woodbridge is a very large suburban community in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, along the city's border with Toronto. It occupies the city's entire southwest quadrant, west of Ontario Highway 400, Highway 400, east of Ontario Highway 50, Highway 50, n ...

. He graduated from

Ontario Agricultural College The Ontario Agricultural College (OAC) originated at the agricultural laboratories of the Toronto Normal School, and was officially founded in 1874 as an associate agricultural college of the University of Toronto. Since 1964, it has become affil ...

at the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

in 1959, and became the OMAF assistant agricultural representative for

Waterloo County Waterloo County was a county in Canada West in the United Province of Canada from 1853 until 1867, then in the Canadian province of Ontario from 1867 until 1973. It was the direct predecessor of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. Situated on ...

later in the same year. He was transferred to Northumberland County in 1962, and became the agricultural representative for Kent County from 1968 to 1978.

Politics

In 1978, Watson ran as served as the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding of

Chatham—Kent Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 103,988) is a single-tier municipality in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is mostly rural, and its population centres are Chatham, Wallaceburg, Tilbury, Blenheim, Ridgetown, Wheatley and Dresden. The current Mu ...

to replace former Progressive Conservative cabinet minister

Darcy McKeough William Darcy McKeough (January 31, 1933 – November 29, 2023) was a Canadian politician in Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1963 to 1978 who represented the ridings of Kent West ...

. He defeated Liberal Brian Gamble by 708 votes, and served in the legislature as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

supporter of

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

's government. He was re-elected in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 6 – A funeral service is held in West Germany for Nazi Grand Admiral ...

. Although forty-two years in government, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a tenuous

minority administration A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

in the 1985 provincial election, and were subsequently defeated in the legislature. Watson lost the

seat to Liberal

Maurice Bossy Maurice Louis Bossy (April 1, 1929 – November 29, 2008) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1980 to 1984, and represented the Ontario Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly of ...

by 1,134 votes.

After politics

After his loss, Watson served from 1986 to 1994 as assistant commissioner for Ontario on the Canadian Grain Commission. He became farm director for

CFCO CFCO (630 kHz) is a news, sports, and country music AM radio station located in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. The station, owned by London, Ontario-based Blackburn Radio, features a heavy local news commitment. CFCO is one of the few dedicated country ...

radio in 1997, and was named to the Chatham-Kent Agricultural Hall of Fame in 2004. In 2010, Watson became the President of the Chatham Rotary Club and he operates a Christmas tree farm.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Andy 1937 births Living people Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario