Robert Waldron MacQuarrie (November 24, 1926 – January 11, 2007) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1985, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party. MacQuarrie was born in Rexton,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic Canad ...

, educated at Princes of Wales College (later renamed the

University of Prince Edward Island The University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) is a public university in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, and the only university in the province. Founded in 1969, the enabling legislation is the ''University Act, R.S.P.E.I 2000.'' H ...

), and practiced law with the firm of Cuzner, MacQuarrie. He began his political career at the municipal level, serving as reeve of Gloucester Township in Ontario from 1972 to 1978, and as a councillor in the Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton from 1969 to 1978. In 1980–81, he was director of the Eastern Ontario Development Corporation. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate Bernard Grandmaitre and

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

Evelyn Gigantes in a close three-way contest for Carleton East. MacQuarrie served as a government backbencher for the next four years, acting as parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor-General and

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

. In January 1985, he supported

Roy McMurtry Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

's bid to succeed

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. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincial ...

as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party. The Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a tenuous minority government in the 1985 provincial election, and lost power to

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backg ...

's Liberals. MacQuarrie was defeated in Carleton East, losing to Liberal candidate

Gilles Morin Gilles Morin (born July 20, 1931) is a retired politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1999, and was briefly a cabinet minister in Ontario. Background Morin was educated ...

by 7,033 votes. The City of Ottawa named a sports complex after Bob Macquarrie - The "Bob MacQuarrie-Orléans Recreation Complex" located at 1490 Youville Drive in Orléans, Ontario, Canada.

External links

Obituary at legacy.comParliamentary history for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
1926 births 2007 deaths Mayors and reeves of Gloucester Township, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs {{Ontario-mayor-stub