Bradley Richard Ward (born November 23, 1956) is a former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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 1990 to 1995 as a

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

and was a

junior minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry (government department), ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is desi ...

Bob Rae Robert Keith Rae (born August 2, 1948) is a Canadian diplomat and former politician who is the current Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations since 2020. He previously served as the 21st premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, leader of the ...

's government from 1993 to 1995.

Background

Ward was a

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

employee before entering political life. Active in the labour movement, he served on the

Brantford and District Labour Council The Brantford and District Labour Council is a labour council in Brantford, Ontario, chartered by the Canadian Labour Congress The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC ( or ), is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to whi ...

and was named Labour Citizen of the Year in 1989.

Municipal politics

He ran for the

Brantford City Council The Brantford City Council is the governing body of Brantford, 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 territo ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

on a Labour Council/New Democratic Party ticket and finished third in the second ward. Ward was elected to city council on his second attempt in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, the only successful candidate to be endorsed by the labour council. He was re-elected without opposition in

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

. While on council, he served as chair of Brantford's Riverfest.

Electoral record

See the 1985 Brantford election page for information on Potter and Mellor. See the 1982 Brantford election page for information on O'Regan and Sywyk. Municipal results are taken from the ''

Brantford Expositor The ''Brantford Expositor'' is an English language newspaper based in Brantford, Ontario and owned by Postmedia. It provides the readers with coverage of local news, sports and events to the community as well as coverage of provincial, national ...

''.

Provincial politics

Ward was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

incumbent

Dave Neumann David Emil Neumann (born October 5, 1941) is a politician in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. He was the mayor of Brantford, Ontario, Brantford from 1980 to 1987 and served in the Legislative Assembly of Ont ...

in the

Brantford Brantford ( 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by Brant County but is politically separate with a municipal government of its own that is fully indep ...

riding. The New Democratic Party won a

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 ...

in this election under Bob Rae's leadership, and Ward entered the legislature as a government

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 ...

er. He was

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

to the Minister of Skills Development from 1990 to 1991 and then to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology from 1991 to 1993. On February 3, 1993, he was promoted to

minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

, where he worked under

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Floyd Laughren Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 who represented the northern Ontario riding of Nickel Belt. He served in c ...

. He did not have formal ministerial responsibilities, and his duties included represented the Rae government at events such as pre-budgetary consultations. Ward was credited with helping to bring a

women's shelter A women's shelter, also known as a women's refuge and battered women's shelter, is a place of temporary protection and support for women escaping domestic violence and intimate partner violence of all forms. The term is also frequently used to ...

to Brantford during his time in government. In May 1993, the Rae government cancelled a plan to move the computer and telecommunications division of the Ministry of Government Services from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to Brantford, citing financial concerns. Three days earlier, Ward had told a local reporter that Brantford residents should not be worried about changes to the plan. Some criticized him as being unaware of shifts in government policy. Ward later confronted protesters who opposed the policy change and defended what he described as a "tough expenditures decision." The New Democratic Party was defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Ward finished third against Progressive Conservative candidate

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

in Brantford.

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

Provincial election information is taken from

Elections Ontario Elections Ontario () is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario responsible for the administration of provincial elections and referendums. It is charged with the implementation and enforcement of the ''Election Act'' ( R.S.O ...

After politics

Ward returned to private life after 1995, working for Bell Canada in business technology. At one time, he served as president of the

Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP; []) was a largely private sector, private-sector trade union, labour union with 150,000 members, active from 1992 to 2013. It was created in 1992 through the merger of three unions: th ...

, Local 45. The Brant New Democratic Party honoured him for his involvement in public life in September 2000.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Brad 1956 births Brantford city councillors Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario