Bruce Robert McCaffrey (September 23, 1938 – August 9, 2002) was a

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 1977 to 1987 as a Progressive Conservative, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a 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 designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government 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 ...

Background

McCaffrey was born in

South Porcupine The city of Timmins, Ontario, Canada contains many named neighbourhoods. Some former municipalities that were merged into Timmins continue to be treated as distinct postal and telephone exchanges from the city core. According to Barnes, "With the ...

. He was educated at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. He worked as a teacher, and then entered the investment business. He was first married to Ilonka van Steenwyk with whom he had two children. In 1990, he relocated to

London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...

where he married

Deb Matthews Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th deputy premier of Ontario from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 ...

in 1995. McCaffrey and Matthews were separated at the time of his death in 2002.

Politics

In 1968, McCaffrey attempted to win the Progressive Conservative nomination to run in the June federal election but lost to Kechin Wang. Wang went on to lose the election against incumbent

Steve Otto Steven Otto (December 25, 1921 – January 16, 1989) was a Canadian politician. Born in Poland, Otto was a businessman and lawyer before being elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the riding of York East in the 1962 federal elect ...

. He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 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 ...

candidate Des Newman in the

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 ...

riding of Armourdale. 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 ...

and

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 ...

. On April 10, 1981, McCaffrey was appointed to Davis's government as a

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 ...

. On February 13, 1982, he was promoted to Minister of Citizenship and Culture. On July 6, 1983, he was assigned to the post of Provincial Secretary for Social Development. He also served as Minister of Community and Social Services from September 29 to November 21, 1983. He briefly took on the extra responsibility while

Frank Drea James Francis "Frank" Drea (July 7, 1933 – January 15, 2003) was a Canadian journalist, broadcaster, politician and racehorse enthusiast. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1985 repres ...

was hospitalized with circulation problems. On November 24, he was hospitalized for chest pains and he resigned from cabinet on December 23, 1983. McCaffrey supported Larry Grossman at the Progressive Conservative Party's leadership convention of February 1985. Grossman lost to

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

on the final ballot, and McCaffrey was not appointed to Miller's cabinet. The Progressive Conservative Party, which had governed Ontario since 1943, was reduced to a precarious

minority government 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. McCaffrey was narrowly re-elected in Armourdale, defeating Liberal

Gino Matrundola Gino Matrundola (born July 21, 1940) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990. He represented the riding of Willowdale. Background Matrundola was born in Cassi ...

by only 122 votes. Following the election, he publicly called on Miller to resign as party leader if the government is defeated on a confidence motion. Miller resigned before the year was over, and Grossman was chosen to take his place in November. McCaffrey did not seek re-election in the 1987 campaign.

Cabinet positions

Later life

After leaving politics, he entered graduate studies at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

. He died in 2002 after a very brief illness, shortly after completing the requirements for a Master of Arts degree in history. The Department of History at the University of Western Ontario now operates a Bruce McCaffrey Memorial Graduate Student Seminar Series named in his honour.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCaffrey, Bruce 1938 births 2002 deaths Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs University of Toronto alumni University of Western Ontario alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario