Daniel James Macdonnell Heap (September 24, 1925 – April 25, 2014) was 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 ...

activist and politician. Heap served as a Member of Parliament with the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

, a

Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The Toronto City Council 2022–2026, current term began on Nove ...

lor, a political activist and an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

worker-priest Worker-priest () was a missionary initiative by the French Catholic Church in particular for priests to take up work in such places as car factories to experience the everyday life of the working class. A worker-priest was any priest who was "fre ...

. He represented 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 ...

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 ...

, riding of Spadina (after 1988 Trinity—Spadina) from 1981 to 1993 and Ward 6 on Toronto City Council from 1972 to 1981. As an activist he was involved in the peace movement, community issues around housing, homelessness, poverty and refugee rights among other social justice issues.

Background

Heap was born on September 24, 1925, in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, into a middle-class family, the second of four children. His father, Fred Heap, was a lawyer and his mother was a piano teacher. Heap's maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian minister inspiring Heap, from a young age, to want to take up the same calling. Heap was raised a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

in a family that was concerned about social causes. When he was 6, the family decided to boycott

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese oranges to protest the

Japanese invasion of Manchuria The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded the Manchuria region of the Republic of China on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden incident, a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext to invade. At the ...

. For his last two years of high school, Heap attended

Upper Canada College Upper Canada College (UCC) is an independent day and boarding school for boys in Toronto, Ontario, operating under the International Baccalaureate program. The college is widely described as Canada's most prestigious preparatory school, and ha ...

on a scholarship, and then studied classics and philosophy at Queen's University. A pacifist, Heap nevertheless joined the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

due to his opposition to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, later saying "It wasn't possible to be neutral in the face of Hitler". However, the war ended before he could be sent overseas. In 1945, while working in a factory as a summer job, he met members of the Student Christian Movement and became a

Christian socialist A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

. He later also became a member of the Society of the Catholic Commonwealth and of the

Co-operative Commonwealth Federation The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party: * * * * * * and social democracy, social-democ ...

, forerunner of the

. Heap studied theology at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

for a year before becoming an

and transferring to

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

to pursue a divinity degree. While at McGill he became engaged to Alice Boomhour, a pacifist, activist in the SCM and CCF, and daughter of a

United Church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestantism, Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinc ...

minister. They married in 1950. That same year, he was ordained a priest within the

Anglican Church of Canada The Anglican Church of Canada (ACC or ACoC) is the Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, province of the Anglican Communion in Canada. The official French-language name is ''l'Église anglicane du Canada''. In 2016, the Anglican Church of ...

. After working as a parish priest in Quebec for only a few years in the 1950s, Heap decided against a career as a church employee and aligned himself with the

Worker-Priest Worker-priest () was a missionary initiative by the French Catholic Church in particular for priests to take up work in such places as car factories to experience the everyday life of the working class. A worker-priest was any priest who was "fre ...

movement which paired ministry with social activism. Heap moved his family to Toronto where he worked for 18 years as a labourer (cutter trimmer, later pressman) in a cardboard box factory in Toronto, where he became involved in the paperworker's union (later 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 ...

which eventually merged to become part of

UNIFOR Unifor is a Canadian general trade union founded in 2013 as a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions. It consists of 310,000 workers, and associate members in industries including manufactu ...

) and was elected a union representative and attempted to "bring socialism to the Canadian worker". He and Alice raised seven children, including son Danny Heap, a computer science lecturer 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 ...

. In 1965, Heap marched with

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

on his

Selma to Montgomery marches The Selma to Montgomery marches were three Demonstration (protest), protest marches, held in 1965, along the highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery. The marches were organized by Nonviolence, nonvi ...

while the rest of his family participated in a solidarity

sit-in A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to mo ...

in Toronto. The family also opened their home to Americans resisting the Vietnam War, youth involved with the SCM and other activists.

Politics

Heap entered politics and campaigned on a platform to oppose poverty, war and homelessness. He ran as the

's candidate in Spadina in the 1968 federal election placing second in a campaign where he described himself as a "worker priest". He also ran in the 1971 provincial election against

Allan Grossman Allan Grossman (December 25, 1910 – September 1, 1991) was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada, for 20 years, a provincial cabinet minister and the father of the late former leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservative P ...

in the riding of St. Andrew—St. Patrick, losing by 1137 votes. His first success in politics came when he was elected in the 1972 municipal election as the junior Alderman for Ward 6. As well as serving on Toronto City Council from 1972 to 1981, he also represented Ward 6 on

Metro Toronto Council The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...

from 1974 to 1978. When the Liberal Member of Parliament for Spadina, Peter Stollery, was appointed to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in 1981, Heap decided to run in the subsequent

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

had recommended Stollery for appointment to the Senate in order to open the "safe Liberal riding" for Trudeau's aide

Jim Coutts James Allan Coutts (May 16, 1938 – December 31, 2013) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and advisor to two prime ministers. Biography Born in High River, Alberta, he was raised in Nanton, Alberta. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1 ...

. Heap defeated Coutts in the by-election, however, and was re-elected in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and 1988 elections. He retired at the 1993 federal election. Heap was an outspoken MP, and campaigned against poverty, homelessness, and war. Upon being elected to parliament, he said his three priorities were world peace, worker control of the economy, and an end to social injustice. He served as NDP critic on immigration, served on the member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Labour, Employment and Immigration, and was a prominent spokesperson for social justice issues both in Canada and abroad. He was very concerned with issues such as refugees, the situations in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Heap hired a young

Olivia Chow Olivia Chow (born March 24, 1957) is a Canadian politician who has been the 66th and current mayor of Toronto since July 12, 2023. Previously, Chow served as the New Democratic Party (NDP) member of Parliament (MP) for Trinity—Spadina fro ...

as his constituency office assistant.

Later life

Despite retiring from politics, Heap remained involved as an activist, strongly backing the anti-war movement, and supporting NDP candidates in the region. He also remained involved at the downtown Church of the Holy Trinity and social justice issues within the Anglican Church of Canada. In retirement, he preferred to go by the name "Don Heap", which he used before entering electoral politics in 1968. In the late 1980s, he and his wife Alice sold their family home in Toronto's

Kensington Market Kensington Market is a distinctive multicultural neighbourhood in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Market is an older neighbourhood and one of the city's best-known. In November 2006, it was designated a National Historic Sites of Canada, ...

area at a fraction of the market price to the ''Homes First Society'', a community organization which provides housing for refugees. The house had been a nexus for meetings and organizing among student activists around the anti-war, anti-apartheid and social housing movements from the 1960s to the 1980s with as many as a dozen young people staying with the Heap family at one time. In his late seventies and early eighties he remained involved in various issues such as refugee rights. Heap co-founded the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee to campaign on the issue of homelessness. Heap suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

in 2005 and was also diagnosed with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

in 2006. In 2011, he and his wife faced eviction from their retirement home as they awaited admission to a long-term care facility, for which they had been on a waiting list for five years. In October 2011, Heap was admitted to the Kensington Gardens facility and his wife Alice got a spot there later that month. Alice Heap, his wife of 61 years, died due to complications from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on March 24, 2012, at the age of 86. Heap died on April 25, 2014. One of his sons posted a message remembering him as an "advocate of the homeless, for refugees and for peace mong other causes and also as a "Pacifist, socialist, worker-priest, marxist Anglican, trade-unionist, city councillor, member of parliament, civilly disobedient marcher for human rights. Wearer of red shirts, cyclist, paddler of canoes, singer of songs."

Tributes

A sole support mother that Heap helped get childcare in the 1980s, later taught nursing at

George Brown College The George Brown College of Applied Arts and Technology is a public, fully accredited college (Canada), college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, George ...

. In 2013, Nadira Fraser established the "Dan and Alice Heap Bursary" to aid single parents to qualify for nursing. The couple also has an athletic award which is attributed to their namesake, the Don & Alice Heap Rugby for All Athletic Award.

Electoral history

Spadina

St. Andrew—St. Patrick

Toronto City Council (Ward 6)

1972 ;Ward 6 (

Financial District, Toronto The Financial District is the central business district of downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was originally planned as New Town in 1796 as an extension of the Town of York (later the St. Lawrence Ward). It is the main financial district in To ...

) :x- William Archer - 7,395 :x-Dan Heap (reform) - 7,153 :

June Marks (Florence) June Marks, née Pacey (1923–2008) was a Toronto community activist and politician. She first ran for city council in 1962 in Ward 2 but was defeated. She was elected on her second attempt in 1964 and, in 1966, won citywide election t ...

(incumbent) - 6,396 :Horace Brown (incumbent) - 2,928 :Arthur Downes - 2,127 1974 ;Ward 6 (

) :x-Dan Heap (incumbent) :x- Allan Sparrow : William Archer (incumbent) :K Dock Yip :John Comos :Arthur Downes :Fred Nelson 1976 ;Ward 6 (

) :x-Dan Heap (incumbent) - 8,503 :x- Allan Sparrow (incumbent) - 8,103 :Peter Budd - 4,448 :Arnold Linelsky - 2,046 1978 ;Ward 6 (

) :x- Allan Sparrow (incumbent) - 8,029 :x-Dan Heap (incumbent) - 7,514 :Dan Richards - 6,421 :Rose Smith - 2,785 :Joe Martin - 1,143 1980 ;Ward 6 (

) :x-

Gordon Chong Gordon Joseph Chong (October 28, 1943 – July 13, 2018) was a Canadian politician and public servant active in Toronto. He served as a Toronto City Councillor, Toronto city councillor and was vice-chairman of the Toronto Transit Commission in th ...

- 9,522 :x-Dan Heap (incumbent) - 9,341 :

George Hislop George Hislop (June 3, 1927 – October 8, 2005) was one of Canada's most influential gay activists. He was one of the earliest openly gay candidates for political office in Canada, and was a key figure in the early development of Toronto's ga ...

- 7,348 :Rose Smith - 2,959 :Fred Chappell - 1,339 :Darryl Randall - 659 :Gary Weagle - 505

Spadina

Trinity—Spadina

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heap, Dan 1925 births 2014 deaths Anglican socialists Anglican pacifists Canadian Anglican priests Canadian Christian pacifists Canadian Christian socialists Canadian Marxists Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism McGill University alumni Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Metropolitan Toronto councillors New Democratic Party MPs Politicians from Winnipeg Queen's University at Kingston alumni Toronto city councillors Trade unionists from Manitoba Trade unionists from Ontario Upper Canada College alumni Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian Army personnel Canadian military personnel from Manitoba 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century Canadian municipal councillors

Background

Politics

Later life

Tributes

Electoral history

Spadina

St. Andrew—St. Patrick

Toronto City Council (Ward 6)

Spadina

Trinity—Spadina

Archives

References

External links