Elmer Walter Sopha, (April 18, 1924 – January 4, 1982) was a

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politician, who represented the

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in the

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from 1959 to 1971. He was a member of the

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Career

Sopha was born in

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, Ontario. He served with the

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and attended the

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, receiving a

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degree in 1953. Sopha was called to the bar two years later, and was named a

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in 1965. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1959 provincial election, defeating his Progressive Conservative opponent by 3,143 votes. He was re-elected with a reduced majority in the 1963 election, and defeated Progressive Conservative Jim Gordon by only 540 votes in

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. Nicknamed "The Northern Gadfly" by the southern Ontario media, Sopha was considered one of the great orators in Ontario politics of his era. He was one of just two MPPs in the province, with caucus colleague Leo Troy, who voted against the adoption of the current

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. The Sudbury area has a large population of

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s among whom the flag was widely regarded as a symbol of

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, and Sopha argued in the legislature that the flag was not an appropriate symbol of Ontario's cultural diversity. Also in 1965, Sopha spoke out in the legislature against

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news anchor Earl Cameron, for allegedly having compromised his objectivity by appearing in a

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commercial. Sopha strongly opposed

Charles Templeton Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after stru ...

's bid for the Liberal Party leadership in 1966, following the resignation of Andy Thompson. He had been one of Templeton's strongest supporters in the 1964 Liberal leadership race and the only caucus member to have supported the broadcaster, but Sopha announced that his previous support of Templeton had been a serious mistake. It has been suggested that Sopha raised money for Templeton in 1964, which Templeton never acknowledged.Jonathan Manthorpe, ''The Power and the Tories'', p. 168. Templeton declined to enter the contest, largely due to opposition from the party caucus. Sopha did not seek re-election in the 1971 campaign, and served on the governing body of the

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from 1971 to 1975. He attempted a return to the legislature in the 1975 election, and lost to

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(NDP) candidate Bud Germa by 2,278 votes. He tried again in the 1981 election, and lost to NDP candidate

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 ...

by 3,410 votes in Nickel Belt. Sopha died suddenly while vacationing in

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on January 4, 1982. He was survived by his wife, a son, and three daughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sopha, Elmer 1924 births 1982 deaths Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Greater Sudbury People from Cobalt, Ontario Canadian King's Counsel 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario