Gary L. Leadston (June 24, 1941 – December 2, 2013) 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 as a Progressive Conservative member of 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 1995 to 1999.

Background

Leadston was born in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

. He was educated at

Ontario Police College The Ontario Police College (OPC) is a police academy located in Malahide Township, just east of Aylmer, in Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. History The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) proposed the idea of a centra ...

and

Wilfrid Laurier University Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a Public university, public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Ontario, Waterloo, Brantford, Ontario, Brantford and Milton, Ontario, Milton. The ...

. He worked as a police constable in

Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...

. He was also the founding member of the Big Brothers Association in Kitchener Waterloo in the 1970s and served as its president in 1975–1976.

Politics

Leadston served as a city councillor for

Kitchener City Council Kitchener City Council is the governing body for the city of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. The council consists of the Mayor of Kitchener and 10 ward councillors. 2006-2010 Council elected in the 2006 municipal election. 2010-2014 Council elect ...

from 1979 to 1994, and also served on the

Regional Municipality of Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Ontario, Cambridge, Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and Waterloo, Ontario, Waterl ...

from 1981 to 1994. In 1987, he was named as chair of the Waterloo Regional Police Commission. Leadston was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election in

Kitchener—Wilmot Kitchener—Wilmot was a provincial electoral Riding (division), riding in Ontario, Canada. It existed from 1975 to 1999, when it was abolished when ridings were redistributed to match their federal counterpart. It consisted of areas around Kitchene ...

, 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 Shelley Schlueter and incumbent New Democratic Mike Cooper by a plurality of 7,000 votes. He served as a backbench supporter of the government of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

for the next four years. In September 1996, he put his name forward to run for speaker to replace the disgraced Al McLean. However Chris Stockwell won out over a slate of seven other candidates including Leadston. In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of ridings from 130 to 103. This meant that sitting MPPs had to compete for re-nomination in some ridings. Leadston ran for the

Kitchener Centre Kitchener Centre could refer to: *Kitchener Centre (federal electoral district) *Kitchener Centre (provincial electoral district) Kitchener Centre is a provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been ...

PC nomination in 1999, but was defeated by

Wayne Wettlaufer Wayne Kenneth Wettlaufer (16 December 1943 – 21 June 2015) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003. In 2014 he was elected as a regional councillor ...

. In 2000, he sought the federal

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

nomination in Lanark—Carleton, but lost to Scott Reid.

Later life

Leadston died at his home on December 2, 2013, from cancer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leadston, Gary 1941 births 2013 deaths Kitchener, Ontario city councillors People from Guelph Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario