Gary Malkowski
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Gary Malkowski (born July 26, 1958) is a former
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 ...
provincial politician. He represented the riding of York East 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 member of the
Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP; , NPD) is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is Ontario’s provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. The ...
(NDP). He was Canada's first
deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...
parliamentarian, and the first deaf parliamentarian in the world to address a legislature in a
sign language Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with #Non-manual elements, no ...
, specifically
American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual language that i ...
. He was formerly a table tennis player who went onto represent Canada at the
Deaflympics The Deaflympics, also known as Deaflympiad (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are a periodic series of multi-sport events sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at which deaf athle ...
in 1977 and 1985.


Background

Born in
Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...
, Malkowski went to E. C. Drury School for the Deaf, in
Milton, Ontario Milton (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population 132,979) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing m ...
. He was further educated at
Gallaudet University Gallaudet University ( ) is a private federally chartered university in Washington, D.C., for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing. It was founded in 1864 as a grammar school for both deaf and blind children. It was the first school ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, receiving a
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in psychology and social work, and a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
degree in rehabilitation counselling. He was cited in ''Who's Who in American Universities and Colleges'' for his work in advancing student rights. After graduating, he worked as a vocational rehabilitation counsellor and
deaf culture Deaf culture is the set of social beliefs, behaviors, art, literary traditions, history, values, and shared institutions of communities that are influenced by deafness and which use sign languages as the main means of communication. When used as ...
instructor for the Canadian Hearing Society, and taught continuing education courses in politics and culture for deaf adults 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 1989, he was presented with a Community Action Award by the Ontario government. On May 13, 2011, he received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Gallaudet University; he also delivered the commencement address that day.


Politics

The NDP won a majority government in the 1990 provincial election, and Malkowski defeated Liberal incumbent
Christine Hart Christine Hart (born February 3, 1950) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal from 1986 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peter ...
by 789 votes 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 ...
area riding of York East. When
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 took office following the election, the very first law passed was to permit Malkowski's sign language interpreters to stand on the floor of the legislature. Malkowski was named
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 Elaine Ziemba, Minister of Citizenship on October 1, 1990. Ziemba was also the minister responsible for human rights, the disabled, seniors and race relations. In 1993, Malkowski became parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education and Training. In 1994, he introduced the Rae government's Ontarians with Disabilities bill, which aimed to improve service accessibility for people with disabilities. Although the bill did not pass, it helped form the basis for the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act which was passed in 2005. In the 1995 election, the governing NDP were reduced to 17 seats, and Malkowski lost to Progressive Conservative John Parker by 3,263 votes.


After politics

He is now a special advisor to the president of the Canadian Hearing Society. In this role, Malkowski opposed disabilities legislation proposed by the
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 ...
government in 1998 as ineffective. In 2004, Malkowski began a campaign to have major theatre companies install closed-captioning services for deaf patrons. This led to a human rights complaint which was resolved in 2007 when then major theatre companies agreed to install the deaf patron services in their theatres.


Memoirs

Author Richard Medugno has published a biography, ''Deaf Politician: The Gary Malkowski Story'' and a play, ''Bigger Dreams'', about Malkowski.


References


External links

*
Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malkowski, Gary 1958 births Canadian politicians with disabilities Deaf culture in Canada Deaf politicians Living people Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario Canadian deaf people Canadian male table tennis players Deaf table tennis players Gallaudet University alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century Canadian sportsmen