James Sydney Clark Fleming (October 30, 1939 – February 15, 2023) was a Canadian broadcaster and politician. Fleming was a news reporter for several Toronto radio stations, eventually becoming co-anchor of CHFI morning news, which was simulcast on both CHFI-FM and what was then CHFI-AM. He was the newscaster on ''Bright and Early'' on CTV, Canada's first TV network morning news and public affairs show. The show aired in the 1966-67 television season and was not renewed. He also hosted a number of CTV public affairs specials including an interview with

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

during his and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

Give Peace A Chance "Give Peace a Chance" is an anti-war song written by John Lennon (originally credited to Lennon–McCartney), and recorded with the participation of a small group of friends in a performance with Yoko Ono in a hotel room in Montreal, Quebec, C ...

tour of Canada. Fleming entered politics and was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

in the 1972 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament for

York West York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

riding 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. He was elected chair of the Ontario Liberal caucus by his peers. He served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Communications from 1975 to 1976, and then as parliamentary secretary to the

Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...

. Following the 1980 election, Fleming was named to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

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 ...

Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...

for

Multiculturalism Multiculturalism is the coexistence of multiple cultures. The word is used in sociology, in political philosophy, and colloquially. In sociology and everyday usage, it is usually a synonym for ''Pluralism (political theory), ethnic'' or cultura ...

. As minister, he was responsible for ensuring multiculturalism was included in the drafting of the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

. He also won cabinet approval for the creation of a special parliamentary Committee on Race Relations, had his department sponsor a national Conference on Race Relations and the Law, and provided government support for a national conference on the challenges faced by immigrant women. Fleming was dropped from cabinet in August 1983. He was offered and appointment to the Canadian Senate but declined and did not run in the 1984 election. Fleming returned to work in radio and wrote a column for the ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices are located at Pos ...

''. Fleming died on February 15, 2023, at the age of 83.

Electoral record

References

External links

1939 births 2023 deaths Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Politicians from Kitchener, Ontario CTV Television Network people Canadian radio news anchors 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada {{Liberal-Ontario-MP-stub