James Perry Wiseman (born April 21, 1949) is a former Canadian politician in

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 ...

. He was a

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 ...

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 1990 to 1995.

Background

Wiseman has 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 from 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 ...

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 from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

. He worked as a high school history teacher before entering political life. His son, Evan, ran for the NDP in the 2011 election in the riding of

Ajax—Pickering Ajax—Pickering was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that had been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2011 by Conservative MP Chris Alexander. Its population in 2001 was 100,215. The district included the to ...

. He was active in the environmental movement. He was the founding member of a local environment group called ''Pickering/Ajax Citizens Together For The Environment''.

Politics

Wiseman ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, and finished third behind Liberal Norah Stoner and a Progressive Conservative candidate in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

riding of Durham West. He ran for the federal

in the Canadian election of 1988 in the riding of

. During the campaign, he spoke against Toronto dumping garbage at Brock West a local garbage dump. He finished third behind Progressive Conservative

René Soetens René John Soetens (born 7 September 1948) was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 1993. His background was in business and sales. Rene was elected to Town of Ajax Council in 1980 and re-elected 1982 and 1985. He was electe ...

and a Liberal candidate. Wiseman ran again in the provincial election of 1990. This time he was elected over Norah Stoner by 1,982 votes. During the next five years in government he served as

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 several ministers between 1991 and 1995. In 1992, Wiseman and fellow Durham MPP Drummond White became involved in a minor controversy when it was found they were billing taxpayers for the cost of renting a shared apartment in Toronto. He claimed that working long hours as an MPP justified his need for the apartment. Due to the publicity, he and White ended the lease in August 1992. In 1995, Wiseman helped broker a deal between the Town of Pickering and the Pickering Harbour Company. Development around Frenchman's Bay had been frozen since 1966 when the town objected to a development proposal. The company claimed it wasn't bound by municipal rules since it was a federally chartered company. The new deal allowed development to proceed as long as municipal rules were followed. In the 1995 provincial election, Wiseman finished third in Durham West, falling almost 20,000 votes behind Progressive Conservative

Janet Ecker Janet Ecker (born October 18, 1953) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a senior cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves. Backgr ...

. He stood for office again in the provincial election of 1999 for the redistributed riding of

Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2003. This riding was created in 1996, from parts of Durham and Ontario ridings. It consisted of th ...

, but received only 2,814 votes—and again lost to Janet Ecker by almost 20,000 votes. Wiseman returned to teaching at Ajax High School after leaving the legislature.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wiseman, Jim 1949 births Living people 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs Politicians from Toronto University of Toronto alumni