Murad Velshi (born April 4, 1935) is a former

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 Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He was a Liberal 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 1987 to 1990. He represented the riding of

Don Mills Don Mills is a mixed-use neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was developed in the 1950s and 1960s to be a self-supporting "new town" and was at the time located outside Toronto proper in the suburb of North York. Consisting of residenti ...

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 ...

Politics

He ran for a seat in the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election and finished a distant second in the riding of

against Progressive Conservative incumbent

Dennis Timbrell Dennis Roy Timbrell (born November 13, 1946) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1971 to 1987, and was a Cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative governments of Bill Davis and Frank M ...

. When Timbrell retired before the 1987 election, he ran again this time defeating his closest opponent by more than 2,000 votes. He served for a year 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 the

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...

. The Liberals were defeated in the Ontario general election in 1990 and Velshi lost his seat to Margery Ward of the

New Democratic Party of Ontario 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 ...

by 1,004 votes. He attempted to regain the seat in a by-election held on April 1, 1993, but finished a weak second against Progressive Conservative candidate David Johnson.

Personal life

Murad Velshi is an

Ismaili Muslim Ismailism () is a branch of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor ( imām) to Ja'far al-Sadiq, wherein they differ from the Twelver Shia, who accept M ...

of Gujarati Indian descent. His son is the television journalist

Ali Velshi Ali Velshi (born October 29, 1968, or 1969) is a Canadian television journalist, a senior economic and business correspondent for NBC News, and an anchor for MSNBC. He is also a substitute anchor for ''The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell'' on ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Velshi, Murad 1935 births Canadian Ismailis Canadian people of Indian descent Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Living people Politicians from Pretoria South African people of Indian descent South African emigrants to Canada Canadian people of Gujarati descent Khoja Ismailis South African people of Gujarati descent 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario