Steven Offer (born November 4, 1949) 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. 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 1985 to 1995 who represented the riding of

Mississauga North Mississauga North was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1988. This riding was created in 1976 from parts of Halton and Mississauga ridings. It consisted ...

. He served as a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Back ...

Background

Offer 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

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and a law degree from

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart (architect), John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is n ...

Politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1985 provincial election, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

by 1,424 votes in

. The Liberal party formed a

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

after the election, and Offer 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 the Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations from June 26, 1985 to September 1987. Offer was easily re-elected in the 1987 provincial election, in which the Liberal party won a landslide majority. He continued serving as a parliamentary assistant until August 2, 1989, when he was promoted to cabinet as

Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...

. In 1990, Offer was challenged for the Liberal nomination in Mississauga North by a representative of the local

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

community, who claimed that the Peterson government was insufficiently responsive to the concerns of minorities. He won the challenge, and was narrowly re-elected in the 1990 provincial election, defeating

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 ...

candidate John Foster by 1,442 votes. The Liberals lost the provincial election to the NDP, and Offer moved to the opposition benches. In opposition, he served as his party's critic for Labour and Environment. The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 provincial election, and Offer lost to Tory candidate

John Snobelen John Snobelen (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris. Background S ...

by over 4,000 votes. After politics, Offer continued with a number of charitable causes. He is currently the Senior Vice President (Sales, Business Development and Government Relations) with FNF Canada. which is a division of Fidelity National Financial .

Cabinet posts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Offer, Steve 1949 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Toronto 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario