Vernon Milton Singer (March 26, 1919 – September 20, 2003) was a politician in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1959 to 1977 who represented the

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a p ...

ridings of

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

Downsview Downsview is a neighbourhood in the north end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wilso ...

and Wilson Heights.

Background

Singer was born in

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, the son of lawyer and politician Joseph Singer who was the first Jewish-Canadian to be elected to the

Toronto Board of Control The Board of Control of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was a part of its municipal government until it was abolished in 1969. It served as the executive committee of the Toronto City Council. When it was initially created in 1896 by mandate of the provin ...

. After serving in

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with the

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, Singer returned to Canada and became president of the Young Liberals in 1947. He worked for a while as a lawyer before entering politics. He and his wife Elaine had three children.

Politics

He became a councillor in

North York, Ontario North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

eventually becoming reeve from 1957 to 1958. He ran for the leadership of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of lib ...

at the 1958 Ontario Liberal leadership convention, placing fourth. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1959 provincial election. Singer became deputy leader of the Ontario Liberal Party and, as a

Member of Provincial Parliament Member of Provincial Parliament is the title given to provincial legislators in two legislatures: * Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada) * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape) In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of P ...

(MPP), pushed for reforms to municipal law,

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and electoral laws as well as for the establishment of a provincial ombudsman. He served as Liberal

House Leader {{Politics of Canada In Canada, each political party with representation in the House of Commons has a House Leader who is a front bench Member of Parliament (MP) and an expert in parliamentary procedure. The same representation is found in the pr ...

in the 1970s and, in 1973, sued fellow Liberal MPP Eddie Sargent for libel after Sargent made remarks about Singer's retainer fee from a developer while he was appearing before a legislative committee to explain how he obtained the contract to build Ontario Hydro's new headquarters in Toronto. Singer was deputy leader of the Liberals from 1966 until 1973, when he was asked to step down by leader

Robert Nixon Robert Nixon may refer to: * Bob Nixon (Zimbabwean politician), Zimbabwean politician * Robert A. Nixon (1900–1948), American politician * Robert Nixon (politician) (born 1928), retired Canadian politician * Robert Nixon (comics) (1939–2002), Br ...

, after he filed the lawsuit but was allowed to remain in the shadow cabinet. Singer was re-elected to the legislature on four successive occasions before retiring in 1977. His retirement was controversial as he announced it on the eve of that year's election campaign without giving his Liberal colleagues advance notice. The Progressive Conservatives won Singer's previously safe seat in the election and, the next year, the government appointed Singer to the first of five two-year terms on the

Ontario Municipal Board The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) was an independent administrative board, operated as an adjudicative tribunal, in the province of Ontario, Canada. It heard applications and appeals on municipal and planning disputes, as well as other matters spec ...

including several years as its chairman. The incident resulted in accusations by NDP MPP

Ed Ziemba Edward John Ziemba (born May 2, 1932) is a Canadian former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1981 who represented the downtown Toronto riding of High Park—Swans ...

that the government had bought Singer's seat, and that of fellow Liberal Phil Givens who left in similar circumstances, through political patronage.

Later life

Following his retirement from the Ontario Municipal Board in 1989, Singer won election to North York's committee of adjustment filling a seat vacated by Patti Starr when she was forced to resign as the result of a wider political scandal.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Singer, Vernon 1919 births 2003 deaths Mayors of North York Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Jewish mayors of places in Canada Metropolitan Toronto councillors Canadian Army personnel of World War II The Royal Canadian Dragoons soldiers