David William Warner
David William Warner (born
November 18,
1941 in
Toronto,
Ontario) is a former
politician in Ontario,
Canada. He was a
New Democratic Party member of the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario on four occasions between
1975 and
1995, and served as
Speaker of the Assembly during
Bob Rae's administration.
Warner worked as a teacher in private life, and served as chair of Elementary Public Schools in
Scarborough. He ran for the
Canadian House of Commons as a candidate of the federal
New Democratic Party in the elections of the
1972 and
1974, but finished a distant third in the riding of
Yorkâ"Scarborough on both occasions.
Warner was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the
1975 provincial election, defeating
Progressive Conservative candidate
Brian Harrison by fewer than 1,000 votes in the riding of
Scarboroughâ"Ellesmere. He was re-elected by roughly the same margin in the
1977 provincial election. The Progressive Conservatives under
Bill Davis held a
minority government throughout this period, and Warner served as a member of the opposition. He was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate
Alan Robinson in the
1981 election, when the Davis government won a majority victory.
Warner was re-elected in the
1985 provincial election, defeating Robinson by 219 votes as the Tories were reduced to a precarious minority government under the new leadership of
Frank Miller. The
Liberals under
David Peterson were able to form a minority government with outside support from the NDP, and Warner served as his party's critic for Education and Skills Development over the next two years. He was again defeated in the
1987 provincial election, losing to Liberal
Frank Faubert by 481 votes.
The NDP won an unexpected majority government in the
1990 provincial election, as Warner defeated Faubert by about 4,500 votes in a rematch from
1987. He was chosen Speaker of the Legislature on
November 19,
1990, and held this position throughout the Rae government's mandate. He was the first speaker to be elected by the legislature, rather than appointed by the
premier. His tenure in this office was generally free of controversy, unlike the tenures of his Progressive Conservative successors.
The NDP were defeated in the
1995 provincial election, and Warner lost his seat to Progressive Conservative
Marilyn Mushinski by over 5,000 votes. He has not sought a return to elected office since this time. Warner is now a board member of the
United Nations Association of Canada, and is also the president of the Canadian Cuban Friendship Association in Toronto.
His daughter
Barbara Warner ran for the Ontario NDP in the
2003 provincial election, in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, and in 2005 unsuccessfully sought the nomination as the NDP candidate to succeed Marilyn Churley in the provincial riding of Toronto-Danforth.
