David Lewis (politician)

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David Lewis (politician) : biography

June 23 or October, 1909 – May 23, 1981

In hindsight, Lewis’ no-win evaluation of the situation appears correct: the party would not be rewarded for its efforts by the electorate. In the 1974 election, the NDP were reduced to 16 seats. Lewis lost his seat, leading him to resign as party leader in 1975. It was revealed immediately after the election that he had been battling leukemia for about two years; he had reportedly kept everyone, including his family, unaware of his condition.Smith, p.477

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|Liberal |Ursula Appolloni |align="right"| 12,485||align="right"|43.10

|New Democratic Party |David Lewis |align="right"|10,622||align="right"|36.67

|Progressive Conservative |Paul J. Schrieder |align="right"| 5,557||align="right"|19.18

|Independent |Richard Sanders |align="right"| 103||align="right"|0.04

|Marxist-Leninist | Keith Corkhill |align="right"|102||align="right"|0.04

|Independent |Robert Douglas Sproule |align="right"|97||align="right"|0.03

Awards and death

In December 1976, Lewis was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Canada, with his investiture held on April 20, 1977. He was appointed to the highest level of the Order of Canada in "recognition of the contributions he has made to Labour and social reform and the deep concern he has had over the years for his adopted country." David Lewis Public School in Scarborough, Ontario is named in his honour., Toronto District School Board

He became a professor at the Institute of Canadian Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa during this time. In 1978, as a travel correspondent for The Toronto Star, Lewis visited Svisloch one last time, and noted that, "not one Jew now lives there." The Holocaust wiped out the town’s Jewish community, and with it his extended family.

David Lewis completed the first volume, of a planned two, of his memoirs, The Good Fight: Political Memoirs 1909–1958 in 1981. He died shortly thereafter, on May 23, 1981, in Ottawa. He is the father of Stephen Lewis, a former Ontario NDP leader who in the early and mid-first decade of the 21st century was the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. His other son, Michael Lewis, was a former Ontario NDP Secretary and a leading organizer in the NDP. He is also the father of Janet Solberg, president of the Ontario NDP in the 1980s. His other twin daughter is Nina Libeskind, the wife and business partner of architect Daniel Libeskind. Stephen’s son, broadcaster Avram (Avi) Lewis, is his grandson. In 2010, his granddaughter-in-law Naomi Klein, gave the inaugural David Lewis Lecture, sponsored by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

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