Richard Andrew Patten (May 13, 1942 – December 30, 2021) was a Canadian politician. Patten was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2007. He represented the riding of Ottawa Centre. He served as a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.
Richard Patten | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre | |
| In office June 8, 1995 – October 10, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Evelyn Gigantes |
| Succeeded by | Yasir Naqvi |
| In office September 10, 1987 – September 6, 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Evelyn Gigantes |
| Succeeded by | Evelyn Gigantes |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 13, 1942 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | December 30, 2021 (aged 79) Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Occupation | YMCA Manager |
Personal life
editPatten was educated at Sir George Williams University in Montreal. He worked as a manager with the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), and served as President of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation. Patten sat on an NGO advisory committee to the World Bank while with the CCIC. He died on December 30, 2021, at the age of 79.[1][2][3]
Politics
editIn the 1987 provincial election, Patten ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Ottawa Centre. He defeated incumbent New Democrat Evelyn Gigantes by just over 2,000 votes.[4] The Liberal party won the election and Patten was appointed Minister of Government Services.[5] In August 1989 he was shuffled to Minister of Correctional Services.[6]
In the 1990 provincial election Patten was defeated by his NDP rival Gigantes.[7] For the next five years, Patten served as President and CEO of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Foundation, doing extensive fund-raising work for the organization.
In 1995 provincial election Patten campaigned against Gigantes once again this time defeating her by 1,700 votes.[8] The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Patten joined 29 other Liberals in the opposition. He attempted to mobilize a campaign for the party's leadership in 1996, but failed in this effort and subsequently supported Dwight Duncan.[9] When Duncan was eliminated after the third ballot, he endorsed Dalton McGuinty, the eventual winner.[10]
In the 1999 provincial election, Patten was re-elected over Progressive Conservative Ray Kostuch and New Democrat Elisabeth Arnold.[11] The Progressive Conservatives again won the election, and Patten remained in opposition.[12] Patten was treated for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma during this parliament.[13]
The Liberals won the 2003 election and he was re-elected again by over 10,000 votes.[12][14][15] During this session he served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education, the Minister of Economic Development and Trade and to Premier Dalton McGuinty. Patten maintained a strong interest in the CHEO and devoted legislative efforts towards the centre's operations.[12]
On 14 March 2007, Patten announced he would not seek re-election in the upcoming election, preferring to focus on work with the CHEO Foundation.[15]
Cabinet positions
editElectoral record
edit| 2003 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Richard Patten | 22,295 | 45.10 | +6.93 | $ 72,458.74 | |||
| New Democratic | Jeff Atkinson | 11,362 | 22.98 | −2.48 | 49,598.63 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Joe Varner | 11,217 | 22.69 | −10.05 | 17,112.70 | |||
| Green | Chris Bradshaw | 3,821 | 7.73 | +5.11 | 9,283.05 | |||
| Communist | Stuart Ryan | 306 | 0.62 | +0.25 | 878.30 | |||
| Freedom | Matt Szymanowicz | 218 | 0.44 | 0.00 | ||||
| Independent | Fakhry Guirguis | 214 | 0.43 | 1,094.74 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 49,433 | 100.0 | +5.08 | $ 85,928.64 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 360 | 0.72 | −0.11 | |||||
| Turnout | 49,793 | 55.63 | +2.67 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 89,509 | −0.07 | ||||||
Source(s)
"General Election of October 2, 2003 — Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "General Election of October 2, 2003 — Statistical Summary". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2003 Candidate and Constituency Association Returns — Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014. | ||||||||
| 1999 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Richard Patten | 17,956 | 38.17 | −1.09 | $ 48,983.01 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Ray Kostuch | 15,403 | 32.74 | +9.10 | 54,104.81 | |||
| New Democratic | Elisabeth Arnold | 11,977 | 25.46 | −7.77 | 58,863.46 | |||
| Green | Chris Bradshaw | 1,231 | 2.62 | +1.39 | 4,119.65 | |||
| Communist | Marvin Glass | 174 | 0.37 | −0.37 | 1,384.26 | |||
| Natural Law | Wayne Foster | 170 | 0.36 | −0.93 | 0.00 | |||
| Independent | Mistahi Corkill | 132 | 0.28 | 0.00 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 47,043 | 100.0 | +65.64 | $ 85,987.20 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 395 | 0.83 | −0.27 | |||||
| Turnout | 47,438 | 52.96 | −10.92 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 89,570 | +99.23 | ||||||
Source(s)
"General Election of June 3 1999 — Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "General Election of June 3 1999 — Statistical Summary". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "1999 Summary of Income and Campaign Expenses – Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014. | ||||||||
| 1995 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Richard Patten | 11,150 | 39.26 | +0.98 | $ 44,245.00 | |||
| New Democratic | Evelyn Gigantes | 9,438 | 33.23 | −14.47 | 39,455.24 | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Chris Thompson | 6,715 | 23.64 | +14.70 | 31,048.00 | |||
| Natural Law | Ron Parker | 365 | 1.29 | 0.00 | ||||
| Green | Andrew Van Iterson | 349 | 1.23 | −0.66 | 200.00 | |||
| Communist | Malek Khouri | 210 | 0.74 | 1,086.25 | ||||
| Independent | John C. Turmel | 173 | 0.61 | +0.08 | 0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes | 28,400 | 100.0 | −6.72 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 317 | 1.10 | ||||||
| Turnout | 28,717 | 63.88 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 44,958 | |||||||
Source(s)
"General Election of June 8 1995 — Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "General Election of June 8 1995 — Statistical Summary". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "1995 Summary of Income and Campaign Expenses" ( .svg){kind=icon} Word'95 .doc). Retrieved 28 May 2014. | ||||||||
| 1990 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| New Democratic | Evelyn Gigantes | 14,522 | 47.70 | +7.64 | ||||
| Liberal | Richard Patten | 11,656 | 38.28 | −8.88 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Alex Burney | 2,723 | 8.94 | −1.8 | ||||
| Family Coalition | John Gray | 809 | 2.66 | |||||
| Green | Bill Hipwell | 576 | 1.89 | |||||
| Independent | John Turmel | 160 | 0.53 | −1.50 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 30,446 | 100.0 | +3.54 | |||||
| 1987 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Richard Patten | 13,867 | 47.16 | +21.20 | ||||
| New Democratic | Evelyn Gigantes | 11,780 | 40.06 | −3.39 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Greg Vezina | 3,159 | 10.74 | −18.51 | ||||
| Independent | John Turmel | 598 | 2.03 | +0.70 | ||||
| Total valid votes | 29,404 | 100.0 | +7.46 | |||||
References
edit- ^ "Former Ottawa Centre MPP Richard Patten dead at 79". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Former Ottawa MPP Richard Patten dead at 79". CTV News Ottawa. 31 December 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Richard Andrew Patten Thursday December 30th 2021, death notice, Canada". 31 December 2021.
- ^ "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. 11 September 1987. p. F2.
- ^ "Wrye gets new cabinet job". The Windsor Star. 29 September 1987. p. A1.
- ^ Allen, Gene (3 August 1989). "Veterans bear load as 8 ministers cut in Peterson shuffle". The Globe and Mail. p. A1.
- ^ "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. 7 September 1990. p. A12.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 8 June 1995. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014.
- ^ Crone, Greg (31 January 1996). "Conway pulls plug on bid for leadership of Liberals". The Windsor Star. p. A2.
- ^ Abraham, Carolyn; Brennan, Richard (2 December 1996). "Surprising McGuinty emerges from chaos". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A1.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 3 June 1999.
- ^ a b c Conway-Smith, Erin; Wilson, Candace (10 October 2003). "Patten to pursue pet projects". Centretown News.
- ^ Boyle, Theresa (26 June 2001). "MPP with cancer questions long delays for treatment; Tells Legislature of 9-week wait for CAT scan". Toronto Star. p. A06.
- ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 2 October 2003.
- ^ a b "Ottawa MPP Patten to retire from politics". CBC News. 14 March 2007. Retrieved 27 May 2014.