Dave Levac

David Joseph Levac OOnt (born April 6, 1954) is a retired Canadian politician who was the 41st speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2018. Levac was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1999 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party. He served as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Brant until 2018 and is the Ontario legislature's longest serving speaker.[1]

Dave Levac
OOnt
41st Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
In office
November 21, 2011 – July 11, 2018
PremierDalton McGuinty
Kathleen Wynne
Lieutenant GovernorDavid Onley
Elizabeth Dowdeswell
Preceded bySteve Peters
Succeeded byTed Arnott
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Brant
In office
June 3, 1999 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byRon Johnson
Succeeded byWill Bouma
Personal details
Born (1954-04-06) April 6, 1954
Brantford, Ontario
Political partyOntario Liberal
Residence(s)Brantford, Ontario
EducationWilfrid Laurier University (BA, 1976)
Queen's University at Kingston (BEd, 1977)
Niagara University (MSc, 1992)
OccupationTeacher

Background

Born in Brantford, Ontario, Levac attended Wilfrid Laurier University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1976.[2][3] He completed teacher's college at Queen's University in 1977,[4] beginning to work a teacher in the early 1980s, and became a principal in Brantford in 1989.[2] In 1992, he attended Niagara University to complete a master's degree in education.[5] Levac received the Canada 125 Medal in 1993, was named OECTA Distinguished Teacher in 1994 for his work in conflict resolution programs, and was named Brantford's Citizen of the Year in 1997 by readers of the Brantford Expositor. He also served as co-ordinator of Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Visit to Brantford in 1997. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.[6] In 2011 he was awarded the Chevalier of the Order of Merit for his educational efforts with respect to the Ukrainian famine in the 1930s.[7]

Political career

Levac was elected in the 1999 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate Alayne Sokoloski by 956 votes in the riding of Brant.[8] The PCs won a majority government in this election, and Levac sat as an opposition member for the next four years.

The Liberals won a majority government in the 2003 provincial election and Levac again defeated Sokoloski, this time by over 10,000 votes.[9] Levac was named chief government whip. Levac was re-elected in 2007, 2011, and 2014.[10][11][12]

On April 9, 2009 Levac, along with co-sponsors Cheri DiNovo and Frank Klees passed bill 147 – the Holodomor Memorial Day Act. This was the first piece of legislation in Ontario history to be introduced with tri-partisan sponsorship. This historic legislation recognizes Ukrainian man-made famine as an act of Genocide.[7]

On January 25, 2010, Levac was named parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy and infrastructure.

After the 2011 election, Levac was elected Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He beat three other Liberal members, David Zimmer, Kevin Flynn, and Donna Cansfield. Cansfield was an early favourite for the position but lost to Levac on a second ballot after the New Democratic Party (NDP) voted in a bloc for Levac. No NDP or PC members put their names forward due to the Liberal government's delicate one-seat minority status in the legislature.[13][14] Levac was re-elected as speaker after the 2014 election defeating four other contenders.[15]

On May 5, 2017, Levac announced he would not run for his seat again in the 2018 Ontario general election after 19 years in the legislature and seven of those years as speaker.[16]

In 2022, Levac was appointed to the Order of Ontario.[17][18][2]

Electoral record
2014 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalDave Levac19,34637.14+0.06
Progressive ConservativePhil Gillies16,04130.80-3.85
New DemocraticAlex Felsky13,99226.86+2.66
GreenKen Burns2,0954.02+1.92
LibertarianRob Ferguson3740.72+0.30
FreedomBrittni Mitchell1790.34+0.04
PauperJohn Turmel610.12-0.07
Total valid votes 52,088100.00
Liberal hold Swing +1.96
Source: Elections Ontario[12]
2011 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalDave Levac16,86737.08-12.10
Progressive ConservativeMichael St. Amant15,76134.65+5.77
New DemocraticBrian Van Tilborg11,00624.20+10.53
GreenKen Burns9572.10-2.47
IndependentMartin Sitko2440.54 
Family CoalitionDaniel Hockley2370.52-0.32
LibertarianRob Ferguson1900.42 
FreedomDustin Jenner1360.30 
IndependentJohn Turmel860.19-0.38
Total valid votes 45,484 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 1950.43
Turnout 45,67948.23
Eligible voters 94,717
Liberal hold Swing -8.94
Source: Elections Ontario[11]
2007 Ontario general election: Brant
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalDave Levac23,48549.16−2.93$85,894
Progressive ConservativeDan McCreary13,78728.86−3.44$55,566
New DemocraticBrian Van Tilborg6,53613.68+1.70$18,838
GreenTed Shelegy3,2726.85–$7,331
Family CoalitionRob Ferguson4030.84–$380
IndependentJohn Turmel2890.60$0
Total valid votes 47,772 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 349
Turnout 48,121 52.69
Electors on the lists 91,333

Note: Percentage changes are factored for redistribution. Sources: Official 2007 Poll by Poll Results and 2007 Annual Returns, Candidate and Constituency Associations, Elections Ontario.

2003 Ontario general election: Brant
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalDave Levac24,23654.55–$51,003
Progressive ConservativeAlayne Sokoloski13,61830.65$49,989
New DemocraticDavid Noonan5,26211.84$12,461
GreenMike Clancy1,0142.28–$1,012
IndependentJohn Turmel2950.66$0
Total valid votes 44,425 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 286
Turnout 44,711 56.14
Electors on the lists 79,647

Sources: Ontario Election Returns with Statistics from the Records (2003) and Financial Returns, Candidate and Constituency Associations (2003), Elections Ontario.

1999 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalDave Levac21,16646.98-
Progressive ConservativeAlayne Sokoloski20,21044.86-
New DemocraticDavid Sharpe2,8896.41-
IndependentGraham Mcrae4951.1-
Natural LawEleanor T. Hyodo2940.65

References
  1. @spaikin (6 March 2018). "How did I miss this? Last month, @davelevac became the longest-serving speaker in Ontario history: more than seven…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. "'Extraordinary citizen' appointed to Order of Ontario". brantfordexpositor. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  3. "Q&A: Bidding farewell to politics". Campus Magazine. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  4. "Two alumni named to Order of Ontario | Queen's Alumni". www.queensu.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  5. "| Ontario College of Teachers". apps.oct.ca. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  6. "The Golden Jubilee Medal". The Governor General of Canada. 2002.
  7. Ball, Vincent (January 24, 2011). "Levac made a Chevalier of the Ukrainian Order of Merit". Brantford Expositor. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  8. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 3 June 1999.
  9. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. 2 October 2003. Archived from the original on 2 September 2014.
  10. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 2 (xi). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009.
  11. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 6 October 2011. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2013.
  12. "General Election by District: Brant". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014.
  13. "MPP Dave Levac elected Speaker". Toronto Star. 21 November 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  14. Howlett, Karen (22 November 2011). "Ex-principal becomes Ontario Speaker: Dave Levac, who beat out three ...". The Globe and Mail. p. A11.
  15. Babbage, Maria (2 July 2014). "Throne speech to lay out Liberals' long-term agenda, including pension plan". Toronto,, Ont.: The Canadian Press.
  16. Benzie, Robert (5 May 2017). "Queen's Park speaker not seeking re-election". Toronto Star.
  17. "The 2021 Appointees to the Order of Ontario". Ontario Newsroom. 4 November 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  18. "Levac appointed to Order of Ontario". brantfordexpositor. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
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