Dave Neumann
Encyclopedia
David Emil Neumann is a politician
in the Canadian
province of Ontario
. He was the mayor of Brantford
from 1980 to 1987 and served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
as a Liberal
from 1987 to 1990. After several years out of politics, was elected as a city councillor for Brantford's fifth ward in the 2010 municipal election
.
, Quebec
, and moved with his family to a dairy farm near Waterford, Ontario, as a child. He earned a degree from McMaster University
in Hamilton
and worked as a secondary school teacher at Pauline Johnson Collegiate
. He later coordinated adult education for his school board and was president of the Brant Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF).
He first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election
as a New Democrat, finishing third against Liberal Party leader Robert Nixon
in Brant
. Neumann supported The Waffle
and was part of a group of Brantford-area New Democrats who favoured running party candidates at the municipal level. He ran for Brantford's fourth council ward in 1972
and nearly defeated veteran councillor Charles Ward for the second position.
for Brantford's fifth ward in 1976
and was re-elected without opposition in 1978
. He became the city's mayor
in 1980
, defeating right-wing candidate Andy Woodburn and incumbent Charles Bowen
, and was re-elected without serious opposition in 1982
and 1985
. As mayor, Neumann helped expand Mohawk College
, negotiated an agreement with Brant County that allowed Brantford to annex five thousands acres of land, concluded an agreement with the Six Nations to construct the Brantford Southern Access Road, and lobbied for the construction of Highway 403 to Ancaster
.
Neumann was also in office when the city's Market Street was shut down and the unsuccessful Market Square Mall was constructed. He has rejected that suggestion that he was to blame for these developments, noting that he voted against Market Street's closure while on council, that the mall was approved by council as a whole, and that no-one could have predicted the mall's giant Eaton's
store would close.
As mayor, Neumann served on the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
. He joined the Liberals in early 1987.
in the 1987 provincial election
, defeating New Democrat Jack Tubman and Progressive Conservative
incumbent Phil Gillies
. The Liberals won a landslide majority government
in this election under David Peterson
's leadership, and Neumann entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He was parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs from 1987 to 1988 and chaired the standing committee on social development from 1988 to 1990. In a 1989 interview, he cited a new telecommunications discovery centre, an industrial park, and the completion of Highway 403 as the Peterson government's main achievements for his area. Neumann also lobbied for increased Via Rail
service; in August 1990, he announced that a previously cancelled commuter rail service to Brantford would reopen.
The Liberals were unexpectedly defeated in the 1990 provincial election
, and Neumann lost his seat to New Democrat Brad Ward
. He ran again in the 1995 provincial election
but lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Ron Johnson.
, but, despite an endorsement from the Brantford Expositor
, he finished an unexpectedly poor third against incumbent Chris Friel
.
From 1998 to 2005, Neumann worked as executive director of the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), based in Brantford. He welcomed a $78,000 federal grant for literacy training in 2004. He was also president of the local Kiwanis
society in 2002–03.
Neumann returned to elected office in the 2010 municipal election, winning the second seat in Brantford's fifth ward. He serves on the brownfields community advisory committee, the social services committee, and the Brantford Heritage Committee.
's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
in 1993 and continued to support Chrétien's leadership in the years that followed.
He supported Marguerite Ceschi-Smith
's bid for the Liberal nomination in Brant
in the buildup to the 2004 federal election
. Ceschi-Smith lost to Lloyd St. Amand
.
Municipal
See the 2010 Brantford election page for information on the defeated candidates.
See the 2000 Brantford election page for information on Raymond and Gallant.
See the 1982 Brantford election page for information on MacKeigan and Kerr.
See the 1976 Brantford election page for information on Fish and Harding.
See the 1972 Brantford election page for information on Arnold and AuCoin.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. He was the mayor of Brantford
Brantford, Ontario
Brantford is a city located on the Grand River in Southern Ontario, Canada. While geographically surrounded by the County of Brant, the city is politically independent...
from 1980 to 1987 and served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
as a Liberal
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
from 1987 to 1990. After several years out of politics, was elected as a city councillor for Brantford's fifth ward in the 2010 municipal election
Brantford municipal election, 2010
The 2010 Brantford municipal election was held on October 25, 2010, to elect a mayor, city councillors, and school trustees in the city of Brantford, Ontario.-Results:...
.
Early life and career
Neumann was born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, and moved with his family to a dairy farm near Waterford, Ontario, as a child. He earned a degree from McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
in Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and worked as a secondary school teacher at Pauline Johnson Collegiate
Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School
Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School in Brantford, Ontario, Canada is a composite high school with collegiate and vocational departments. It was named in honour of the Native Canadian poetess E. Pauline Johnson, who was born nearby....
. He later coordinated adult education for his school board and was president of the Brant Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF).
He first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1971
The Ontario general election of 1971 was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
as a New Democrat, finishing third against Liberal Party leader Robert Nixon
Robert Nixon
Robert Fletcher Nixon is a retired politician in the province of Ontario, Canada. The son of former Premier of Ontario Harry Nixon, he was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a 1962 by-election following his father's death...
in Brant
Brant (provincial electoral district)
Brant is a provincial electoral district in southwestern, Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.It was created in 1999 from all of Brantford and part of Brant—Haldimand....
. Neumann supported The Waffle
The Waffle
The Waffle was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little electoral success before it permanently disbanded in the mid-1970s...
and was part of a group of Brantford-area New Democrats who favoured running party candidates at the municipal level. He ran for Brantford's fourth council ward in 1972
Brantford municipal election, 1972
The 1972 Brantford municipal election was held on December 4, 1972, to elect a mayor, councillors, school trustees, and public utility commissioners in the city of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.Charles Bowen was elected to his first term as mayor.-Results:...
and nearly defeated veteran councillor Charles Ward for the second position.
Municipal politician
Neumann was elected as an aldermanAlderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
for Brantford's fifth ward in 1976
Brantford municipal election, 1976
The 1976 Brantford municipal election was held on December 6, 1976, to elect a mayor, councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada...
and was re-elected without opposition in 1978
Brantford municipal election, 1978
The 1978 Brantford municipal election was held on November 13, 1978, to elect a mayor, councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada...
. He became the city's mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
in 1980
Brantford municipal election, 1980
The 1980 Brantford municipal election was held on November 10, 1980, to elect a mayor, councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada...
, defeating right-wing candidate Andy Woodburn and incumbent Charles Bowen
Charles Bowen (Ontario politician)
Charles R. Bowen was a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He served as mayor of Brantford from 1973 to 1980.Bowen was born in Oshawa and served in the Canadian army for five years during World War II. He graduated from the Canadian Institute of Science and Technology as a mechanical...
, and was re-elected without serious opposition in 1982
Brantford municipal election, 1982
The 1982 Brantford municipal election was held on November 8, 1982, to elect a mayor, councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. The surrounding rural and small-town municipalities also held elections on the same day.-Results:...
and 1985
Brantford municipal election, 1985
The 1985 Brantford municipal election was held on November 12, 1985, to elect a mayor, city councillors, and school trustees in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. The rural and small-town communities surrounding Brantford also held elections on the same day.-Results:...
. As mayor, Neumann helped expand Mohawk College
Mohawk College
Mohawk College is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology located in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, Canada. Mohawk has three main campuses: the Fennell Campus located in Hamilton, the Brantford Campus located in Brantford and the STARRT Institute located in Stoney Creek, as well as the...
, negotiated an agreement with Brant County that allowed Brantford to annex five thousands acres of land, concluded an agreement with the Six Nations to construct the Brantford Southern Access Road, and lobbied for the construction of Highway 403 to Ancaster
Ancaster, Ontario
Ancaster is a picturesque and historic community located on the Niagara escarpment, within the greater area of the city of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. This former town was founded officially in 1793 and was one of the oldest European communities established in present day Ontario along with Windsor...
.
Neumann was also in office when the city's Market Street was shut down and the unsuccessful Market Square Mall was constructed. He has rejected that suggestion that he was to blame for these developments, noting that he voted against Market Street's closure while on council, that the mall was approved by council as a whole, and that no-one could have predicted the mall's giant Eaton's
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...
store would close.
As mayor, Neumann served on the board of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
Association of Municipalities of Ontario
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario is a non-profit organization representing municipal and regional governments in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created on June 22, 1972 through a merger of the Ontario Municipal Association and the Ontario Association of Mayors and Reeves...
. He joined the Liberals in early 1987.
Provincial politician
Neumann was elected to the Ontario legislature for BrantfordBrantford (electoral district)
Brantford was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1925 and from 1949 to 1968, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1986 to 1999....
in the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, defeating New Democrat Jack Tubman and Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
incumbent Phil Gillies
Phil Gillies
Philip Andrew Gillies is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1987 as a Progressive Conservative, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller.Gillies was educated at Queenborough in Kent, England...
. The Liberals won a landslide majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in this election under David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
's leadership, and Neumann entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He was parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs from 1987 to 1988 and chaired the standing committee on social development from 1988 to 1990. In a 1989 interview, he cited a new telecommunications discovery centre, an industrial park, and the completion of Highway 403 as the Peterson government's main achievements for his area. Neumann also lobbied for increased Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
service; in August 1990, he announced that a previously cancelled commuter rail service to Brantford would reopen.
The Liberals were unexpectedly defeated in the 1990 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, and Neumann lost his seat to New Democrat Brad Ward
Brad Ward
Bradley Richard Ward is a former politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995 as a New Democrat and was a minister in Bob Rae's government from 1993 to 1995....
. He ran again in the 1995 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
but lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Ron Johnson.
Since 1990
Neumann resumed his teaching career after leaving political life, retiring from the Brant County Board of Education in 1997. He ran for mayor of Brantford in 2000Brantford municipal election, 2000
The 2000 Brantford municipal election was held on November 13, 2000, to elect a mayor, city councillors, and school trustees in the city of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.-Results:...
, but, despite an endorsement from the Brantford Expositor
Brantford Expositor
The Brantford Expositor is an English language newspaper based in Brantford, Ontario and owned by Osprey Media Group Inc. a subsidiary of Sun Media...
, he finished an unexpectedly poor third against incumbent Chris Friel
Chris Friel
Chris Friel is a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was the mayor of Brantford from 1994 to 2003 and was re-elected to the same position in the 2010 municipal election.-Early life and private career:...
.
From 1998 to 2005, Neumann worked as executive director of the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), based in Brantford. He welcomed a $78,000 federal grant for literacy training in 2004. He was also president of the local Kiwanis
Kiwanis
Kiwanis International is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. It is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Current membership is 240,000 members in 7,700 clubs in 80 nations...
society in 2002–03.
Neumann returned to elected office in the 2010 municipal election, winning the second seat in Brantford's fifth ward. He serves on the brownfields community advisory committee, the social services committee, and the Brantford Heritage Committee.
Federal politics
Neumann supported Jean ChrétienJean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
in 1993 and continued to support Chrétien's leadership in the years that followed.
He supported Marguerite Ceschi-Smith
Marguerite Ceschi-Smith
Marguerite Ceschi-Smith is a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. She is a prominent member of the Brantford City Council, where she has served since 1994. She is also an executive member of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities...
's bid for the Liberal nomination in Brant
Brant (electoral district)
Brant is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1949 and since 1968.The federal riding was created in 1903. It consisted of Brant County excluding Brantford....
in the buildup to the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. Ceschi-Smith lost to Lloyd St. Amand
Lloyd St. Amand
Lloyd St. Amand is a Canadian politician and a former Member of Parliament for the riding of Brant. He is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada....
.
External links
- Dave Neumann for Councillor Ward 5 (2010 campaign site)
Electoral record
ProvincialMunicipal
See the 2010 Brantford election page for information on the defeated candidates.
See the 2000 Brantford election page for information on Raymond and Gallant.
See the 1982 Brantford election page for information on MacKeigan and Kerr.
See the 1976 Brantford election page for information on Fish and Harding.
See the 1972 Brantford election page for information on Arnold and AuCoin.