Alexander Parent

Alexander Parent
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Essex North
In office
June 4, 1945 – April 27, 1948
Preceded byArthur Nelson Alles
Succeeded byGordon Bennett Ellis
Personal details
Born1908
DiedDecember 25, 1961(1961-12-25) (aged 53)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal-Labour (1945),
Labour (1946-1948)

Alexander A. Parent was a Canadian politician who was Liberal-Labour MPP for Essex North from 1945 to 1948.[1]

Parent was president of United Auto Workers Local 195 in Windsor, Ontario in the 1940s,[2] and a supporter of the Communist Party of Canada, which at the time was known as the Labor-Progressive Party.[3] In the 1945 Ontario general election, Parent was nominated by the UAW-CIO as one of three Labour candidates in the election. Parent ran in Essex North, George Burt, the UAW's Canadian director, ran in Windsor-Walkerville and Windsor mayor Arthur Reaume ran in Windsor—Sandwich. All three were jointly nominated by the Communist Labor-Progressive Party and the Ontario Liberal Party and ran as Liberal-Labour candidates[4] and targeted ridings held by the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation.[5][3]

Parent was elected, and initially caucused with the Liberal Party but quit the Liberal caucus in January 1946, denouncing the Liberals as "reactionary", in order to sit as a "straight Labor representative", caucusing with Labor-Progressive MPPs J.B. Salsberg and A. A. MacLeod.[6][7]

He remained president of Local 195 until March 1946 when he was defeated in his bid for re-election to the union office by Earl Watson by 2,200 votes to 1,600 votes.[8]

Parent did not run in the 1948 Ontario general election, and his riding was re-taken by the CCF.[9][10]

He died on December 25, 1961, at the age of 53.[11]

  1. ^ "Alexander Parent | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. 1945-06-04. Retrieved 2023-09-24.
  2. ^ Ford Tension Subsides; Local 195 Waits Results Ford, Ken. The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 06 May 1944: 3.
  3. ^ a b "Canadian Auto Workers History, Ch 5 Delivering the Goods". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28.
  4. ^ "Liberals Labor's Best Hope Hepburn Informs Windsor", Toronto Daily Star (1900-1971); Toronto, Ontario [Toronto, Ontario]. 24 Apr 1945: 3.
  5. ^ Labor in Politics: Both CCL and TLC Organist PAC's to Take Part in Coming Elections LEABY, DILLON O. The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 01 May 1945: 5.
  6. ^ "Parent Quits Liberal Party", Globe and Mail, 14 January 1946: 8
  7. ^ "Breaks With Liberals", Toronto Daily Star, 2 February 1946: 6
  8. ^ Auto Workers Elect Hew Slate, The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 04 Mar 1946: 13.
  9. ^ Post Mortem: Public Resentment Against Rising Prices and Housing Shortages Aided CCF Cause, Parry, Ross.The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 10 June 1948: 5.
  10. ^ Canadian Press (June 8, 1948). "How Ontario Electors Voted in all 90 Ridings". The Toronto Daily Star. Toronto. p. 24.
  11. ^ "Alex A. Parent", The Globe and Mail (1936-); Toronto, Ont. [Toronto, Ont]. 27 Dec 1961: 4.