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Ian Waddell

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For the Scottish footballer, see Ian Waddell (footballer). For the Scottish man acquitted of murder, see Patrick Meehan.

Ian Waddell
QC
Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks of British Columbia
In office
November 1, 2000 – May 15, 2001
Preceded byJoan Sawicki
Succeeded byJoyce Murray
Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture of British Columbia
In office
February 18, 1998 – October 31, 2000
Succeeded byGerard Janssen
Member of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly
for Vancouver-Fraserview
In office
May 28, 1996 – May 16, 2001
Preceded byBernie Simpson
Succeeded byKen Johnston
Member of Parliament
for Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam
Vancouver Kingsway (1979–1988)
In office
May 22, 1979 – October 25, 1993
Preceded bySimma Holt
Succeeded bySharon Hayes
Personal details
Born(1942-11-21)November 21, 1942
Glasgow, Scotland
DiedMarch 15, 2021(2021-03-15) (aged 78)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Political partyNew Democratic
Other political
affiliations		Liberal (before 1969)
Residence(s)Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
London School of Economics

Ian Gardiner Waddell QC (November 21, 1942 – March 15, 2021) was a Canadian politician, author and filmmaker. He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1993, and in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1996 to 2001.

Early life and career

Waddell was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on November 21, 1942.[1][2] His family immigrated to Canada when he was five.[3] His father, Jack, worked as an electrician; his mother, Isabel, was employed as a waitress.[4][5] The family moved to the suburbs of Toronto, initially staying in Scarborough, and later moved to Etobicoke.[5] He studied history at the University of Toronto (UT), graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in 1963.[6] After receiving a teaching diploma from the Ontario College of Education that same year, he taught at Western Tech in Toronto.[5][7] He then returned to UT to study law, graduating with an LLB in 1967.[6] Later he studied at the London School of Economics (LSE), from which he received a master's degree in international law.[8][9]

Critical of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Waddell moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he articled at McTaggart, Ellis and Company.[5][7] He worked as assistant city prosecutor for the City of Vancouver from 1971 to 1972, and then as a criminal defence lawyer.[8] Later, as Legal Director at Community Legal Assistance Society, he was counsel on the first successful consumer class action in Canada.[9][10] He went on to be counsel to Justice Tom Berger's landmark Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1974–1977),[3][9][11] before becoming partner at DeCario & Waddell.[10]

Political career

Waddell supported the Liberal Party of Canada in his youth; he joined the Liberal club during his time at UT, and chauffeured party leader Lester Pearson during the 1962 federal election campaign.[5][7] During his time at LSE, he became convinced of the merits of social democracy, and with the realization that the British Columbia Liberal Party had a more conservative stance, he came to support the British Columbia New Democratic Party (BC NDP), canvassing for that party's candidates during the 1969 provincial election.[7]

Waddell won the nomination as a New Democratic Party candidate in 1977,[5] and ran for that party in the 1979 federal election, contesting the riding of Vancouver Kingsway. He won the seat with 45% of the vote, beating incumbent Liberal candidate Simma Holt, and was re-elected Member of Parliament (MP) for that riding in the 1980 and 1984 federal elections.[12] He served as NDP's energy critic at the time of the National Energy Program, before covering other portfolios such as economic development, employment, fisheries and communications.[1]

During the patriation of the Canadian constitution, Waddell participated in drafting Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 and Section 92A of the Constitution Act, 1867;[3][13] the former provides constitutional protection to the indigenous and treaty rights of indigenous peoples in Canada, while the latter gave provinces greater control over non-renewable natural resources.[14]

With the dissolution of Vancouver Kingsway, Waddell instead contested the newly established riding of Port Moody—Coquitlam in the 1988 federal election. He was elected MP for that riding,[15] and served as NDP's justice critic in the 34th Canadian Parliament.[1] Following the resignation of Ed Broadbent as federal NDP leader in 1989, Waddell joined in the leadership race;[16][17] he placed sixth in the first ballot before withdrawing.[18] He sought re-election in Port Moody—Coquitlam in the 1993 federal election, but came in third with 21% of the vote, ending his 14-year career as MP.[15][19]

As a BC NDP candidate in the 1996 provincial election, Waddell was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia to represent the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview, winning by 380 votes.[20] He was appointed Minister of Small Business, Tourism and Culture in February 1998 by Premier Glen Clark.[8] As minister, Waddell was responsible for the first Olympic bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, beating out well financed Calgary and political favourite Quebec City.[9] He brought in a film tax credit, which created a billion dollar film industry in BC.[21] He subsequently served as Minister of Environment, Lands and Parks under Ujjal Dosanjh from November 2000 to April 2001.[8][22] He lost the Vancouver-Fraserview seat to Liberal candidate Ken Johnston in the 2001 provincial election.[20]

In the 2004 federal election, Waddell ran for re-election to Parliament in the reconstituted district of Vancouver Kingsway, losing to Liberal candidate David Emerson.[23][24] At this time, Waddell came out as bisexual.[25][26] In a rematch between the two in the 2006 federal election, Waddell once again lost to Emerson.[27]

After politics

After leaving politics, Waddell worked as a consultant in environmental, governmental and aboriginal affairs.[10][28] He was given the honorary title of Queen's Counsel in December 2013 for his exceptionally meritorious contribution to law.[13] He also became a documentary film producer, winning the Best Producer Award in the 2016 Beverly Hills Film Festival alongside Dylan Playfair and Robert Lang for their film The Drop: Why Young People Don't Vote.[29][30]

Waddell released the political mystery novel A Thirst to Die For in 2002, and published his political memoir Take the Torch in 2018.[28][31] He died on March 15, 2021, at his home in Vancouver from a heart condition at the age of 78.[32][21][33]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Profile - Waddell, Ian Gardiner". Library of Parliament. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  2. ^ Waddell, Ian (2018). Take the Torch. Harbour Publishing. ISBN 9780889711402. On November 21 I celebrated my fifth birthday in my new country...
  3. ^ a b c "Transcript: Ian Waddell: A Life in Progressive Politics". TVO. August 16, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  4. ^ "Ian Waddell fonds". Rare Books and Special Collections. University of British Columbia. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Hopkins, Thomas (October 6, 1980). "Giant-killer in the NDP's fold of young fighters". Maclean's. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Vancouver, BC: Aboriginal Rights in Canada". University of Toronto. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d Waddell, Ian (2018). Take the Torch. Harbour Publishing. ISBN 9780889711402.
  8. ^ a b c d "Hon. Ian Waddell - Members at dissolution of 36th Parliament on April 18, 2001". Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Archived from the original on August 20, 2019. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "Waddell, Ian". MemoryBC. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c "Ian Waddell, Producer and Commentator". Archived from the original on January 18, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
  11. ^ Mulgrew, Ian (December 26, 2012). "Ian Mulgrew: Lawyer's BC Hydro fight was class-action genesis". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  12. ^ "Vancouver Kingsway, British Columbia (1953-06-13 - 1988-09-30)". Library of Parliament. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Queen's counsel designation recognizes leading lawyers". Government of British Columbia. December 11, 2013. Archived from the original on April 5, 2018.
  14. ^ The Constitution Act, 1867, 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on March 14, 2019.
  15. ^ a b "Port Moody--Coquitlam, British Columbia (1988-10-01 - 1998-06-17)". Library of Parliament. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  16. ^ Clark, Marc (September 11, 1989). "Reaching for the ring". Maclean's. Archived from the original on February 6, 2021. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  17. ^ "Before he became provincial NDP leader, Adrian Dix once advised former NDP MP Ian Waddell, above, that he should abandon his bid to lead the federal party. Now Waddell has issued his own scathing account of the party's failed election strategy, writes Sun political affairs columnist Vaughn Palmer". Montreal Gazette. July 31, 2013. Archived from the original on November 16, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  18. ^ Smith, Charlie (April 21, 2018). "Is David Eby aiming to be Vancouver's next prime minister?". The Georgia Straight. Retrieved January 28, 2021. In 1989, former B.C. premier Dave Barrett came second and B.C. MP Ian Waddell came sixth behind Audrey MacLaughlin.
  19. ^ "CBC - Canada Votes 2004". CBC. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  20. ^ a b "Vancouver-Fraserview". CBC News. April 3, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  21. ^ a b DeRosa, Katie (March 16, 2021). "Condolences pour in following the death of former B.C. tourism minister Ian Waddell". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
  22. ^ "NDP cabinet gets a major shake-up". CBC News. November 1, 2000. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  23. ^ "Vancouver Kingsway, British Columbia (1997-04-27 - )". Library of Parliament. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  24. ^ "Vancouver Kingsway". CBC News. September 20, 2010. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  25. ^ Hainsworth, Jeremy (March 17, 2004). "Waddell steps through closet". Xtra West. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  26. ^ "Waddell comes out". Xtra!, March 18, 2004.
  27. ^ "NDP, Liberals in B.C. buck Conservative trend". CBC News. January 23, 2006. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  28. ^ a b Waddell, Ian (September 13, 2013). "Pearson-like diplomat needed today to intervene in Syria". The Hill Times. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  29. ^ "The Drop: Why Young People Don't Vote". TVO. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  30. ^ "Beverly Hills Film Festival Unveils Winners". The Hollywood Reporter. April 11, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  31. ^ "Ian Waddell". iPolitics. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  32. ^ "Remembering the life of Ian Waddell 1942 - 2021".
  33. ^ Fletcher, Tanya (March 16, 2021). "'A big loss for Canada': Former MP and MLA Ian Waddell dies at age 78". CBC News. Retrieved March 16, 2021.
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