- Alvin Curling
Alvin Curling (born
November 15 ,1939 in Kingston,Jamaica ) is a prominentBlack Canadian . He wasCanada 's envoy to theDominican Republic until he was recalled by theConservative Government in 2006. A formerpolitician inOntario ,Canada , he was Speaker of theLegislative Assembly of Ontario until he resigned onAugust 19 2005 to accept his diplomatic appointment. He had been a Liberal MPP for twenty years, from 1985 to 2005.Early career
Curling was educated at
Seneca College , andAtkinson College atYork University inToronto . He began working as an educator in 1972, and served as President of the "World Literacy of Canada" organization from 1981 to 1984, as well as working in theJamaican Canadian Association .He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1985 as a Liberal in the suburban Toronto riding of
Scarborough North . Curling defeated Progressive ConservativeCarole Noble by about 8,000 votes. His personal total of 30,504 votes was a provincial record at the time.The Liberals formed a
minority government after this election, and Curling was appointed Minister of Housing onJune 26 ,1985 . He was the first Black Canadian to hold acabinet -level position in Ontario. During his time as minister of Housing, he expanded the parameters of Ontario's rent control program, and announced a $500 million initiative for new urban housing. Curling was easily re-elected in the provincial election of 1987, and was appointed Minister of Skills Development onSeptember 29 ,1987 . He served in this capacity untilAugust 2 ,1989 , when he was dropped from cabinet.In opposition
The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the 1990 election, although Curling managed to retain his riding by about 4,000 votes. He was also re-elected without much difficulty in the face of Progressive Conservative
majority government s of 1995 and 1999 (on the latter occasion, he was re-elected in the redistributed riding ofScarborough—Rouge River ). From 1996 to 1999, he served as DeputyHouse Leader for the Liberals.In 1995, he gained notoriety for his 18-hour
filibuster -like protest against theMike Harris government's Omnibus Bill 26. When Curling was ordered expelled from the legislature for using what was judged to beunparliamentary language , he refused to leave his seat, and a knot of fellow Liberal and NDP opposition members formed a cordon around him to prevent his physical removal. Reports stated that when legislature staff sawFrances Lankin , NDP MPP and a former prison guard, among the cordon, they backed off. Curling claimed his protest was meant to highlight a lack of public consultation in the Harris government's bill.Curling supported
Joseph Cordiano for the Ontario Liberal Party leadership in 1996 ("Ottawa Citizen", 21 November 1996).peaker of the Legislature
The Liberals returned to power following the provincial election of 2003, and Curling was elected Speaker of the Legislature without opposition on
November 19 ,2003 .Curling soon faced criticism over how objectively he was performing his duties as Speaker. Opposition MPPs, including New Democrat
Peter Kormos and Conservative John Baird, suggested that Curling favoured his Liberal colleagues, sanctioning Conservative and NDP members for behaviour he would more often let slide from Liberals. Curling had also been criticized for attending Liberal Party fundraiser while Speaker as previous Speakers had avoided attending such events. In late March 2005, Kormos announced plans to introduce a resolution calling on Curling to resign from the post, and it was rumoured Conservatives were considering a similar call.Curling resigned his seat in the Legislative Assembly on
August 19 ,2005 to accept a diplomatic posting as Canada's ambassador to the Dominican Republic. He was recalled from this position in 2006 [http://www.thecaribbeancamera.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=651&Itemid=2] .In the mid-2000s, Curling was honoured by the government of Jamaica with a Rank of Distinction. He holds the title of Commander.
ee also
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