Fred Young

Fred Matthews Young (died December 1993) was a Canadian politician, ordained minister and long time organizer for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF).

After working as a minister in the United Church of Canada, Young was drawn to politics.

Young worked in the 1940s and 1950s as an organizer for the CCF though technically he was a staff representative for the United Steel Workers of America and seconded to the party travelling throughout Atlantic Canada and Ontario on party work.

In 1953, he ran for the leadership of the Ontario CCF, losing by six votes to Donald C. MacDonald in the CCF leadership convention. He won election to the town council of North York, Ontario. He attempted on several occasions to win a seat for the CCF and its successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP) either at the federal or provincial level. He won election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1963 provincial election for the North York riding of Yorkview. Young sat as an Ontario New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from 1963 until 1981.

As a legislator, Young fought for highway safety and mandatory use of seat belts. He was also an early advocate of airbags. [http://www.ontla.on.ca/french/hansard/house_debates/35_parl/session3/l098a.htm#P147_34083]

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