| Sid Ryan |
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Ryan has been involved with CUPE since 1976 , when he began working for Ontario Hydro . He is an intense and charismatic speaker, known for his fiery opposition to right-wing and anti-union politicians and governments. He was a particularly vocal opponent of former Ontario Premier Mike Harris during the late 1990s, and helped to coordinate several actions by the labour movement against Harris's government. In 2002 , his union launched a successful legal challenge against the government of Ernie Eves which helped stop the privatization of Ontario Hydro. Ryan's enemies have accused him of being a Demagogue . Some, noting his support for groups such as the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty , have also accused him of being too far to the left. In addition to his union activities, Ryan has been involved with the New Democratic Party since the 1980s. He has served on the Ontario NDP 's provincial council and Environment committee, and was president of the Durham Centre riding association for a time. Ryan's affiliation with the Ontario NDP became tenuous in the early 1990s, when the party moved to the right under Bob Rae 's leadership. On one occasion, he referred to the Rae government's '' Social Contract '' bill as the most anti-labour piece of legislation he had ever seen. He has since re-aligned himself with the provincial party under Howard Hampton 's leadership. Ryan has stood as an NDP candidate in one provincial and three federal election campaigns, but has not to date won election to a legislative body. He contested Scarborough Centre in the 1999 Provincial Election , and finished third behind Progressive Conservative incumbent Marilyn Mushinski and Liberal Costas Manios . In the 2003 Provincial Election , he campaigned in Oshawa and came within 1,109 votes of defeating PC incumbent Jerry Ouellette . Ryan's nomination in the former campaign was controversial. The local NDP association had planned to nominate Tarek Fatah , and Ryan's late entry into the race caused considerable division. Despite a post-nomination endorsement from Fatah, the riding association played little role in the campaign which followed. By contrast, Ryan's candidacy in the 2003 campaign occurred with the full support of Oshawa's NDP association. Ryan stood as a candidate for Oshawa in the 2004 Federal Election , and lost to Conservative Colin Carrie by 463 votes in a very close three-way race. He ran again in the 2006 election, but, despite considerable support from the federal NDP leader Jack Layton, lost by 2802 votes to incumbent Carrie. On more than one occasion, Ryan's election losses have been cited as proof of the dangers of Tactical Voting . After the 2004 election, a poll in Oshawa found that the number of voters who initially planned to vote for Ryan, but then decided to support the Liberals late in the campaign to prevent a Conservative victory, significantly exceeded the narrow margin of Ryan's loss. Ironically, of course, this resulted in the election of a Conservative candidate. |
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