Bruce McCaffrey | |
|---|---|
| Ontario MPP | |
| In office 1977–1987 | |
| Preceded by | Philip Givens |
| Succeeded by | Riding abolished |
| Constituency | Armourdale |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bruce Robert McCaffrey (1938-09-23)September 23, 1938 |
| Died | August 9, 2002(2002-08-09) (aged 63) |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Ilonka van Steenwyk (div.) Deb Matthews |
| Occupation | Teacher, investment consultant |
Bruce Robert McCaffrey (September 23, 1938 – August 9, 2002) was apolitician inOntario, Canada. He served in theLegislative Assembly of Ontario from 1977 to 1987 as aProgressive Conservative, and was acabinet minister in the government ofBill Davis.
McCaffrey was born inSouth Porcupine,Ontario. He was educated at theUniversity of Toronto. He worked as a teacher, and then entered the investment business. He was first married to Ilonka van Steenwyk with whom he had two children.[1] In 1990, he relocated toLondon, Ontario where he marriedDeb Matthews in 1995. McCaffrey and Matthews were separated at the time of his death in 2002.[2]
In 1968, McCaffrey attempted to win theProgressive Conservative nomination to run in the June federal election but lost to Kechin Wang. Wang went on to lose the election against incumbentSteve Otto.[3][4]
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the1977 provincial election, defeatingLiberal candidate Des Newman in theToronto riding ofArmourdale.[5] He was re-elected in1981 and1985.[6][7]
On April 10, 1981, McCaffrey was appointed to Davis's government as aminister without portfolio.[8] On February 13, 1982, he was promoted toMinister of Citizenship and Culture.[9] On July 6, 1983, he was assigned to the post ofProvincial Secretary for Social Development.[10] He also served asMinister of Community and Social Services from September 29 to November 21, 1983. He briefly took on the extra responsibility whileFrank Drea was hospitalized with circulation problems.[11] On November 24, he was hospitalized for chest pains and he resigned from cabinet on December 23, 1983.[12][13]
McCaffrey supportedLarry Grossman at the Progressive Conservative Party's leadership convention of February 1985.[14] Grossman lost toFrank Miller on the final ballot, and McCaffrey was not appointed to Miller's cabinet.[15]
The Progressive Conservative Party, which had governed Ontario since 1943, was reduced to a precariousminority government in the1985 provincial election. McCaffrey was narrowly re-elected in Armourdale, defeating LiberalGino Matrundola by only 122 votes.[7] Following the election, he publicly called on Miller to resign as party leader if the government is defeated on a confidence motion.[14] Miller resigned before the year was over, and Grossman was chosen to take his place in November.
McCaffrey did not seek re-election in the1987 campaign.[16]
| Davis ministry,Province of Ontario (1971-1985) | ||
| Cabinet posts (3) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Margaret Birch | Provincial Secretary for Social Development 1983 (July–December) | Gordon Dean |
| New Ministry | Minister of Citizenship and Culture 1982–1983 | Susan Fish |
| Sub-Cabinet Post | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| Minister without portfolio (1981–1982) | ||
After leaving politics, he entered graduate studies at theUniversity of Western Ontario. He died in 2002 after a very brief illness, shortly after completing the requirements for a Master of Arts degree in history. The Department of History at the University of Western Ontario now operates a Bruce McCaffrey Memorial Graduate Student Seminar Series named in his honour.[17]