Carolann Wright

Last updated
Carolann Wright
Born1957
Beechville, Nova Scotia
Nationality Canadian
Education York University
OccupationCommunity Organizer
Known for 1988 Toronto municipal election

Carolann Wright is a Canadian activist and politician. Born in Nova Scotia, Wright lived in Toronto's Regent Park neighbourhood in the 1980s, where she was chair of the community residents association. [1]

Wright was born the eldest of eight children in Beechville, Nova Scotia, a small Black community outside of Halifax, Nova Scotia where her family had lived since the 1800s. After attending Dalhousie University, she moved to Toronto in the 1970s to study commerce at York University. [2] As a result of a failed relationship, she ended up homeless and living in a homeless shelter before re-establishing herself in the Regent Park neighbourhood of Toronto. She ultimately graduated from York, and found a job as a community worker running computer literacy classes for underprivileged children. [3] [4]

She ran against sitting mayor Art Eggleton in the 1988 Toronto municipal election, [5] placing second with 17% of the vote. [2] Her campaign was organized by the Basic Action Poverty Group, a group of church and community workers, and supported by "Reform Toronto", a coalition of community activists that included sitting city councillor Jack Layton and Metro Toronto councillor Roger Hollander and former councillors William Kilbourn and Allan Sparrow/ She ran on a platform of raising welfare payments by 25%, an amnesty for illegal apartments, more rooming houses.

She was the first woman of colour to run for the office, and the last prominent contender until Olivia Chow ran in 2015. [4] Wright's campaign was endorsed by Reform Toronto and the Basic Action Poverty Group. Wright ran on advocated raising increasing welfare payments by 25%, licensing more rooming houses in the city, and legalizing "illegal" apartments in subdivided houses [4]

Two years later, she ran in the 1990 Ontario general election against Ian Scott for MP of St. George—St. David, losing the election by 65 votes, after a recount. [6] [7] [1] [5]

In the mid-1990s, she left Toronto and moved back to Nova Scotia where she has worked for a series of community organizations in Halifax, and is currently director of community economic development and strategic engagement for African Nova Scotian communities for the Halifax Regional Municipality's economic development organization, Halifax Partnership. [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Layton</span> Canadian politician (1950–2011)

John Gilbert Layton was a Canadian academic and politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011 and leader of the Official Opposition in 2011. He previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. Layton was the member of Parliament (MP) for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexa McDonough</span> Canadian politician (1944–2022)

Alexa Ann McDonough was a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Nova Scotia, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's (NSNDP) leader in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nova Scotia New Democratic Party</span> Political party in Canada

The Nova Scotia New Democratic Party is a social democratic, progressive provincial party in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the provincial entity of the federal New Democratic Party (NDP). It was founded as the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1932, and became the New Democratic Party in 1961. It became the governing party of Nova Scotia following the 2009 Nova Scotia election, winning 31 seats in the Legislature, under the leadership of Premier Darrell Dexter. It is the first New Democratic Party in Atlantic Canada to form a government, and the second to form a government in a province east of Manitoba. The party lost government at the 2013 election, losing 24 seats, including Dexter's seat. Gary Burrill, the party’s leader from 2016 to 2022, is credited with bringing the party back to its left-wing roots. The party currently holds six seats in the Legislature and has been led by Claudia Chender since June 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halifax (federal electoral district)</span> Federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada

Halifax is a federal electoral district in Nova Scotia, Canada. It is one of a handful of ridings which has been represented continuously in the House of Commons since Confederation in 1867.

Evelyn Adelaide Gigantes is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on three occasions between 1975 and 1995 and was a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae.

Yvonne Atwell is a Canadian community activist, former provincial politician and former hospital administrator. She is known for being the first Black woman elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Judi Ann T. McLeod is a Canadian journalist. Formerly a reporter for a series of newspapers in Ontario, she now operates the conservative website, Canada Free Press (CFP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1988 Toronto municipal election</span>

The 1988 Toronto municipal election was held to elect members of municipal councils, school boards, and hydro commissions in the six municipalities that made up Metropolitan Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The election was held November 14, 1988. This election also marked the abolition of Boards of Control in North York, Etobicoke, Scarborough, and York. The Toronto Board of Control had been abolished in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Wright (politician)</span>

Nicholas dePencier Wright is a Canadian business lawyer and politician. He was the founding leader of the Green Party of Nova Scotia and was the founding Executive Director of the Canadian animal advocacy organization Animal Justice. He is currently founder and CEO of foreign affairs publication Geopolitical Monitor and was an elected member ("Bencher") of the governing body of the Law Society of Ontario (2019-2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul MacEwan</span> Canadian politician

Paul MacEwan was a politician from Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. His 33 years in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly made him the longest continuous serving Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in Nova Scotia history. He was a contentious politician, who seemed to court controversy. So much so, he was kicked out of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party (NDP) while he was a sitting member of the assembly in 1980 and caused them to lose official party status without him. He formed his own political party, the Cape Breton Labour Party, to contest the 1984 provincial election. He served one-term as its leader, before the party disintegrated because of financial issues. He eventually joined the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, and became a Liberal member of the legislature. In 1993, he became the Speaker of the House of Assembly. His term as the speaker was marked with many controversies around bias and partisanship. His final years in the legislature saw him take prominent roles as Party Whip for the Liberals. After several health issues, he decided to not run for office again in 2003. He retired and lived another 14 years before finally succumbing to health issues in 2017, at age 74 in Sydney.

John Edgar Holm is a Canadian politician from Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia in the Halifax Regional Municipality. He represented the electoral districts of Sackville, and Sackville-Cobequid in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1984 to 2003 as a member of the New Democratic Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Leslie</span> Canadian politician (born 1973)

Megan Anissa Leslie is a Canadian politician and environmental advocate. She is the president and CEO of World Wildlife Fund Canada (WWFC) and on the advisory board of the Leaders' Debates Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Toronto municipal election</span>

Municipal elections were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on December 1, 1969. Across Metro Toronto there were few surprising results, and city of Toronto incumbent mayor William Dennison was easily re-elected. The one dramatic exception to this was on Toronto city council, where a number of long-standing members lost to young new arrivals who shared a common vision of opposition to the megaprojects that had transformed Toronto throughout the post-war period. While the reform movement candidate for mayor lost, it gained a strong presence on city council. The 1970s reform faction dominated Toronto politics for the next decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Burrill</span> Canadian politician (born 1955)

Gary Clayton Burrill is a Canadian politician and was the leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party from 2016 until 2022. He served as leader during two Nova Scotia general elections in 2017 and 2021. He announced he'd be stepping down as leader after the 2021 election and was succeeded by Claudia Chender on June 25, 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Jones</span> Canadian politician

Burnley Allan "Rocky" Jones was an African-Nova Scotian and an internationally known political activist in the areas of human rights, race and poverty. He came to prominence first as a member of the Student Union for Peace Action (SUPA) during the 1960s and then as a civil rights activist, community organizer, educator, and lawyer.

Mary Vingoe is a Canadian playwright, actress, and theatre director. Vingoe was one of the co-founders of Canadian feminist theatre company Nightwood Theatre and later co-founded Ship's Company Theatre in Parrsboro and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax. From 2002 to 2007, Vingoe was artistic director of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. Vingoe is an Officer of the Order of Canada and received the Portia White Prize. Her play Refuge was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 2016 Governor General's Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudia Chender</span> Canadian politician

Claudia Chender is a Canadian politician, and leader of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party since June 25, 2022. She was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2017 general election, and re-elected in the 2021 general election. She represents the electoral district of Dartmouth South.

Anne Bishop is a Canadian lesbian activist, educator, grassroots organizer and LGBT rights advocate.

Bonnie Briggs (1952/1953-2017) was a Canadian affordable housing advocate and poet. She created the Toronto Homeless Memorial in 1997.

References

  1. 1 2 Caplan, Gerald (August 26, 1990). "Two politicians with integrity" . Toronto Star, pg B3. ProQuest   436250066 . Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  2. 1 2 Hurst, Lynda. "Carolann Wright: Challenging the status quo on all fronts" . Toronto Star, pg B5. ProQuest   436660507 . Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  3. ↑ McLeod, Bruce (November 4, 1988). "Folk hero activist takes on Eggleton" . Toronto Star, pg A21. ProQuest   435821038 . Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 "Toronto's First Black Female (Almost) Mayor: An Interview with Carolann Wright-Parks". The Ethnic Aisle. October 6, 2014. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Reid, Susan (August 8, 1990). "Poverty fighter challenging Scott" . Toronto Star, pg A9. ProQuest   436253600 . Retrieved November 26, 2022.
  6. ↑ Steele, Scott; Quinn, Hal (1993-04-12). "Rebuking the NDP". Macleans. Archived from the original on 2022-11-22. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  7. ↑ "NDP wants recount in riding Ian Scott won by small margin" . Toronto Star. 1990-09-14. pp. A11. ProQuest   436264265 . Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  8. ↑ "Meet our team". Halifax Partnership. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  9. ↑ "Carolann Wright". Art of City Building. Retrieved 2022-12-03.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.