Provincial Politics
He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as an Ontario New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the 1967 provincial election representing the Hamilton-area riding of Wentworth.
In 1970, Deans broke with most of his colleagues by expressing support for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's implementation of the War Measures Act during the FLQ Crisis.
In 1978, he ran in the Ontario NDP leadership convention to succeed Stephen Lewis. Deans' earlier support for the War Measures Act became a point of contention and he recanted his position saying he was wrong and had regretted it ever since. Initially projected to be the frontrunner, he lost by less than 200 votes to Michael Cassidy. Deans resigned from the legislature the next year.
Read more about this topic: Ian Deans
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