Background
Paul Dewar was born in Ottawa, Ontario on January 25, 1963 to parents Ken Dewar and former Ottawa mayor and New Democratic Member of Parliament, Marion Dewar. When he was in grade three, Dewar was diagnosed with dyslexia, after his teacher noticed that he was struggling to read and write. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University in political science and economics in 1985.
Not long after he completed his Bachelor of Arts, Dewar embarked on a five-month trip to Nicaragua, where he volunteered as an aid worker. Following his return to Ottawa, he began working as constituency assistant to Ontario Minister of Health and NDP Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre, Evelyn Gigantes. Dewar served in this position from 1990 to 1995. It was during this time that he met his wife, Julia Sneyd. They later had two children together: Nathaniel and Daniel.
Dewar attained a Bachelor of Education degree from Queen's University in 1994. He went on to work as an elementary school teacher at D. Roy Kennedy Public School and as an English teacher at Hopewell Avenue Public School. His work with students with special needs led Queen's University to award him the A. Lorne Cassidy award.
While working at the schools, Dewar became involved with his union, the Ottawa-Carleton Elementary Teachers' Federation (OCETF; a local of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario). After having served as a member of OCETF Executive and as the chair of their political action committee, he was elected Second Vice-President in 2001 and First Vice-President in 2004. During his time with the union, Dewar played a major role in reviving the OCETF's political action committee and in establishing the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario's Humanity Fund, which provides financial support to various charities doing work in developing countries, such as the Stephen Lewis Foundation. He took a leave of absence from his position with the OCETF in 2006 to run in that year's federal election.
In 2002, Dewar organized a Community Forum on Public Education. He has also been actively involved with the Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa, the Partnership for a Pesticide Bylaw, the Old Ottawa East Community Association, and Fair Vote Canada, and he has served on the board of directors of the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization.
Dewar was raised in a Catholic household, but he takes issue with the church's positions on same-sex marriage, birth control, and women's rights. He has been active with First United Church since 2001.
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