Progressive Conservative Party candidates, 1985 Ontario provincial election

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario ran a full slate of candidates in the 1985 provincial election, and won 52 seats out of 130 to win a minority government. They were defeated in the legislature shortly after the election. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.

=Harriet Wolman (Oakwood)=

Wolman received 4,636 votes (18.54%), finishing third against New Democratic Party incumbent Tony Grande.

=Elaine Herzog (St. Catharines)=

Herzog had been a regional councillor and chair of the local Board of Education before campaigning for provincial office. In 1985, she criticized the regional government of St. Catharines for being unable to reform itself, and bring about efficiencies. [Rudy Platiel, "Marriage didn't bring love to regional government", "Globe and Mail", 16 August 1985.] She received 9,029 votes (25.39%) in 1987, finishing second against Liberal incumbent Jim Bradley.

During a legislative speech in 2001, Bradley described Herzog as a "top-notch person" and a moderate Conservative in the Bill Davis model. He also argued that she would have opposed the education polices of the Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government. [http://www.ontla.on.ca/hansard/house_debates/37_parl/Session2/L031B.htm]

Toomas Ounapuu (York South)

Ounapuu was born in Sweden to an Estonian family, and moved to Canada in 1950. He was an Assistant Crown Attorney in York, Ontario during the 1970s, and was appointed by provincial Attorney General Roy McMurtry to shut down the unlicensed body-rub parlours on Yonge Street in 1977. He was successful, saying that "there wasn't a bawdy house left" when he finished his work. [Mary Gooderham, "Beating NDP's Rae like 'giant-killing,' Conservative says", "Globe and Mail", 8 April 1985, M5.] Ounapuu took a two-year leave of absence to work as a prosecutor in Hamilton, Bermuda in 1978, and became a criminal lawyer following his return to Canada. ["He's prosecuting in Bermuda", "Globe and Mail", 26 April 1978, P4.] He has participated in several notable cases, and as of 2006 is representing former Toronto City Councillor Steve Ellis against high-profiles charges of misconduct. [Peter Brieger, "Immigration judge charged in sex scandal", "National Post", 13 October 2006, A6.]

Ounapuu ran for the Toronto Board of Education in 1982, and was defeated. He was 38 years old in 1985.

The 1982 municipal result is taken from the "Toronto Star", 9 November 1982, B4, with 138 of 140 polls reporting.

Footnotes