Harriet Wolman

Harriet Wolman is a former politician and administrator in Ontario, Canada. She served as chair of the York Borough Board of Education in the late 1970s, and later campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Wolman is a legal conveyancer in private life. She was elected to the York Borough Board of Education for the city's second ward in 1974, and was named chairman of the board after being re-elected without opposition two years later. [Beverly Bowen, "Example of resurgence Liberals see hope in Oakwood", "Globe and Mail", 19 April 1985, M3.] Shortly after her appointment, she argued that the board should play a stronger role in fighting racism in Toronto. ["Schools must fight racism, chairman says", "Toronto Star", 10 January 1977, A1.]

She later defended the purchase of a $250,000 country camp in 1978, arguing that the board had previously spent large sums of money to rent other facilities for outdoor studies. ["Only money", "Globe and Mail", 22 February 1978, P6.] Endorsed for re-election by the "Globe and Mail" newspaper in 1978, she was narrowly returned despite the controversy over the board's purchase. ["Gems are scarce for trustee electors", "Globe and Mail", 8 November 1978, P6.] She was not re-appointed as chairman.

Wolman campaigned for the York Board of Control in 1980, but was defeated. [Had Wolman been elected, she would have supported Paul Godfrey's re-election as Metro Chair. See Alden Barker, "The chairman, again", "Globe and Mail", 4 November 1980, P4.] A newspaper report from this electoral cycle lists her as forty-five years old. [Metro Election 1980, "Toronto Star", 8 November 1980, A9.] She later served as special assistant to Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Larry Grossman. [Geoffrey York & Robert MacLeod, "Decline in Tory popularity evident in NDP bid for High Park-Swansea ", "Globe and Mail", 3 May 1985, P15.]

In 1981, Wolman was commissioned to conduct an inventory of Toronto-area youth training programs. ["Wolman to study training programs", "Globe and Mail", 13 May 1981, C10.] Her report, presented in April 1982, argued that people between 16 and 24 had been ignored by government and industry, and cautioned that poor prospects for 50,000 unskilled and unemployed people in Toronto could result in civil disobedience. The report was completed following interviews with over 500 young people. [Alden Baker, "Programs criticized", "Globe and Mail", 6 April 1982, P5.]

Wolman campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1981 and 1985 as a Progressive Conservative candidate, but lost both times to New Democratic Party incumbent Tony Grande. She was later appointed to the Canadian government's Convention Refugee Determination Division in Toronto. [Dale Anne Freed, "'Outspoken' Somali journalist wins asylum bid", "Toronto Star", 11 June 1997, A10; "Appointments To The Immigration And Refugee Board ", "Canada NewsWire", 30 October 1997, 16:19 report.] She was also the chairman of the public affairs committee of the Ontario Long Term Residential Care Association, and managing director of a retirement home. [ [http://www.ontla.on.ca/hansard/committee_debates/35_parl/session1/justice/j075.htm Ontario Legislature, Standing Committee on Administration of Justice, 9 March 1992] .]

In 2006, she criticized the Canadian Union of Public Employees's decision to sponsor a boycott of Israel. [Harriet Wolman, "The resolutions CUPE didn't endorse", "National Post", 13 June 2006, A25.]

Electoral Record

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