# Tony Grande

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"Anthony Grande" redirects here. For American businessman, see [Anthony L. Grande](/source/Anthony_L._Grande).

**Anthony William Grande** (January 11, 1943 – August 9, 2006) was a politician in [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada. He served in the [Legislative Assembly of Ontario](/source/Legislative_Assembly_of_Ontario) from 1975 to 1987, as a member of the [New Democratic Party](/source/New_Democratic_Party_of_Ontario) who represented the [Toronto](/source/Toronto) riding of [Oakwood](/source/Oakwood_(provincial_electoral_district)).

## Background

Grande was born in [Calabria](/source/Calabria), Italy, and moved to Canada with his family at age eleven.[1] He was educated at the [University of Toronto](/source/University_of_Toronto), [Lakeshore Teachers College](/source/Lakeshore_Teachers_College) and the [Ontario Institute for Studies in Education](/source/Ontario_Institute_for_Studies_in_Education), and worked as a teacher with the [Toronto District School Board](/source/Toronto_District_School_Board). Prior to his election, he was teacher liaison chair for the New Democratic Party.[2]

In 1974 he married Helen Schlanger. They had three children: Aaron David (1977), Daniel Robert (1979) and Laura Simone (1983). He died of cancer on August 9, 2006, following a four-year illness.

## Politics

Grande was elected to the Ontario legislature in the [1975 provincial election](/source/1975_Ontario_general_election), and re-elected in [1977](/source/1977_Ontario_general_election), [1981](/source/1981_Ontario_general_election) and [1985](/source/1985_Ontario_general_election). He served as NDP education critic in the early 1980s, and was reassigned as critic for citizenship, culture and special issues of education in 1983.[3][4]

Grande supported [Bob Rae](/source/Bob_Rae)'s successful campaign for the NDP leadership in 1982, and was subsequently asked to relinquish his seat to allow Rae to run for a position in the legislature. He declined, arguing that the local Italian community in his riding would be upset if he were forced to resign in favour of a non-Italian.[5][6][7]

Grande was a strong advocate for multiculturalism and multicultural services during his time. He supported minority language rights in education, and in 1986 he introduced a [Private Member's Bill](/source/Private_Member's_Bill) that would have made it easier for students to be taught in languages other than English or French.[8][9] The bill died on the order paper when a new election was called in 1987. Grande was also an advocate for labour, and successfully represented three workers from a [North York, Ontario](/source/North_York) factory before the [Ontario Labour Relations Board](/source/Ontario_Labour_Relations_Board) in 1979–80.[10][11] He also supported the rights of [tenants](/source/Leasehold_estate), and promoted legislation to permit persons over sixteen years of age to gain access to their medical records.[12][13]

The [Progressive Conservative Party](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Ontario), which had governed Ontario since 1943, was reduced to a [minority government](/source/Minority_government) in the 1985 election. After the election, the NDP provided outside support to allow the [Liberal Party](/source/Ontario_Liberal_Party) to form a new administration. The Liberal government was still popular in office after two years, and won a landslide majority government in the [1987 election](/source/1987_Ontario_general_election). Grande lost his seat to Liberal star candidate [Chaviva Hošek](/source/Chaviva_Ho%C5%A1ek), and worked as a health and safety officer after leaving office.[14][15]

He campaigned for [Mayor of York](/source/Mayor_of_York,_Ontario) in [1988](/source/1988_Toronto_municipal_election), describing the city's government as a "family compact" and promising to fight for an increased share of [Metropolitan Toronto](/source/Metropolitan_Toronto)'s tax base.[16][17] He lost to moderate Tory candidate [Fergy Brown](/source/Fergy_Brown).

## Electoral record

All provincial election information is taken from [Elections Ontario](/source/Elections_Ontario).

## References

1. Trueman, Mary (November 22, 1975). "New Democrat focuses on immigration". *The Globe and Mail*. p. 5.

1. "123 candidates seeking Metro's 29 seats". *Toronto Star*. September 12, 1975. p. A8.

1. Matas, Robert (January 12, 1982). "Ontario private schools given tax break". *The Globe and Mail*. p. P5.

1. "NDP member to study poverty". *The Globe and Mail*. September 20, 1983. p. P5.

1. Steed, Judy (February 2, 1982). "The NDP's optimistic scramble for a high-profile winner". *The Globe and Mail*. p. P7.

1. Stead, Sylvia (June 23, 1982). "MPPs sitting tight as Rae searches for place to run". *The Globe and Mail*. p. P5.

1. Dowd, Eric (January 25, 2005). "Perhaps Ticketmaster could find Tory a seat". *Guelph Mercury*. p. A8.

1. Trueman, Mary (November 22, 1975). "New Democrat focuses on immigration". *The Globe and Mail*. p. 5.

1. Brown, Louise (February 2, 1987). "Battle looms over language in our schools". *Toronto Star*. p. A14.

1. Strauss, Stephen (February 5, 1980). "Don't want jobs back for spite, 2 dismissed workers tell board". *The Globe and Mail*. p. P5.

1. "Three women win 2-year fight to be rehired by toy company". *The Globe and Mail*. March 28, 1980. p. P3.

1. Lesjak, Susan (April 17, 1986). "Vaughan Road tenants fight eviction notices". *The Globe and Mail*. p. A15.

1. Lipovenko, Dorothy (November 8, 1984). "Bill would open files for patients". *The Globe and Mail*. p. M5.

1. "Results from individual ridings". *The Windsor Star*. September 11, 1987. p. F2.

1. Henton, Darcy (November 7, 1988). "Close race shapes up in smallest city". *Toronto Star*. p. A6.

1. Taylor, Paul (September 9, 1988). "York dying of neglect, says Grande in launching bid to be next mayor". *The Globe and Mail*. p. A15.

1. Watson, Paul & Byers, Jim (November 10, 1988). "Dumping cover-up alleged". *Toronto Star*. p. A7.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tony Grande](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Grande) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Grande?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.