Howard McCurdy
Howard Douglas McCurdy is a retired
Canadian politician and university professor.
Born
December 10,
1932, in
London, Ontario, McCurdy studied at the
University of Western Ontario where he received a
Bachelor of Arts and later at Assumption University where he received a
Bachelor of Science. He was awarded a Master of Science and a
Ph.D. in microbiology and chemistry from
Michigan State University. McCurdy has also served for a time as Michigan State University's president of the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
From 1979 to 1984, McCurdy served the city of
Windsor as an
alderman and later joined the
New Democratic Party, eventually becoming the party's first
African-Canadian Member of Parliament. He served as the MP for the
riding of
Windsorâ€"Walkerville from the
1984 election until riding redistribution in
1988. In the
1988 election he was reelected in the new riding of
Windsorâ€"Lake St. Clair, where he served until his defeat in the
1993 federal election. He was also a candidate for the party leadership in the
1989 leadership convention which selected
Audrey McLaughlin.
McCurdy campaigned for the
Ontario New Democratic Party nomination in
Windsorâ€"Sandwich in the buildup to the
1995 provincial election, but was unexpectedly defeated by
Arlene Rousseau. McCurdy had been endorsed by
Premier Bob Rae, while Rousseau was an ally of party dissidents such as
Peter Kormos.
In
2003, he supported
Bill Blaikie's campaign for NDP leader.
