Paul W. Dewar  MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Ottawa Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office  2006 federal election
Preceded by	Ed Broadbent
Born	January 25, 1963 (1963-01-25) (age 46) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Julia Sneyd
Residence	Ottawa
Profession	Labour and social activist, teacher, union officer
Religion	United Church of Canada

Paul W. Dewar (born January 25, 1963 in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian Member of Parliament with the New Democratic Party, teacher and former elected representative of the Ottawa Carleton Elementary School Teachers' Federation. He currently represents the Ottawa Centre constituency, which he has held since first being elected in the 2006 federal election.

The son of former Ottawa mayor and New Democratic Member of Parliament, Marion Dewar, Paul Dewar earned a Bachelor of Education degree from Queen's University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University in political science and economics. Dewar was employed as constituency assistant to Evelyn Gigantes, when she was Ottawa Centre NDP Member of Provincial Parliament from 1990 to 1995.

Prior to entering politics, Dewar taught at D. Roy Kennedy Elementary School and Hopewell Elementary School. He won the A. Lorne Cassidy Award for work with children with special needs. Dewar was also the Vice President of the Ottawa Carleton Elementary School Teachers' Federation and helped establish the teachers' Humanity Fund, providing donations to projects in developing countries. Dewar is married to Julia Sneyd who is also a teacher. They have two children.

In 2002, Dewar organized a Community Forum on Public Education. He was actively involved with the Coalition for a Healthy Ottawa and the Partnership for a Pesticide Bylaw. He served on the board of the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization and is active with the First United Church, Old Ottawa East Community Association and Fair Vote Canada.

Dewar ran for the New Democratic nomination in Ottawa Centre for the 2004 federal election, but lost to former party leader Ed Broadbent^[1]. After losing, he went on to volunteer for Broadbent's successful campaign, playing a major role in organizing the NDP election day effort.

In order to care for his ailing wife, Broadbent decided to decline an opportunity to seek re-election. Dewar won the proceeding nomination contest on June 22, 2005. He defeated returning candidate Jamey Heath, who sought election in 1997, lawyer Tiffani Murray and Ottawa Citizen columnist Shannon Lee Mannion on the first ballot.

Dewar was acclaimed on February 12, 2007 as the New Democrats' candidate for the 2008 federal election. He was re-elected on October 14, 2008 by a substantial margin over his closest challenger, Penny Collenette of the Liberals.

Since February 5, 2009, Dewar has served as the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

[edit] Electoral History

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democrat	Paul Dewar	25,347	39.7	+2.8
	Liberal	Penny Collenette	16,634	26.0	-3.2
	Conservative	Brian McGarry	15,063	23.6	+0.09
	Green	Jennifer Hunter	6,348	9.9	-0.25
	Marijuana	John Andrew Akpata	378	0.6	+0.02
	Marxist-Leninist	Pierre Soublière	93	0.1
Total valid votes			63,863	100
Total rejected ballots
Turnout			63,863/89,385	71.5 %

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democrat	Paul Dewar	24,611	36.93	-4.2
	Liberal	Richard Mahoney	19,458	29.2	-1.9
	Conservative	Keith Fountain	15,126	22.7	+3.7
	Green	David Chernushenko	6,766	10.15	+2.7
	Marijuana	John Akpata	386	0.58	-0.1
	Independent	Anwar Syed	121	0.18
	Communist	Stuart Ryan	102	0.15	+0.1
	Marxist-Leninist	Christian Legeais	68	0.10	0.0

Ottawa Center New Democratic Party Nomination Contest, 2006
Candidate	Residence	June 22, 2005
Tiffani Murray	Ottawa
Jamey Heath	Ottawa
Paul Dewar	Ottawa	X
Shannon Lee Mannion	Ottawa

Ottawa Center New Democratic Party Nomination Contest, 2004
Candidate	Residence	January 20, 2004
Ed Broadbent	Ottawa	X
Paul Dewar	Ottawa

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "Broadbent wins Ottawa Centre nomination". CBC News. 21 January 2004. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2004/01/20/broadbent040129.html. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Dewar

• Website
• Biography on NDP web site
• Parliament webpage
• Riding Association