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Arnold Peters

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Arnold Peters
Member of Parliament
for Timiskaming
In office
1957–1980
Preceded byAnn Shipley
Succeeded byBruce Lonsdale
Personal details
BornMay 14, 1922
Uno Park, Ontario, Canada
DiedSeptember 17, 1996(1996-09-17) (aged 74)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Political partyCo-operative Commonwealth FederationNew Democratic Party

William Arnold Peters (May 14, 1922 – September 17, 1996) was a Canadian politician. He represented the riding of Timiskaming in the House of Commons of Canada from 1957 to 1980. He was originally elected as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which became the New Democratic Party in 1961.

Peters, a hard rock miner and union organizer, served in the 124th Ferry Squadron in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He also ran in the 1953 election against Karl Eyre in the Timmins riding, but was not elected.

In Parliament, Peters and his caucus colleague Frank Howard were responsible for reforming Canada's divorce laws. In many provinces, divorce proceedings once had to be presented to Parliament for approval; Peters and Howard tried to show the ridiculousness of this by reading each divorce petition into the Commons record in great detail. Peters was also active in prison reform, and regularly lobbied for fairer treatment of non-unionized government employees. He also prepared a private member's bill in 1964 to decriminalize homosexuality in Canada, although the bill never made it to a vote in the House of Commons.[1]

In the 1980 election, Peters was defeated by Liberal candidate Bruce Lonsdale. Lonsdale died in office just two years later; Peters ran again in the resulting by-election, but was not re-elected.

On September 19, 1996, two days after his death, tributes to Peters were delivered in the House of Commons by Bill Blaikie, Diane Marleau and Ed Harper.

Electoral record

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1953 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Liberal Karl EYRE 5,541
  Co-operative Commonwealth Arnold PETERS 4,686
  Progressive Conservative Maurice BÉLANGER 3,348
Labor–Progressive Oscar ROY 369
1957 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Co-operative Commonwealth Arnold PETERS 6,936
  Liberal Ann SHIPLEY 6,896
  Progressive Conservative C. Foster RICE 5,645
1958 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Co-operative Commonwealth Arnold PETERS 7,544
  Progressive Conservative C. Foster RICE 7,318
  Liberal Ted J. MIRON 6,118
1962 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 7,055
  Progressive Conservative Joseph MAVRINAC 6,053
  Liberal Ann SHIPLEY 5,969
Social Credit Gérard MICHAUD 2,665
1963 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 7,356
  Liberal Mervyn LAVIGNE 6,763
  Progressive Conservative John CRAM 5,540
Social Credit Camil SAMSON 2,033
1965 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 9,986
  Liberal Mervyn LAVIGNE 5,885
  Progressive Conservative Bruce BESLEY 3,823
1968 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 8,482
  Liberal Louis-R. VANNIER 7,728
  Progressive Conservative George L. CASSIDY 4,443
Social Credit Alcide-J. HAMELIN 288
1972 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 11,327
  Liberal Dick DUFF 7,768
  Progressive Conservative Alf GUPPY 3,317
Social Credit Albert BRETON 718
1974 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 10,263
  Liberal Guy IANNUCCI 6,598
  Progressive Conservative Murray WATTS 4,615
Social Credit Maurice CURE 492
1979 Canadian federal election: Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes %
New Democratic Arnold Peters 11,595 40.64
Liberal Pierre Bélanger 10,900 38.20
Progressive Conservative Grant Sirola 6,036 21.16
Total valid votes 28,531 100.00
Total rejected ballots 149
Turnout 28,680 77.40
Electors on the lists 37,053
Source: Report of the Chief Electoral Officer, Thirty-first General Election, 1979.
1980 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
  Liberal Bruce LONSDALE 11,135
  New Democratic Party Arnold PETERS 10,661
  Progressive Conservative Grant SIROLA 4,901
Marxist–Leninist Claudia IRONS 93


Canadian federal by-election, October 12, 1982: Timiskaming
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative John MacDougall 9,029 35.74
Liberal Pierre Bélanger 8,341 33.02
New Democratic Arnold Peters 7,654 30.30
Independent Richard Peever 236 0.93
Total valid votes 25,260 100.00
Total rejected ballots 111
Turnout 25,371 69.00
Electors on the lists 36,771
Called after Mr. Lonsdale's death.

References

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  1. ^ Donald W. McLeod, Lesbian and Gay Liberation in Canada: A Selected Annotated Chronology, 1964-1975. ECW Press, 1996. ISBN 1-55022-273-2.
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