Home > Frances Lankin

A prison guard by training, Lankin became a leader in her trade union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union as well as in the Ontario New Democratic Party. She was also involved in community issues as an advocate for improved child care and pay equity between women and men.

She ran for and won a seat in the Ontario legislature in the 1990 Ontario election as the NDP MPP for the Toronto riding of Beaches-Woodbine. The NDP under Bob Rae won a landslide victory province-wide and formed government for the first time in the party's history. Lankin became a senior cabinet minister serving as Minister of Government Services and Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet. In 1991 she became Minister of Health and from 1993 until the government's defeat in the 1995 Ontario election she served as Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Following Rae's resignation as NDP leader, Lankin ran to succeed him in the 1996 NDP leadership convention. She was the favourite to succeed Rae and was strongly supported by senior members of the Rae government and the party "establishment".

Her identification with the Rae government and the party establishment ended up hurting her among delegates who had been disappointed by the 1990 to 1995 NDP government, particularly after candidate Peter KormosPeter Kormos (born October 7, 1952 in Welland, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. A former lawyer, he was first elected as an MPP to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as candidate of the New Democratic Party in the riding of Welland in a by-el attacked her during the leadership debate accusing her of bearing responsibility for the " social contractSocial contract is a phrase used in philosophy, political science, and sociology to denote a real or hypothetical agreement within a state regarding the rights and responsibilities of the state and its citizens, or more generally a similar concord between" that forced open collective bargaining agreements with public sector unions and was deeply unpopular with labour and for the Rae government's abandonment of its promise to institute a publicly run auto insurance system. Howard HamptonHoward Hampton (born May 17, 1952) is the leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (NDP) and a Member of Provincial Parliament from the northern riding of Kenora--Rainy River. He was born in Fort Frances, Ontario to a blue collar family. He was a good s, despite having also been a Rae minister, was, unlike Lankin, not seen as having been part of Rae's "inner circle" and benefitted as a result.

Lankin was defeated by Hampton on the third ballot by less than 200 votes.

She retained her seat in the Ontario legislature through the 1999 Ontario electionThe 1999 Ontario election was a general election held in the Canadian province of Ontario in the late spring of 1999. Mike Harris' Progressive Conservatives were re-elected to a second majority government. The campaign began with the Liberal Party in the that reduced the NDP to nine seats. In 20012001 is a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar), and also: The International Year of the Volunteer The United Nations Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations Events January January 1 A black monolith measuring approximately nine feet tall ap she resigned her seat in order to accept a position as President and CEO of the United WayThe United Way of America is a coalition of charitible organizations that pool efforts in fund raising. The organization has roots in Denver, Colorado, where in 1887 church leaders began the Charity Organization Society which coordinated services and fund of Greater TorontoThe Greater Toronto Area (called the GTA by local residents) is the largest metropolitan area in Canada and tenth largest in North America, after Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Baltimore-Washington, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston,.