Michael Patrick Hennessy (August 8, 1915—March 5, 1991) was a boxer and politician in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 from 1977 to 1987, as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...

.

Hennessy was born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, and educated at St. Michael's High School

St. Michael's High School

St. Michael's High School is a private Catholic junior/senior high school located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the state capital of New Mexico. It is privately run under the auspices of the international Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, better known as the De La Salle Christian...

 and Luke Callaghan High School. During the 1930s, he was a national boxing champion in Canada. He was a member of Canada's 1936 Olympic boxing team, and was inducted to the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame in 1977. He was a member of the Fort William

Fort William, Ontario

Fort William was a city in Northern Ontario, located on the Kaministiquia River, at its entrance to Lake Superior. It amalgamated with Port Arthur and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Ever since then it has been the largest city in Northwestern...

 city council from 1962 to 1969, and served on the Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay

-In Canada:Thunder Bay is the name of three places in the province of Ontario, Canada along Lake Superior:*Thunder Bay District, Ontario, a district in Northwestern Ontario*Thunder Bay, a city in Thunder Bay District*Thunder Bay, Unorganized, Ontario...

 city council for seven years after amalgamation. Hennessy was a Roman Catholic, and a member of the Knights of Columbus

Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....

.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 provincial election

Ontario general election, 1977

The Ontario general election of 1977 was held on June 9, 1977, to elect the 125 members of the 31st Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

, defeating New Democratic Party candidate Iain Angus

Iain Angus

Iain Francis Angus is a Canadian politician, who has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Canadian House of Commons, as well as on Thunder Bay City Council....

 by 2,256 votes in Fort William

Fort William (electoral district)

Fort William was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1925 to 1979. It was located in the province of Ontario...

. Hennessy was re-elected without difficulty in the provincial elections of 1981

Ontario general election, 1981

The Ontario general election of 1981 was held on March 19, 1981, to elect members of the 32nd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 and 1985

Ontario general election, 1985

The Ontario general election of 1985 was held on May 2, 1985, to elect members of the 33rd Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada...

, and served as a backbench supporter of the Bill Davis

Bill Davis

William Grenville "Bill" Davis, was the 18th Premier of Ontario, Canada, from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the MPP for Peel in the 1959 provincial election where he was a backbencher in Leslie Frost's government. Under John Robarts, he was a cabinet minister overseeing the education...

 and Frank Miller

Frank Miller (politician)

Frank Stuart Miller, was a Canadian politician, who served as the 19th Premier of Ontario for four months in 1985.-Early life and political career:...

 administrations. He lost his provincial seat in the 1987 election

Ontario general election, 1987

The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...

, falling to Liberal

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

 Lyn McLeod

Lyn McLeod

Lyn McLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.-Background - Pre...

 by 1,463 votes.

Hennessy campaigned for re-election to the Thunder Bay city council in 1988, and won more votes than any other candidate. He died in 1991, less than twenty-four hours after attending his last council meeting.

The legislature paid tribute to Hennessy on March 18, 1991. Mike Harris

Mike Harris

Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...

, then leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, credited Hennessy with bringing "a touch of the common person back to the caucus discussions".http://www.ontla.on.ca/hansard/house_debates/35_parl/session1/la001.htm