Russ Powers
Encyclopedia
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...
politician. He is a former member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
, representing the riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale
Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale
Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004....
for the Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.
Powers moved with his family to Dundas
Dundas, Ontario
Dundas is a formerly independent town and now constituent community in the city of Hamilton in Ontario, Canada. It's nickname is the Valley Town. The population has been stable for decades at about twenty thousand, largely because it has not annexed rural land from the protected Dundas Valley...
in 1966, and remains a member of the community. He was educated at Mohawk College
Mohawk College
Mohawk College is a public College of Applied Arts and Technology located in the Golden Horseshoe of Ontario, Canada. Mohawk has three main campuses: the Fennell Campus located in Hamilton, the Brantford Campus located in Brantford and the STARRT Institute located in Stoney Creek, as well as the...
and the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene, and has worked at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
as a laboratory technologist since 1979. Powers also has military experience, having served as a Logistics Officer in the Canadian Forces Reserve.
He was first elected to municipal office in Dundas in 1982, and served as a Dundas Town Councillor until 2000. He was also elected as a Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Councillor in 1995. When Dundas was amalgamated with Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
in 2001, Powers was elected to the Hamilton City Council
Hamilton City Council
The Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.The current council consists of the mayor plus fifteen councillors, one elected from each of the city's wards. The incumbent council was elected in a municipal election on November 13, 2006...
.
In 2004 Russ resigned mid-term from his city council seat to run for Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
representing the open Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale seat in that year's Canadian federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. Liberal John H. Bryden
John H. Bryden
John H. Bryden is a Canadian politician, journalist, historian.-Education:He received an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English and History from McMaster University in 1966, and a Masters of Philosophy in English from the University of Leeds in 1968.-Early career:From 1969 to 1989, Bryden held...
had held the previous riding of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot in the 1993
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
, 1997
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
and 2000 federal elections
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
, but defected to the Conservative Party
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
in early 2004 due to his opposition to Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
's leadership. Many believed that Bryden would win the redistributed riding in 2004, but he lost the Conservative nomination to David Sweet
David Sweet
David S. Sweet is a Canadian politician who began serving his first term of office in January 2006. He is a former CEO of Promise Keepers Canada.-Political career:...
. Powers defeated Sweet by a margin of 39.5% to 36%, with the NDP
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
candidate Gordon Guyatt
Gordon Guyatt
Gordon Henry Guyatt is a physician and Professor of Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is known for his work on evidence-based medicine, a term that first appeared in a paper he published. He has published over 450 peer-reviewed articles in...
receiving 21% support.
In the 2006 election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
the same top three candidates all contested the riding again. This time, however, Conservative David Sweet
David Sweet
David S. Sweet is a Canadian politician who began serving his first term of office in January 2006. He is a former CEO of Promise Keepers Canada.-Political career:...
defeated Powers, winning 39.12% of the vote to Powers' 34.5%. Guyatt again finished third, again receiving approximately 21% of the vote.
Later in 2006, Powers was re-elected to his previous position of Hamilton City Councillor for Ward 13 (Dundas). In 2010, he sought re-election as Ward 13 Councillor and was successful, defeating four others by winning all polls with almost 60% of the popular support.