Derwyn Shea
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Derwyn Shea (born 1937 in Hamilton, Ontario) is an Anglican Church of Canada clergyman and a former politician in Ontario, Canada. In 1972 Toronto City Council appointed him to the City of Toronto Planning Board, serving 4 years as Chairman during the turbulent 45foot by-law era.During the same period he was employed by Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology in various capacities, completing he tenure as Dean in the then City of York with responsibilities for all campuses and programmes in that municipality and he continued as a worker priest at St Clement Riverdale in the City of Toronto. In 1982 he was elected as senior alderman in Toronto's Ward 1 and served on both City and Metropolitan Toronto Councils. In 1988 he was directly elected as Metropolitan Councillor for High Park-Swansea and was chosen to sit on the powerful executive committee. He was appointed the North America vice president of the Association. He was council's first chairman of the Race Relations Committee and was elected first Vice-President of the World Association of Major Metropolises( an NGO with HQ in Paris). In 1995 he was elected to the parliament of Ontario and sat as a Progressive Conservative member from 1995 to 1999, representing the riding of High Park-Swansea.
Shea was educated at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario,andLaurentian University receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree (magna cum laude), a (postgraduate)|Master of Arts]] degree in urban history and structure, a Dip.Th( Huron College), a Th.B( American Divinity) and a [[Doctor of Divinity]( Canada College)honorus causa. His pastoral clinical studies were taken at McMaster University. He is an ordained Anglican priest, and worked in the dioceses of Saskatchewan, Algoma and Toronto before entering politics. He founded the Eastview Neighbourhood Association for latchkey youth in Toronto's east end, and was co-author of the benchmark East Toronto Deanery Study. He was the first Canadian to receive a Fellowship from the Academy of Parish Clergy, and was involved in Ugandan relief efforts.
In 1999 Shea was inducted as rector of St Hilda's parish in Toronto and Chairman and CEO of St Hilda's Towers, a 500 bed independent and assisted living seniors residence including extended convalescent care facilities. In 2002 he was installed as a canon in the Diocese of Toronto. He has also served as president of the Canadian National Exhibition, governor of Exhibition Place in Toronto, and as chair of the O'Keefe Centre for the Performing Arts.
Shea was a member of the city of Toronto's Planning Board from 1972 to 1982 including 4 years as chairman, when he was elected in his first attempt as senior alderman in Toronto's ward 1. From 1988 to 1994, he represented Toronto-High Park on the Metropolitan Toronto council. In the 1991 municipal election, Shea defeated NDP challenger David Miller.
In the 1995 provincial election, Shea defeated New Democratic Party cabinet minister and incumbent Elaine Ziemba by about 1,500 votes. He was a backbench member of Mike Harris's caucus for the next four years, serving as parliamentary assistant responsible for urban affairs and then as parliamentary assistant for citizenship and culture. He retired from political activities in 1999, and returned to his position as rector of St. Hilda's Anglican Church.
During his career Shea served with a number of agencies, boards and commissions. He was a police commissioner and a commissioner of Toronto Hydro and served a number of hospital boards including Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret and Runnymede Chronic Care. In 2000 Shea initiated and was later elected founding chairman of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians.
In 2004, Shea endorsed Frank Klees's bid to lead the Ontario PC Party. In 2007 Canon Shea was appointed by the government of Canada to the 9 member National Seniors Council and in the same year Shea completed his training with the International Elections Monitoring Institute
