Curling, Alvin 1939–

views updated

Alvin Curling 1939–

Politician

Veteran Ontario politician Alvin Curling is no stranger to the hot seat and has never shied away from the political fray. He once brought the proceedings of the Legislative Assembly to an utter standstill by staging an 18-hour sit-in to protest a controversial omnibus bill being rushed through without public debate. As the member of Provincial Parliament for the Ontario riding of Scarborough-Rouge River since 1985, Jamaican-born Curling has won five consecutive elections, making him one of the long-standing members of the Legislature of Ontario. He has spent his time in office as a strong advocate for minority voices by upholding the principles of inclusiveness, public service, and human rights in his dedication to the “preservation of democracy,” which he lists as the central doctrine of his political career. His abrasive yet measured commentary and willingness to speak up about race relations has earned him considerable popularity and, as Curling once remarked to The Toronto Sun, the self-proclaimed title, “man of the people.”

Twice appointed to cabinet positions, both as minister of housing and minister of skills development, Curling has also amplified his voice as the Ontario Liberal opposition critic for various departments: housing; urban affairs; solicitor general; youth employment; colleges and universities; human rights and the disabled; and the Ontario Liberal Caucus critic for training skills and development. Having also served in the positions of deputy Opposition House leader and deputy whip, Curling stands as one of the most respected figures in Canadian politics.

Started in Politics at 45

Born in 1939, Curling grew up in Jamaica and attended the University of Technology in Kingston and subsequently enjoyed an extensive career in Jamaica’s industry housing management and land settlement. Upon immigrating to Canada, Curling furthered his formal education at Seneca College of Arts and Technology and York University. During his ensuing career in education, Alvin later returned to Seneca College, where he held the post of director of student services. Curling was first elected to the Ontario Legislature from the riding of Scarborough North, now known as Scarborough Rouge-River, in 1985. Though Curling entered politics and the not-so-tender age of 45, the transition was swiftly facilitated when he amassed the highest vote total in Canadian history and became the first Afro-Caribbean MPP, wresting control of the riding away from the 22-year rule of the Progressive Conservative party. One month later, his new career received a significant shot of adrenaline when he was appointed as the minister of housing, becoming the first black member of the cabinet, under the David Peterson government.

Curling’s touchdown on the political landscape of Ontario coincided with the housing crisis that plagued the province, especially Toronto, during the 1980s. In 1985, according to The Toronto Star, the shortage of affordable rental units in the Metro area saw a waiting list of over 12,000 individuals in need of subsidized housing. Stepping into this predicament, Curling was quick to dispute the federal government’s plan to

At a Glance…

Born Alvtn Curling on November 15, 1939 in Kingston, Jamaica; son of Alvin Curling and Maud Groves; children: Tyrone, Deone, Nicole. Education: Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology and York University, Atkinson College. Religion: Protestant. Politics: Liberal.

Career: World Literacy of Canada, president, 1981-84; first elected to Ontario Legislature general election 1985; re-elected general election 1987, 1990, 1995, 1999; minister of housing, 1985-87; minister of skills development, 1987-89; parliamentary assistant to the minister of intergovernmental affairs until 1990; former deputy whip for the official opposition; appointed: official opposition critic for housing, 1995; official opposition critic for urban affairs and official opposition critic for youth, 1999; official opposition critic for training and skills development, 2002-.

Memberships: Jamaican Canadian Association; Federation of Chinese Canadians.

Addresses: Home —5200 Finch Avenue East, Suite 111, Scarborough, Ontario, M1S 4Z4, (416)297-5040, Fax: (416)297-6767. Legislative Office—Room 371, Legislative Building, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1A4, (416)325-7277, Fax: (416)325-9075.

increase rent on public housing projects and spent the majority of his two-year tenure as housing minister devising ways to remedy the dilemma. Beyond fighting to establish a four percent ceiling on rent increases, Curling spearheaded an initiative to provide incentives for developers under a five-year plan promising the construction of 43,000 new units, 32,000 of which would be subsidized. Part of these incentives included interest-free loans and an innovative “Convert-to-Rent” program that encouraged individuals to upgrade and create rental accommodations from nonresidential properties such as warehouses, retail spaces, or potential dwelling areas such as unfinished basements. Curling stressed the need for cooperation on all fronts by advocating measures designed to protect both tenants and landlords. Part of his vision entailed decreasing the friction between the two groups that had accumulated during decades of neglecting the issue. Furthermore, Curling did not back down to those who opposed subsidized housing, especially when they hailed from more affluent neighborhoods: “To attempt to declare any community off-limits to subsidized housing is to engage in the worst kind of elitism,” he once said at an international conference on neighborhood renewal, quoted in the Toronto Star.

Re-election and Beyond

In 1987 Curling’s record and high-profile status paid off when he breezed to re-election, besting his closest challenger by a margin of more than 14,000 votes and repeating his success of two years earlier. The Liberals held on to the majority. Curling remained in the cabinet, leaving his post as minister of housing and stepping in as minister of skills development. Curling met it with unshakable enthusiasm as he took responsibility for promoting one of his strongest commitments, adult literacy. He had served as president of World Literacy of Canada from 1981 to 1984, and the experience proved beneficial in concocting a strategy aimed at assisting the 1.3 million Ontario residents who had trouble with reading and writing on a daily basis. Curling viewed illiteracy as a “disease” in need of immediate and thorough treatment; one think tank he organized coupled teachers with business leaders in an attempt to encourage businesses to invest in literacy programs for employees and improve access to local reading and writing centers.

Winning the seat for a third time in the election of 1990, Curling’s victory left a somewhat bittersweet taste as the ruling liberals lost power to the New Democratic Party. Before the 1990 election, Curling and five other ministers were bounced in a reshuffling that sought to exculpate the government from a minor scandal revealing that numerous politicians, Curling among them, had accepted illegitimate campaign funds from Patti Starr, who worked for the National Council of Jewish Women of Canada. Under Canadian law, it is illegal for charities to make political contributions, but Starr had used approximately $85,000 in sales tax refunds from a housing project to contribute to a substantial number of federal, municipal, and provincial politicians, as reported by The Toronto Star. Though the majority of the recipients failed to recognize the wrongdoing until after the fact, at which point they promptly returned the money in question—Curling was among the first to issue a $1000 remuneration—the scandal nevertheless attracted considerable attention, putting pressure on Ontario Premier David Peterson to reorganize the cabinet. When push came to shove, Curling found himself among the fall guys.

Leaving the cabinet meant learning the ropes all over again, this time as an ordinary MPP. Curling had served as a minister for all five years of his political career, and though he viewed his ousting as a disappointment, his true concern was the loss of a black voice at the Ontario round table. With this in mind, Curling turned his attention to his constituents and began acting as a more thorough and hands-on advocate for minorities. In his riding alone, the largest in Ontario, 75 percent of the 120,000 residents hail from minority groups. Curling’s popularity stemmed largely from the earnestness with which he has adopted and represented their concerns. Part of this duty entailed acquiring a more abrasive edge as a critic. In 1991, Curling lambasted the Ontario Human Rights Commission for its hypocrisy and favoritism in keeping quiet about an instance of sexual harassment involving a well-known University of Toronto professor. Prior to that, he called the commission’s record of internal racial tension a “disgrace” that hampered the lives and careers of hardworking Ontarians.

Returned to the Spotlight

It wasn’t until December of 1995, however, that Curling realized his full potential as a political dissident. The Tories were in power and had intended to use their legislative majority to rush through a far-reaching piece of umbrella legislation known as Bill 26. The bill was designed to reformat the operation of government in Ontario by amending over 40 laws that would ultimately grant more power to the state and centralize control in the hands of the cabinet. Provisions included the power of cabinet members to act unilaterally to close hospitals, examine personal medical records, redraw municipal boundaries, and deregulate the cost of prescription drugs. Liberals were outraged, not only by the gross deviation from democratic principles, but by the unscrupulous way in which the government attempted to rush the bill through legislation without allowing for public debate. Days of heated opposition to the process culminated on December 6th when the government, refusing to grant the request for widespread public hearings across the province, called for an immediate vote. Liberals and New Democrats, the two opposition parties, refused to comply. In response, Speaker of the House Al McLean announced his intention to order each MPP removed, one by one, for disorderly conduct. The first man, Bernard Grandmaitre, was escorted out quietly. Next up was Alvin Curling.

Spontaneously, Curling refused to leave his seat, compelling the Speaker to authorize the use of force to remove him. Upon hearing this, two of Curling’s Liberal colleagues joined arms in front of Curling to prevent him from being carried away. Almost immediately, the rest of the opposition MPPs encircled Curling, creating an impasse and forcing the legislature to a halt. As journalist James Coyle of The Ottawa Citizen described the scene, “It looked, with Curling the only black member of the legislature, like something out of a ’60s civil rights demonstrations. He looked for all the world like a latter-day Rosa Parks—the man refusing to give up his seat.” Subsequently, McLean called a recess, but Curling and colleagues vowed to stay the night, beginning an 18-hour sit-in that ended the next day when the government agreed to hold province-wide public hearings and to delay passage of the bill until after Christmas.

The standoff was unlike anything Canadian politics had ever seen and attracted international media attention. Overnight, as The Ottawa Citizen declared, Alvin Curling became “a political rock star.” Though some criticized the tactics of Curling and his colleagues as disgraceful and childish, the success was championed by many as a victory for democracy. Curling spent the next month on a frenzied crusade through Ontario trying to mobilize support against the omnibus and speaking wherever anyone would listen. Despite his efforts, Bill 26 was passed in late January, though not before undergoing significant changes. Initially, Curling was barred from the legislature until the end of the spring session, but colleagues from all three parties successfully petitioned to lift the ban.

The “local hero” status that Curling enjoyed immediately following his unprecedented protest has remained with him in the years since and provided fresh enthusiasm for tackling controversial issues. Included among them is the delicate question of race relations, a topic from which Curling has never backed down. In an interview conducted by Pundit Magazine in 2000, Curling discussed the temperament of the Ontario Legislature’s white majority: “Some continue to give me the feeling that I’m a guest there, passing through. The other feeling seems to be that I’m a part of the furniture there, that I’m not like them. These things are not literally expressed, but they are, I would say, expressed in an attitudinal way.” Time and again, Curling has voiced his opinion that blacks are woefully underrepresented in Canadian politics and has even floated the idea of representational quotas, criticized by many as outrageous. Black Canadians, Curling emphasized, embody an amazing diversity, coming from many different parts of the globe and from vast varieties of backgrounds, unlike certain minority groups that, like Italian Canadians, come from relatively homogenous communities. The historical, cultural, linguistic, and geographic diversity that punctuates the black community contributes to the predicament of adequate representation. All the same, it’s a diversity that Curling embraces. He has been quoted as saying, “Black is a political term—it’s not a culture.” This poignant observation underscores Alvin Curling’s use of political dexterity as an instrument with he ceaselessly tries to improve, repair, and reinforce democracy. In the summer of 1999 Alvin Curling was elected to the Ontario Legislature for a fifth consecutive time, nearly doubling the vote of his closest challenger, at the age of 59.

Sources

Periodicals

The Financial Post, December 28, 1985, p. 5.

The Lodon Free Press, July 15, 2000, p. A9.

The Ottawa Citizen, December 7, 1995, p. A3; December 8, 1995, p. A3.

The Toronto Star, September 19, 1985, p. A6; September 21, 1985, p. Al; September 28, 1985, p. El; April 22, 1986, p. Al; September 11, 1987, p. A17; September 25, 1987, p. A7; January 8, 1988, p. A7; June 16, 1989, p. A12; August 1, 1989, p. A8; January 14, 1990, p. A16; May 24, 1991, p. A2; October 27, 1991, p. B4; December 8, 1995, p. A3; December 9, 1995, p. B5; December 14, 1995, p. A32; December 26, 1995, p. A31; January 11, 1996, p. SCI; January 29, 1996, p. A9; May 12, 1999.

The Toronto Sun, May 31, 1999, p. E6; June 4, 1999, p. E8

The Vancouver Sun, December 7, 1995, p. A3.