Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935 in Shawville, Quebec) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.
Laughren's childhood was far removed from the corridors of financial power. His hometown of Shawville was low-income and culturally isolated, rigidly anglo...
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Floyd Laughren (born October 3, 1935 in Shawville, Quebec) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.
Laughren's childhood was far removed from the corridors of financial power. His hometown of Shawville was low-income and culturally isolated, rigidly anglophone and Protestant working-class in a francophone region. Laughren's father, a farm labourer, was said to have been illiterate.
Laughren was educated at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute and York University. Before entering politics, he taught economics at Cambrian College in Sudbury.
Laughren was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1971, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Gaston Demers by just under 2,000 votes in the Sudbury-area riding of Nickel Belt. He was re-elected without difficulty in the...
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