NDP may stand for:

Political parties[link]

• National Democratic Party, any one of many political parties of that name around the world
• Nebraska Democratic Party, a political party in Nebraska, United States
• New Democratic Party (disambiguation), any one of several political parties of that name around the world

• Nuclear Disarmament Party, a political party in Australia

Other[link]

• National Day Parade in Singapore
• National Development Plan in Ireland
• National Development Policy in Malaysia
• NDP (gene), Norrie Disease (Pseudoglioma), a human gene
• Nondeterministic programming
• Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
• Net Domestic Product, an economic quantity
• Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
• Northern Dutchess Paramedics, an advanced life support ambulance service in the Hudson Valley New York.
• Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, a Norwegian government agency responsible for the regulation of Norwegian oil resources

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Gwen O'Mahony is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in a by-election on April 19, 2012.^[1] She represents the electoral district of Chilliwack-Hope as a member of the British Columbia New Democratic Party.

O'Mahony was previously the party's candidate in Chilliwack-Hope in the 2009 provincial election, as well as running federally for the New Democrats in Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon in the 2011 federal election.

She became the first New Democrat ever to represent the area.

Electoral record[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Gwen O'Mahony

This article about a British Columbian politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Andrew Cash
Member of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 2 May 2011 [1]
Preceded by	Mario Silva
Constituency	Davenport
Personal details
Born	1962 Toronto, Ontario
Political party	New Democratic Party
Spouse(s)	Michelle Shook[2]
Children	4[3]
Residence	Toronto
Occupation	Musician
Profession	Journalist
Religion	Roman Catholic [1]
Website	andrewcash.net

Andrew Cash (born 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto-area Davenport electoral district. He grew up in Toronto, where he befriended future MP, Charlie Angus, and along with Angus founded the Toronto punk band L'Étranger. In the late 1990s, he also became a journalist, writing for the Toronto weekly Now. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 2011.

Music career[link]

Cash began his career in the Toronto punk band L'Étranger, which also included Charlie Angus.^[4] When the band broke up in 1986,^[4] Cash signed to Island Records as a solo artist. His first release on the label was a reissue of L'Étranger's last recording, Sticks and Stones. He released three albums as a solo artist and had a number of hits, including "Time and Place", "Boomtown", "What Am I Gonna Do with These Hands" and "A Lot of Talk".

He then formed the band Ursula, who released the album Happy to be Outraged in 1995. However, that band was not successful, and broke up after just the one album.^[4]

Around the same time as Ursula's demise, however, his brother Peter Cash also decided to leave his band, Skydiggers.^[4] Both available at the same time for the first time in their careers, Andrew and Peter decided to write and record together, and released their debut album as The Cash Brothers, Raceway, in 1999.

Since 1999, Cash has also provided the soundtrack music for various television shows, mostly Canadian productions. He also wrote for the Toronto-based Now magazine.^[4] In 2000 he collaborated with Hawksley Workman and Jason Collett on Chrome Reflection, an album credited to Bird. In 2007 Cash released his latest solo album Murder=.

Politics[link]

On October 5, 2009, Cash was nominated as the New Democratic Party candidate for the Toronto-area Davenport electoral district, in preparation for the 41st Canadian general election.^[5] At the time, the House of Commons was governed by a minority government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, that could fall at anytime, so this unpredictable election situation meant that Cash was a candidate for over a year and half.

When the election was called, on March 26, 2011, his main campaign issue was that Davenport's incumbent MP, Mario Silva, was not a "full-time" MP.^[6] Cash campaigned with two main slogans, "Cash for Toronto" and "Trade your Silva for Cash."^[6] Near the end of April, both The Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail newspapers started to predict that Cash might win, ending 49 years of continuous Liberal party representation for that electoral district.^[6][7] On May 2, he defeated Silva, becoming a caucus colleague of his former bandmate Charlie Angus, also a Member of Parliament since 2004.^[4][8]

Discography[link]

• Time and Place (1988)
• Boomtown (1989)
• Hi (1993)
• Happy to Be Outraged (1995, credited to Ursula)
• Chrome Reflection (2000, credited to Bird)
• Murder= (2007)

Electoral record[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Andrew Cash
• CashForToronto - Andrew Cash official campaign site
• Andrew Cash - Parliament of Canada biography

v t e   Current Members of the House of Commons of Canada Government v t e Conservative Party Harper Ablonczy Adams Adler Aglukkaq Albas Albrecht Alexander Allen Allison Ambler Ambrose Anders Anderson Armstrong Ashfield Aspin Baird Bateman Benoit Bernier Bezan Blaney Block Boughen Braid Breitkreuz G. Brown L. Brown P. Brown Bruinooge Butt Calandra Calkins Cannan Carmichael Carrie Chisu Chong Clarke Clement Daniel Davidson Dechert Del Mastro Devolin Dreeshen Duncan Dykstra Fantino Fast Findlay Finley Flaherty Fletcher Galipeau Gallant Gill Glover Goguen Goodyear Gosal Gourde Grewal Harris Hawn Hayes Hiebert Hillyer Hoback Hoeppner Holder James Jean Kamp Keddy Kenney Kent Kerr Komarnicki Kramp Lake Lauzon Lebel Leef Leitch Lemieux Leung Lizon Lobb Lukiwski Lunney McColeman MacKay MacKenzie McLeod Mayes Merrifield Menegakis Menzies Miller J. Moore R. Moore Nicholson Norlock Obhrai O'Connor Oda Oliver O'Neill-Gordon Opitz Paradis Payne Penashue Poilievre Preston Raitt Rajotte Rathgeber Reid Rempel Richards Rickford Ritz Saxton Scheer Schellenberger Seeback Shea Shipley Shory Smith Sopuck Sorenson Stanton Storseth Strahl Sweet Tilson Toet Toews Trost Trottier Truppe Tweed Uppal Valcourt Van Kesteren Van Loan Vellacott Wallace Warawa Warkentin Watson J. Weston R. Weston Wilks Williamson Wong Woodworth Yelich T. Young W. Young Zimmer Official Opposition v t e New Democratic Party Mulcair Allen Angus Ashton Atamanenko Ayala Aubin Benskin Bevington Blanchette Blanchette-Lamothe Boivin Borg Boulerice Boutin-Sweet Brahmi Brosseau Caron Cash Charlton Chicoine Chisholm Choquette Chow Christopherson Cleary Comartin Côté Crowder Cullen D. Davies L. Davies Day Dewar Dionne Labelle Donnelly Doré Lefebvre Dubé Duncan Dusseault Freeman Garrison Genest Genest-Jourdain Giguère Godin Gravelle Groguhé D. Harris J. Harris Hassainia Hughes Jacob Julian Kellway Larose Lapointe Latendresse Laverdière LeBlanc Leslie Liu Mai Marston Martin Masse Mathyssen Michaud Moore D. Morin I. Morin M-A. Morin M-C. Morin Nantel Nash Nicholls Nunez-Melo Papillon Patry Péclet Perreault Pilon Quach Rafferty Ravignat Raynault Rousseau Saganash Sandhu Savoie Scott Sellah Sims Sitsabaiesan Stewart Stoffer Sullivan Thibeault Toone Tremblay Turmel Third Party v t e Liberal Party Rae Andrews Bélanger Bennett Brison Byrne Casey Coderre Cotler Cuzner Dion Duncan Easter Eyking Foote Fry Garneau Goodale Hsu Karygiannis Lamoureux LeBlanc MacAulay McCallum McGuinty McKay Murray Pacetti Regan Scarpaleggia Sgro Simms St-Denis Trudeau Valeriote Independents v t e Bloc Québécois Plamondon Bellavance Fortin Mourani v t e Green Party May v t e Independent Goldring Hyer 41st Canadian Parliament Vacancies: 1

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2009)

Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC (born February 9, 1936) is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers. Focusing his career exclusively on his native Canada, Connors is credited with writing more than 300 songs and has released four dozen albums, with total sales of nearly 4 million copies.^[1]

Early life[link]

He was born Charles Thomas Connors (known as Tommy Messer) in Saint John, New Brunswick to the teenaged Isabel Connors and her boyfriend Thomas Sullivan. He was a cousin of New Brunswick fiddling sensation, Ned Landry. He spent a short time living with his mother in a low-security women's penitentiary before he was seized by Children's Aid Society and was later adopted by the Aylward family in Skinners Pond, Prince Edward Island.

At the age of 15 he left his adoptive family to hitchhike across Canada, a journey that consumed the next 13 years of his life as he travelled between various part-time jobs while writing songs on his guitar. At his last stop in Timmins, Ontario, which may also have been his big "break", he found himself a nickel short of a beer at the city's Maple Leaf Hotel. The bartender, Gaet Lepine, agreed to give Tom a beer if he would play a few songs. These few songs turned into a 13-month contract to play at the hotel, a weekly spot on the CKGB radio station in Timmins, eight 45-RPM recordings, and the end of the beginning for Tom Connors.

Musical career[link]

During the mid-1970s, Connors wrote and recorded "The Consumer", an ode to bill-paying that became the theme song for the popular Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) consumer affairs program, Marketplace. For the first few seasons, Connors appeared in the opening credits of the program, before "The Consumer" was replaced as the theme — initially by an instrumental background version and ultimately by another piece of music entirely.

In 1974 Tom had a mini-series running on CBC Television in which he met and exchanged with folks from all across Canada. The series called "Stompin Tom's Canada" was co-produced with the help of CBC and ran for 26 episodes of 30 minutes each.

Typically writing about Canadian lore and history, some of Connors' better-known songs include "Bud the Spud", "Big Joe Mufferaw", "The Black Donnellys", "The Martin Hartwell Story", "Reesor Crossing Tragedy", "Sudbury Saturday Night" and "The Hockey Song" (also called "The Good Old Hockey Game"); the last is frequently played over sound systems at National Hockey League (NHL) games.

Interestingly, Tom has never lost touch with Gaet Lepine, the bartender he befriended in Timmins. In fact, over the years, the two have co-written many songs together. These songs are featured in Stompin' Tom's 250 Songs songbook.

The song that Tom wrote the fastest was Maritime Waltz; time, 12 minutes.^[2]

Nickname[link]

Connors' habit of stomping the heel of his left boot to keep rhythm earned him the nickname "that stompin' guy", or "Stomper". It wasn't until Canada's 100th birthday, July 1, 1967, that the name Stompin' Tom Connors was first used, when Boyd MacDonald, a waiter at the King George Tavern in Peterborough, Ontario introduced Tom on stage.^[3] Based on an enthused audience reaction to it, Tom had it officially registered in Ontario as Stompin' Tom Ltd. the following week. Various stories have circulated about the origin of the foot stomping, but it's generally accepted that he did this to keep a strong tempo for his guitar playing — especially in the noisy bars and beer joints where he frequently performed. After numerous complaints about damaged stage floors, Tom began to carry a piece of plywood that he stomped even more vigorously than before. The "stompin' " board has since become one of his trademarks. After stomping a hole in the wood, he would pick it up and show it to the audience (accompanied by a joke about the quality of the local lumber) before calling for a new one. It was reported that when asked about his "stompin' board", Tom replied, "it's just a stage I'm going through". Stompin' Tom periodically auctions off his "stompin' boards" for charity with the latest board selling for $15,000.^[4]

Retirement and nationalistic protest[link]

As the 1970s progressed, he retired to his farm in Norval, near Georgetown, Ontario, to protest the lack of support given to Canadian stories by the policies of the Federal government, particularly the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). He also boycotted the Juno Awards in protest of the qualification guidelines set by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) for possible nominees who were being consistently nominated and awarded outside of their musical genre. He strongly opposed artists who conducted most of their business in the United States being nominated for Junos in Canada. Connors, who referred to these particular artists as "turncoat Canadians", felt that in view of the fact that they had chosen to live and work in the U.S., it was only fair that they competed with Americans for Grammy Awards, and left the Juno competition to those who lived and conducted business in Canada.

His protest caught national attention when he sent back his six Junos accompanied by a letter to the board of directors.

"Gentlemen:I am returning herewith the six Juno awards that I once felt honoured to have received and which, I am no longer proud to have in my possession. As far as I am concerned you can give them to the border jumpers who didn't receive an award this year and maybe you can have them presented by Charley Pride. I feel that the Junos should be for people who are living in Canada, whose main base of business operations is in Canada, who are working toward the recognition of Canadian talent in this country and who are trying to further the export of such talent from this country to the world with a view to proudly showing off what this country can contribute to the world market. Until the academy appears to comply more closely with aspirations of this kind, I will no longer stand for any nominations, nor will I accept any award given. Yours very truly, Stompin' Tom Connors^{[citation needed]}

He remained in retirement for 12 years. In 1986, Tim Vesely and Dave Bidini of Rheostatics crashed his 50th birthday party and published an article about it in a Toronto newspaper,^[5] initiating a resurgence of public and record label interest in his work which resulted in the release in 1988 of Fiddle and Song, his first new album since 1977.

To this day, Stompin' Tom's performances remain popular, and he remains one of Canada's more prolific recording artists. His songs often pay tribute to Canadian newsmakers or personalities, and can be topical, referring to news events of the day.

Autobiography[link]

An autobiography detailing his childhood years in an orphanage, and as an indentured farm labourer became a bestseller in 1997. It details his life "Before the Fame", and in 2000 he did his second autobiography "The Connors Tone". Recent years have seen the re-release of 25 of his record albums.

Guest of honour on "Late Night"[link]

Connors' music is rarely heard outside Canada, with the possible exception of his anthemic "The Hockey Song" which has been recorded by many artists. It has been suggested that Connors refuses to allow foreign release of his material, although a more likely reason is that the very Canadian-specific subject matter of many of his folk songs has resulted in limited demand in foreign markets. When Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped a week's worth of shows in Canada in 2004, Connors was one of the guests of honour, leading the Toronto audience in a rendition of "The Hockey Song"; this was one of the few times Connors performed on American television. Another Canadian-taped installment of Late Night featured a segment in which Triumph the Insult Comic Dog visited Quebec; a parody of Connors' "Canada Day, Up Canada Way" is heard during the segment.

Favourite guitar[link]

Tom's favourite guitar was a Gibson Southern Jumbo acoustic that he purchased in 1956 while on his way through Ohio to Nashville, Tennessee and Mexico. He discovered it in a furniture store, hidden in a case on the top of some shelf, and after some haggling, purchased it for $80 (all he had was $90 on him). The guitar was used to audition in 1964 at the Maple Leaf Hotel in Timmins, as well as for writing Bud the Spud four years later. Although retired in 1972, it remains in his possession. It has subsequently been refurbished (a birthday gift from his wife, Lena). The serial # inside the guitar reads 2222 in red stamped numbers and the actual age of the guitar is still unknown^[6]

Dispute with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation[link]

After years of requests from CBC for Connors to do a Stompin' Tom music special he did just that. At a cost of over $200,000.00 of his own money, a live concert presentation at Hamilton Place was shot and edited on HD in September 2005 and according to Connors' longtime promoter, Rocklands Entertainment CEO Brian Edwards, a copy was presented to the CBC's head of TV variety. He received a reply the next day telling him that a decision would be reached within a few weeks. After 10 weeks another email was then sent to the newly appointed programming VP, and a prompt reply came back saying that the broadcaster was moving away from music and variety programming and that the Connors special didn't fit with its strategy.

Edwards says he received another letter from the CBC that reinforced its lack of interest in the concert special, but saying that Connors would have been a great guest to perform a song on the network's Hockeyville series or an excellent subject for a Life and Times project.

"As far as I'm concerned, if the CBC, our own public network, will not reconsider their refusal to air a Stompin' Tom special, they can take their wonderful offer of letting me sing a song as a guest on some other program and shove it," said Connors.^[7]

Honours[link]

He received a Doctor of Laws degree honoris causa from St. Thomas University in 1993, which was the inspiration for his album titled Dr. Stompin' Tom Connors, eh?, released the same year. In 1996, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and four years later was awarded an honorary LL.D. by the University of Toronto.

In The Greatest Canadian list, he ranked thirteenth, the highest placing for any artist on the list. Connors was one of four musicians pictured on the second series of the Canadian Recording Artist Series to be issued by ‎Canada Post stamps on July 2, 2009.^[8]

Cultural and historical references[link]

In the book Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian general who led the UNAMIR peacekeeping force in Rwanda during that country's 1994 genocide reported that he played a recording of Tom's song "The Blue Berets" (about United Nations peacekeeping forces) to keep up his troops' morale while their headquarters was under bombardment.

The Les Claypool Frog Brigade mentions Connors in the song "Long in the Tooth" on the album Purple Onion, while Corb Lund references him in the song "Long Gone to Saskatchewan". Tim Hus also wrote a song titled "Man With The Black Hat" about Connors.

Releases[link]

Connors has released music on no fewer than seven different labels. His earliest foray into recording was on the CKGB Timmins radio station label. These 45 RPM singles were pressed by Quality Records in Toronto, and distributed (and paid for) primarily by Tom. His first two albums (and two subsequent 45 RPM singles) were released on the Rebel Records bluegrass label, under the name "Tom Connors". These two albums were subsequently re-released on Dominion Records under the Stompin' Tom moniker and had to be totally re-recorded due to a dispute with Rebel Records owner John Irvine.

Most of Connors' well-known albums were released on Dominion Records (1969–70), and after 1971 on the Boot Records label that he co-founded with Jury Krytiuk and Mark Altman. His releases on Dominion (and all subsequent releases) were done under the name "Stompin' Tom Connors". Most of the Rebel and Dominion albums would be reissued (and in some cases, re-recorded) under the Boot label, and would represent the bulk of his recorded material. It was released on 33¹⁄₃ RPM record albums, 45 RPM record singles, 8-tracks, and cassette tapes.

After his retreat from the music business in the late 70's, he started the A-C-T (Assisting Canadian Talent) label in 1986, and released two albums: "Stompin' Tom is Back to Assist Canadian Talent" and his comeback album, "Fiddle and Songs" in 1988. A-C-T also re-released Tom's back catalogue on cassette tapes only.

All of his subsequent releases (and re-releases) have been through Capitol Records / EMI. Most of this work is now available on Compact Disc. In recent years, many of his album releases have included at least one re-recording of one of his earlier songs.

Songs referencing Canadian historical events[link]

The following is a list of events in the history of Canada which have been the subject of a song by Connors, who is widely renowned for singing about both well-known and little-known episodes in the country's past.

• Reesor Crossing Tragedy, 1969 song about the Reesor Siding Strike of 1963 which saw three union workers murdered.

• Tillsonburg, about when Stompin Tom worked in the tobacco fields of Tillsonburg, Ontario.

• Wop May, about the Canadian pilot Wilfrid R. "Wop" May

• The Bridge Came Tumblin' Down, 1972 song about the 19 men killed in the collapse of the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing.

• The Curse of the Marc Guylaine, 1973 song about the fishing trawler Marc Guylaine which saw two sister-ships and two identical ships all sink under inexplicable circumstances

• Big Joe Mufferaw, about the French-Canadian logging legend Joseph Montferrand

• The Martin Hartwell Story, about the bush pilot Martin Hartwell who survived 31 days in the Northwest Territories, after resorting to cannibalism

• Algoma Central 69, about the historical Algoma Central Railway

• ''The Black Donnellys' Massacre and Jenny Donnelly, both about the Black Donnellys

• The Last Fatal Duel, 1973 song about Robert Lyon

• Fire in the Mine, about the Hollinger Mines fire that killed 39 miners in Timmins, Ontario

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Notes

• ^ARe-released on A-C-T Records in the mid-80s as "Northland Zone" due to a printing error
• ^BLater released as "Stompin' Tom and the Moon-Man Newfie" in 1973
• ^CContains four Stompin' Tom songs plus an intro and final message to support Canadian talent. Otherwise, this is an album which also features other Canadian country musicians: Wayne Chapman, Cliff Evans, Donna Lambert, Bruce Caves, Art Hawes, Kent Brockwell
• ^DA five song EP_containing The Confederation Bridge, My Home Cradled Out In The Waves,Bud the Spud, Skinner's Pond Teapot, J.R.'s Bar – basically PEI songs.

Compilations[link]

Notes

• ^AThis is a Five Record box set that has never been re-released
• ^BThis is another Five Record box set that has never been re-released
• ^COriginal Soundtrack recording (at the Horseshoe Tavern) for "Across This Land with Stompin' Tom". Also features Bobby Lalonde, Joey Tardif, Chris Scott, Kent Brockwell, Sharon Lowness and The Rovin' Cowboys plus a separately recorded "Tribute To Stompin' Tom" by Fred Dixon. This 'double-album' has never been re-released.

Singles[link]

Footnotes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Giant mural design of Stompin' Tom Connors promoting his "A Proud Canadian" CD Release, 1990
• Watch Moon Man, a National Film Board of Canada animated short featuring the song "Moon Man Newfie"

Ted Opitz MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Etobicoke Centre
Incumbent
Assumed office May 30, 2011
Preceded by	Borys Wrzesnewskyj
Personal details
Born	(1961-08-25) August 25, 1961 (age 50) Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Cynthia
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Profession	Soldier, political advisor

Ted Opitz, CD (born August 25, 1961) is a Canadian politician and a retired Canadian Forces Lieutenant-Colonel who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2011 election.^[1] He represents the electoral district of Etobicoke Centre as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

He won by a margin of 26 votes over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj in the initial count, triggering an automatic judicial recount.^[2] The recount ultimately confirmed his victory;^[3] but was later declared null and void on May 18, 2012 by a judge due to alleged irregularities in the voting registration process.^[4] However, Opitz is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.^[4][5]

Background[link]

Opitz was born in the Parkdale area of Toronto in 1961 and is the youngest of four children. Opitz’s parents were originally from Poland and immigrated to Canada shortly after World War Two. During the war, his mother suffered in Nazi Germany as a forced labourer and his father served in the Polish 2nd Corps after being released by the Soviets as a prisoner of war in a gulag.^[6]

In 1978, Opitz enrolled as a private in the Canadian Army Reserves and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel during 33 years of service. In 1998 and early 1999, he served in Bosnia as a member of NATO’s Stabilization Force (SFOR). During his military career, he performed various roles ranging from Assistant to the Chief of Staff at Canadian Forces College, a course instructor and military planner for Pope John Paul II and his World Youth Day visit to Canada in 2002. Prior to running and being elected to Parliament, Opitz was the Commanding Officer of The Lincoln and Welland Regiment.^[6]

During his military service, Opitz also had parallel careers in the Telecom industry, as well as completing a BA in English at York University. Starting as a technician, Opitz worked his way up to sales and marketing and managerial roles in product management and high speed internet development. For the past two years, Opitz was the Senior Regional Advisor to Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. In that role, he represented the Government of Canada and the Minister in the Greater Toronto Area and Southern Ontario.^[6]

In Etobicoke, Opitz has been recognized for his volunteer work with the Polish community and youth in the region. Opitz has lived in Etobicoke Centre with his wife Cynthia since 1994 and was elected as the Member of Parliament in May 2011.^[6]

Member of 41st Parliament[link]

As a Member of Parliament, Opitz currently sits on the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration^[7] and the Standing Committee on National Defence.^[8] In February 2012, Opitz was chosen as a delegate to represent the Parliament of Canada at both the Standing Committee of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region and at the 56th Conference on the UN Commission on the Status of Women.^[9] He also sits as vice-chairman of the Canada-Poland Parliamentary Friendship Association.^{[citation needed]}

On May 18, 2012, the election result in Opitz' riding that led to his election to Parliament were declared null and void by a judge following a challenging based on voting irregularities.^[4] The decision is being appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.^[4]

Honours and awards[link]

• Canadian Government Volunteer Award and United Nations Volunteer Award
• Commanders Commendation for service to World Youth Days 2002
• Received Gold Cross for contributions to the Polish Combatant’s Association
• Canadian Forces Decoration with two bars for 32 years military service
• NATO Decoration for service in the former Yugoslavia
• Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal
• Queen’s Jubilee Medal and Awarded Serving Brother of St John
• Pro Memorial Medal (Poland)
• Knight’s Cross Order of Merit (Poland)^[6]

Accomplishments[link]

• 33 years of military service (reserve) in total, many years full time service.
• Served overseas in Bosnia as a member of NATO’s SFOR (Stabilization Force), working to bring stability and security to the country.^[6]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ted Opitz - Parliament of Canada biography

v t e   Current Members of the House of Commons of Canada Government v t e Conservative Party Harper Ablonczy Adams Adler Aglukkaq Albas Albrecht Alexander Allen Allison Ambler Ambrose Anders Anderson Armstrong Ashfield Aspin Baird Bateman Benoit Bernier Bezan Blaney Block Boughen Braid Breitkreuz G. Brown L. Brown P. Brown Bruinooge Butt Calandra Calkins Cannan Carmichael Carrie Chisu Chong Clarke Clement Daniel Davidson Dechert Del Mastro Devolin Dreeshen Duncan Dykstra Fantino Fast Findlay Finley Flaherty Fletcher Galipeau Gallant Gill Glover Goguen Goodyear Gosal Gourde Grewal Harris Hawn Hayes Hiebert Hillyer Hoback Hoeppner Holder James Jean Kamp Keddy Kenney Kent Kerr Komarnicki Kramp Lake Lauzon Lebel Leef Leitch Lemieux Leung Lizon Lobb Lukiwski Lunney McColeman MacKay MacKenzie McLeod Mayes Merrifield Menegakis Menzies Miller J. Moore R. Moore Nicholson Norlock Obhrai O'Connor Oda Oliver O'Neill-Gordon Opitz Paradis Payne Penashue Poilievre Preston Raitt Rajotte Rathgeber Reid Rempel Richards Rickford Ritz Saxton Scheer Schellenberger Seeback Shea Shipley Shory Smith Sopuck Sorenson Stanton Storseth Strahl Sweet Tilson Toet Toews Trost Trottier Truppe Tweed Uppal Valcourt Van Kesteren Van Loan Vellacott Wallace Warawa Warkentin Watson J. Weston R. Weston Wilks Williamson Wong Woodworth Yelich T. Young W. Young Zimmer Official Opposition v t e New Democratic Party Mulcair Allen Angus Ashton Atamanenko Ayala Aubin Benskin Bevington Blanchette Blanchette-Lamothe Boivin Borg Boulerice Boutin-Sweet Brahmi Brosseau Caron Cash Charlton Chicoine Chisholm Choquette Chow Christopherson Cleary Comartin Côté Crowder Cullen D. Davies L. Davies Day Dewar Dionne Labelle Donnelly Doré Lefebvre Dubé Duncan Dusseault Freeman Garrison Genest Genest-Jourdain Giguère Godin Gravelle Groguhé D. Harris J. Harris Hassainia Hughes Jacob Julian Kellway Larose Lapointe Latendresse Laverdière LeBlanc Leslie Liu Mai Marston Martin Masse Mathyssen Michaud Moore D. Morin I. Morin M-A. Morin M-C. Morin Nantel Nash Nicholls Nunez-Melo Papillon Patry Péclet Perreault Pilon Quach Rafferty Ravignat Raynault Rousseau Saganash Sandhu Savoie Scott Sellah Sims Sitsabaiesan Stewart Stoffer Sullivan Thibeault Toone Tremblay Turmel Third Party v t e Liberal Party Rae Andrews Bélanger Bennett Brison Byrne Casey Coderre Cotler Cuzner Dion Duncan Easter Eyking Foote Fry Garneau Goodale Hsu Karygiannis Lamoureux LeBlanc MacAulay McCallum McGuinty McKay Murray Pacetti Regan Scarpaleggia Sgro Simms St-Denis Trudeau Valeriote Independents v t e Bloc Québécois Plamondon Bellavance Fortin Mourani v t e Green Party May v t e Independent Goldring Hyer 41st Canadian Parliament Vacancies: 1