Tony Ruprecht was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the west-end Toronto riding of Parkdale in 1981, again, in 1985, 1987, 1990, and 1995. In 1999, he was elected to the riding of Davenport and re-elected in 2003 and 2007.
In 1985, Tony was appointed Ontario's first Minister Responsible for Disabled Persons. He also served as Minister for Citizenship and Multiculturalism and was parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Community and Social Services. In Opposition, he has served as critic for Tourism and the Anti-Drug Strategy. He currently sits on The Cabinet Committee on Health, Education and Social Policy. Recently, he introduced two bills on access to trades and professions, designed to lower unfair barriers for internationally trained professionals and two bills to protect consumers against exorbitant interest rates and "IDENTITY THEFT".
In 1978 Tony was elected as a senior alderman in Toronto and served on both the Metro and Toronto city councils. Tony received his formal education at Laurentian (Hon. B.A.), Wichita State (M.A.), and Miami Universities (Doctoral Studies). He was an assistant professor of political science at Nebraska W. University, taught comparative politics at Brandon University and public administration at York University. He was named Scholar of the Year at Laurentian University, Huntington College.
Tony has written academic papers on Canada-U.S. relations and authored a tax reform bill for the U.S. Congress (HR4727). In 1990, he made a unique contribution to Toronto's historic and cultural life by publishing “Toronto's Many Faces”, a 400-page guidebook to more than 67 diverse cultural communities. A fourth publication was printed in March 2005.
Tony is the recipient of numerous honours including Knight of Malta, Sovereign Military Order Saint John of Jerusalem; Estonian Gold Medal of Honour; Medal of Valour and Merit, Government of Portugal; Polish Golden Cross of Merit; Medal of Honour, Philippine-Canada Friendship; Honorary Fellowship, Canadian School of Management; and Gold Medal for Excellence from the Human Rights; Race Relations Centre and International peace medal from the Government of Vietnam.
|
Mr. Ruprecht has an issue of special interest:
“In order to minimize negative influences on our health, we must get to know more about the effects of food, emotions and stress on our bodies and minds. Can we discover how the symptoms of old age can be delayed? Yes, for the first time in human history, we have substantial control over aging – we can age faster or slower. The switch to turn-on our body’s remarkable ability to protect itself against degenerative diseases may be found in our emotions. We need more research on how cells communicate at the molecular level.” |