James K. Gordon (born March 6, 1937) is a Canadian politician who served as mayor of Sudbury, Ontario from 1976 to 1981 and from 1991 to 2003, and as a Member of Provincial Parliament for the provincial electoral district of Sudbury from 1981 to 1987.Our Neighbours: People who have made a difference . Sudbury Star, February 26, 2011. p. 13. He briefly served in the Executive Council of Ontario, holding the position of Minister of Government Services in 1985.
He is Sudbury's longest-serving mayor, having served a total of 17 years. In 2000, the Canadian edition of Reader's Digest named him one of the three most influential and innovative mayors in Canada.Oiva Saarinen, From Meteorite Impact to Constellation City: A Historical Geography of Greater Sudbury. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2013. .
Early life and education
Gordon was born in Rouyn-Noranda in 1937 and grew up in Sudbury. He was part of the first graduating class of St. Charles College. During high school, he was president of the student council and hosted his own radio program, Time for Teens, Saturdays between 1951 and 1955 on CKSO radio in Sudbury. He competed in distance running, one and two mile, in track and field.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Assumption University in 1960. In his final year of university, he married Donna Drew. In 1961, they returned to Greater Sudbury, Ontario. In addition to CKSO Radio and Television, Gordon worked in sales for UPJOHN Pharmaceuticals and then became a secondary school teacher.
Jim and Donna Gordon raised six daughters and now have ten grandchildren.
Teaching career
Gordon taught English in the secondary school system in Greater Sudbury for four decades. He also held a specialist in Library Science and was responsible for the Resource Centre at Nickel District Secondary School for some of his tenure at the school. Gordon taught at the following secondary schools, returning to education at various junctures of his political career: St. Charles College – 1961 to 1965 Espanola High School – 1965 to 1966 Confederation High School – 1965 to 1968 St. Charles College – 1968 to 1969 Nickel District Secondary School – 1969 to 1976 Sudbury Secondary School – 1988 to 1991
Political career Gordon served on the town council of Espanola in 1965"Gordon leaves local politics". Sudbury Star, June 13, 2003. before moving back to Sudbury. He ran as a Progressive Conservative candidate in the Sudbury constituency in the 1967 election, but was not elected.
He was elected to Sudbury City Council in 1971, and became mayor in 1976. He served until 1981 and ran for a second time as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Sudbury in the 1981 provincial election. He won that election and served as a backbench supporter of Bill Davis's government. Gordon supported Larry Grossman at the Progressive Conservative Party's leadership convention of February 1985.
Gordon was a cabinet minister in the short-lived government of Frank Miller, serving as Minister of Government Services from May 17 to June 26, 1985, until Miller's government was defeated by the Ontario Liberal Party sweep of David Peterson in the 1987 election. Gordon was defeated by Sterling Campbell in Sudbury.
In 1991, Gordon ran again as mayor of Sudbury, and defeated incumbent mayor Peter Wong. He served as the city's mayor until 2000, when the city, the towns and the Regional Municipality of Sudbury were transitioned into the new city of Greater Sudbury through a transition board established by the Government of Ontario. He ran for mayor of the new amalgamated city in the 2000 municipal election, and won that election as well. Gordon's tenure as mayor of Sudbury was marked by efforts to diversify the city's mining-based economy. As the city's provincial representative in the early 1980s, he was also a key supporter of the Science North project, which has since become the city's and Northern Ontario's most successful tourist attraction.
Gordon announced his retirement from politics in 2003.
Mayor of City of Sudbury, 1976–1981
Fiscal Policy Gordon introduced zero-based budgeting to municipal budgets. The city was fiscally constrained in the 1970s. He would later use this policy as mayor in the 1990s to maintain zero increases in taxes.
Development and housing Gordon worked with city council to encourage the private sector and the provincial government including John Rhodes (Minister of Housing at the time) to expand the supply of housing in Sudbury which resulted in many new homes, apartment developments and housing for the socially disadvantaged.
Re-greening of Sudbury Gordon supported and worked with municipal leaders such as Tom Davies, chair of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury, and other regional politicians in the creation of policies that established a successful re-greening effort that was eventually recognized by the United Nations for successful environmental land reclamation.
Member of provincial parliament for Sudbury, 1981–1987
Northeast Cancer Centre (formerly Northeastern Regional Cancer Treatment Centre)
In 1983, as parliamentary assistant to Minister of Health Larry Grossman, Gordon was able to secure a decision by the government to establish a cancer treatment centre in Sudbury, which now serves Northeastern Ontario.“The Northern Cancer Foundation Story” Sudbury Living, September 1, 2012. The development of a cancer centre allowed patients and families to remain closer to their homes in the north during treatment as well as making Sudbury a major medical centre within the northeast."Regional Cancer Program celebrates 20th birthday” Northern Life, November 5, 2010. The sophistication of the cancer treatment centre as both a treatment centre and an important research facility was one of the cornerstones Gordon was able to leverage in his pursuit of a medical school for Northern Ontario.
Agency status for Science North Gordon was instrumental in getting the province of Ontario to agree to make Science North an agency of the province, thereby providing a solid base of operating funding for what is now Canada's second-largest science centre.
Development of mining machinery manufacturing
Sudbury has always been a centre of resource extraction. INCO and Falconbridge Nickel Mines were the largest producers, but Gordon argued that, in addition to mining, the development of a mining machinery manufacturing industry would contribute greatly to the stability of the economy in Sudbury. To that end, he met with the provincial Minister of Industry, Gordon Walker. Walker agreed that the government would set up a Centre for Resource Machinery Technology, and he appointed as its members Jim Gordon (MPP for Sudbury), Mike Harris (MPP for Nipissing), Darryl Lake (Cambrian College), and Walter Curlook (vice-president of INCO for Ontario Operations, later President).
INCO became very interested in participating in this project because it would benefit both the company and the community, and through negotiations, eventually received a grant from the Ontario government. The mining machinery manufacturing company that was set up by INCO, now known as Continuous Mining, has since been purchased by Bob Lipic.
Mayor of Sudbury and Greater Sudbury, 1991–2003 During the 1990s Sudbury experienced a substantial loss of population along with stagnant municipal assessment. Recognizing the importance of diversification and development to the city's survival, Gordon spearheaded specific major initiatives. Gordon worked with others at all levels of government and fostered a strong relationship with city council to achieve fiscal strength for the city and projects that would benefit the community and the Northeast.
Northern Ontario Mayors' Coalition In 1992, Gordon tried to unite municipalities in Northern Ontario, with the cooperation of Thunder Bay mayor David Hamilton. Initially, he held a meeting in Thunder Bay in an effort to form an organization to lobby government. The outcome was that he and Hamilton spearheaded the organization of a coalition of mayors of the five largest cities in Northern Ontario (Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Timmins, Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay).
This coalition gave the largest northern municipalities a unified voice in their dealings with the provincial and federal governments. This group, representing approximately 70 per cent of Northern Ontario's population, worked for projects benefitting the whole of Northern Ontario.
Over time, this strategy proved effective in pursuing the establishment of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, which would train doctors to serve rural, northern and aboriginal communities, as well as other initiatives such as broadband infrastructure in Northern Ontario.
Northern Ontario School of Medicine
Gordon was a driving force in obtaining a medical school in response to the ongoing challenges of healthcare delivery in the north, in particular the shortage of doctors and the difficulties in providing effective healthcare for rural and aboriginal communities.
In 1999, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-term Care appointed Dr. Robert McKendry to report on physician supply and demand in the province. The report gave weight to the view that "the established medical schools had paid insufficient attention to preparing students for rural and northern practice". McKendry came to the conclusion that meeting underserviced areas' needs might best be met by building a new medical school."Medical school takes step forward, Gordon says". Sudbury Star, May 5, 2005.
In addition to the efforts being made by the university community and medical professionals in the north,Chris Polehoykie, "Gordon says North must keep pressure on for medical school: Decision expected next month". Sudbury Star, October 26, 2000. Gordon realized that political initiative was required to put pressure on the government of Premier Mike Harris. To that end he arranged, on behalf of the Northern Ontario Mayors Coalition, a coalition of the mayors of the five major cities in the north, to meet with Health Minister Elizabeth Witmer to plead their case. Witmer agreed to have the government's expert panel receive a proposal from the north, a proposal that laid out a model for an entirely new school.
However, the expert panel had other ideas,"Medical campus not enough". Sudbury Star, February 22, 2001. and on February 16, 2001, the Toronto Star published a leaked report that the intention was that Sudbury, Thunder Bay and Windsor would become clinical education campuses, extensions of programmes at existing medical schools. Gordon had been quoted as saying, "It's time for us, the councils in the north, to move politically on this," and when the April 2001 Speech from the Throne brought no announcement, Gordon arranged that the Northern Ontario Mayors' Coalition would meet with the Minister of Northern Development and Mines, Dan Newman.Chris Polehoykie. "Gordon says North must keep pressure on for medical school: Decision expected next month". Sudbury Star, October 26, 2000.
Newman agreed to fund an international symposium in Sudbury. Experts from around the world, including Australia, New Mexico, and Finland attended, and on May 17, 2001, Tony Clement, the new Minister of Health, announced in Sudbury a new stand-alone medical school that would specialize in preparing students for northern, rural and remote practice. It would be the first medical school to be opened in Canada in over thirty years.
In October 2001, Harris came to Sudbury to name the implementation management committee with Gordon as chair.Gordon, J.. Committee names lead consultants for the medical school. Sudbury Star, December 22, 2001. Its purpose was to develop a business and implementation plan for the school and to communicate with northern communities to establish a vision statement.