Howard Douglas McCurdy (10 December 1932 – 20 February 2018) was a Canadian civil rights activist, politician and university professor. He grew up in Southwestern Ontario before moving to the Windsor, Ontario, area. He did his undergraduate work at what is now known as the University of Windsor and doctoral degree at Michigan State University. He became a tenured professor at the University of Windsor and eventually became a department head. In 1980, he entered politics when he was elected to the City of Windsor's council. In 1984, McCurdy entered federal politics when he won a seat in the House of Commons. He was the second Black Canadian to serve in parliament and the first for the New Democratic Party of Canada. He lost his seat during a Liberal Party sweep of Ontario ridings in the 1993 federal election. In 2012 he earned several awards including the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada. In later life he had many health issues and died in the Windsor-area in 2018.
Early life
McCurdy was born in London, Ontario. His great-great grandfather Nasa McCurdy was an agent on the Underground Railroad by which African-American slaves escaped to Canada in the 19th century.
He moved to Amherstburg, Ontario, when he was 9 and encountered racism for the first time when he tried to join the Cub Scouts and was excluded, being told to form a Black-only troop.
Academic career
McCurdy studied at the University of Western Ontario, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, and later at Assumption University, where he received a Bachelor of Science. He was awarded a Master of Science and a Ph.D. in microbiology and chemistry from Michigan State University. He was the head of the Biology Department from 1973 to 1979. Under his direction, the department grew to include over 1,400 students, 21 full-time faculty members and was the largest department at the university. He more than doubled the department's research grants, and had the highest applied for and received percentage of any biology department in Ontario. On his first try, he was elected as an alderman to Windsor City Council on 10 November 1980. McCurdy represented Ward 3 for two terms, the first term was for two years, and the second term was for three years, before going into federal politics. He resigned from City Council on 24 September 1984, with a little over a year left in his term. He only resigned after he was officially declared the winner of the recent federal election for the local electoral district by Elections Canada.
Member of Parliament
While still serving as an alderman, he became the New Democratic Party's candidate in the 1984 Canadian federal election for the riding of Windsor—Walkerville. Since 1935, the riding was a Liberal Party stronghold or safe seat. Not only did McCurdy win, but the Liberal candidate, Terry Patterson, came in third, behind the Progressive Conservative candidate Tom Porter.
1989 NDP leadership run
When Ed Broadbent stepped down as the federal NDP leader, McCurdy decided to run. The delegated leadership convention was held in Winnipeg from 30 November to 3 December 1989. McCurdy finished fifth on the first ballot and decided drop-off the ballot for the second. He moved his delegates over to fellow Windsor MP, Stephen Langdon, and then decided to eventually endorse Audrey McLaughlin, who would go on to win. McLaughlin lead the NDP to their worst-ever defeat in the 1993 federal election. That weak NDP campaign hurt his re-election chances when he faced-off against Cohen again, and lost.
Post-House of Commons Career
A tribute celebration in McCurdy's honour was given by the local NDP electoral district association on 5 March 1994. Ontario Premier Bob Rae and some members of his cabinet attended the event, fuelling speculation that McCurdy was going to get a prestigious Ontario appointment. Premier Rae denied such speculation when he talked to the press that evening and none materialized.
In April 1994, the federal NDP was in crisis mode as they were no longer an official party in the House of Commons. The nine-member House of Commons caucus threatened action if Audrey McLaughlin did not step down as the federal leader. McCurdy was a vice-president of the NDP and sat on the party's federal council. McLaughlin agreed to step down as leader within two years and made that public on 19 April 1984. The council asked her to stay on as leader until a new one could be elected.
Political comeback attempt
McCurdy did attempt to get back into elected politics but at the provincial level in 1995. At the time, the Ontario NDP was the provincial government. However, Premier Rae's Social Contract wage restriction policy, enacted in 1993, was unpopular with labour unions across the province. It restricted wages of public workers and forced them to take unpaid days off known as "Ray Days". This made him and the government targets of labour leaders such as CUPE Ontario's Sid Ryan and the Canadian Auto Workers Union's (CAW) Buzz Hargrove. In April, McCurdy was asked by local Windsor–Essex area labour leaders to denounce the Social Contract, which he refused in a letter he wrote to Windsor and District Labour Council president Gary Parent.
On 12 April 1995, McCurdy announced he would be running for the Ontario NDP nomination in the Windsor—Sandwich electoral district. It was thought he would be unopposed, and a nomination meeting would be held about two weeks later.
But it was not going to be an uncontested race as NDP activist, and Social Contract opponent, Arlene Rousseau entered the race. The nomination was moved up from 18 May to 30 April, because the writ was dropped for the 1995 Ontario general election.
In 2003, McCurdy supported Bill Blaikie's campaign for NDP leader.
He served as the president of the Windsor Black Coalition from 2003–2005. He died on 20 February 2018, at the age of 85 and was survived by his wife Brenda,
In 2012, McCurdy was made a member of the Order of Ontario. Also in 2012, he received Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubliee Medal. On 19 November 2012, McCurdy was designated a Member of the Order of Canada with investiture into the order occurring on 3 May 2013.