Politics
Abel ran as the New Democrat candidate in the riding of Wentworth North against incumbent government house leader, Chris Ward. In what was seen as a symptom of anti-Liberal backlash, Abel beat Ward by 88 votes.
Abel served as both deputy whip and whip during his tenure. He also served as chair of the NDP's caucus personnel committee and as a member of the standing committees on general government, regulations and private bills, finance and economic affairs, estimates and the standing committee on the ombudsman.
In 1994, Abel was one of twelve NDP MPPs to vote against Bill 167, a government bill which proposed to extend spousal benefits to same-sex couples. Voting on the bill was a free vote.
In 1995, Abel introduced a private member's bill providing rights for hearing dogs, similar to seeing-eye dogs. It failed to pass through the legislature before the government was defeated in the 1995 election.
Read more about this topic: Donald Abel
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“The Germans—once they were called the nation of thinkers: do they still think at all? Nowadays the Germans are bored with intellect, the Germans distrust intellect, politics devours all seriousness for really intellectual things—Deutschland, Deutschland Über alles was, I fear, the end of German philosophy.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“Man made one grave mistake: in answer to vaguely reformist and humanitarian agitation he admitted women to politics and the professions. The conservatives who saw this as the undermining of our civilization and the end of the state and marriage were right after all; it is time for the demolition to begin.”
—Germaine Greer (b. 1939)
“His talk was like a spring, which runs
With rapid change from rocks to roses:
It slipped from politics to puns,
It passed from Mahomet to Moses;
Beginning with the laws which keep
The planets in their radiant courses,
And ending with some precept deep
For dressing eels, or shoeing horses.”
—Winthrop Mackworth Praed (1802–1839)