John Rafferty
Member of Parliament
for Thunder Bay—Rainy River
In office
October 14, 2008  October 19, 2015
Preceded byKen Boshcoff
Succeeded byDon Rusnak
Personal details
Born(1953-07-03)July 3, 1953
Wingham, Ontario, Canada
DiedJune 30, 2019(2019-06-30) (aged 65)
Neebing, Ontario, Canada
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Professioninstructor, teacher, small business owner

John Rafferty (July 3, 1953 – June 30, 2019) was a Canadian politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay—Rainy River from 2008 to 2015 for the NDP.

Rafferty was previously the party's candidate in Thunder Bay—Superior North for the 2000 federal election, in Thunder Bay—Rainy River for the 2004 and 2006 federal elections, and in Thunder Bay—Atikokan in the 2003 and 2007 provincial elections. Provincially, he lost to incumbent MPP Bill Mauro by a margin of just 50 votes in 2007.

Rafferty was born in Wingham, Ontario. He worked as a radio broadcaster for CKPR in Thunder Bay before leaving to pursue his first election campaign. He subsequently launched his own business producing voiceovers for educational and training videos.

Rafferty introduced one piece of legislation: the National Strategy for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Act. He first introduced it on September 30, 2010, in the third session of the 40th Parliament as a private member's bill. He re-introduced it in June 2011, during the first session of the 41st Parliament.

He was slated to represent the Ontario New Democratic Party in the 2018 Ontario provincial election campaign, but withdrew in January 2018 due to ill health.[1] He died on June 30, 2019, from cancer, at the age of 65, three days before his 66th birthday.[1][2]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
LiberalDon Rusnak18,52344.01+22.31$69,724.11
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty12,48329.66-18.99$106,616.41
ConservativeMoe Comuzzi8,87621.09-6.12$64,890.91
GreenChristy Radbourne2,2015.23+2.79$3,586.52
Total valid votes/Expense limit 42,083100.0   $233,739.33
Total rejected ballots 176
Turnout 42,25967.6+7.5
Eligible voters 62,773
Source: Elections Canada[3][4]
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty18,03948.1+7.8
ConservativeMoe Comuzzi-Stehmann10,09627.2+3.6
LiberalKen Boshcoff8,06621.7-10.6
GreenEd Shields9092.4-1.4
Total valid votes 37,110
2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty14,47340.3+6.9
LiberalKen Boshcoff11,58932.3-2.8
ConservativeRichard Neumann8,46623.6-3.6
GreenRuss Aegard1,3773.8+0.7
Total valid votes 35,905
2007 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalBill Mauro10,91337.7-20.55
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty10,87737.5+15.88
Progressive ConservativeRebecca Johnson5,91420.4+2.78
GreenRuss Aegard1,2714.4+1.89
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalKen Boshcoff13,52535.1%
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty12,86233.4%
ConservativeDavid Leskowski10,48527.2%
GreenRuss Aegard1,1893.1%
MarijuanaDoug MacKay4241.1%
Total valid votes 38,485
2004 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalKen Boshcoff14,290
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty10,781
ConservativeDavid Leskowski9,559
GreenRuss Aegard856
MarijuanaDoug Thompson547
Christian HeritageJohannes Scheibler267
2003 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LiberalBill Mauro1773558.25-5.78
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty658221.624.86
Progressive ConservativeBrian McKinnon536517.62-1.59
GreenKristin Boyer7622.5
2000 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes
LiberalJoe Comuzzi15,241
AllianceDoug Pantry6,278
New DemocraticJohn Rafferty6,169
Progressive ConservativeRichard Neumann2,753
GreenCarl Rose648
MarijuanaDenis A. Carrière581

References

  1. 1 2 "Former MP John Rafferty dies". TBNewsWatch.com. July 1, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  2. "John Thomas Rafferty Obituary (1953 - 2019) the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal". Legacy.com.
  3. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Thunder Bay—Rainy River, 30 September 2015
  4. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
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