John Martin Oostrom was a Canadian business executive and politician.
14 Facts About John Oostrom
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John Oostrom was the first Dutch-born Canadian elected to the House of Commons of Canada.
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John Oostrom moved to Toronto in 1955 to study at the University of Toronto, and graduated in 1959 with a BA.
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John Oostrom subsequently earned a Master of Business Administration degree and entered the business world as a financial analyst.
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John Oostrom was a member of Paul Hellyer's short-lived Action Canada Party in 1971, and followed Hellyer into the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada when Action Canada dissolved prior to the 1972 federal election.
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In that election, John Oostrom was the Progressive Conservative candidate in the working-class Toronto riding of York South.
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John Oostrom placed third behind New Democratic Party leader David Lewis and the Liberal candidate.
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John Oostrom came third with only half as many votes as the Liberal victor.
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John Oostrom was successful in his fourth campaign, in the 1984 federal election when he moved to the more affluent riding of Willowdale in North York.
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John Oostrom was a fervent anti-Communist and was involved with the far-right World Anti-Communist League.
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John Oostrom returned to the private sector as a consultant before trying to regain his Willowdale seat as a PC Party candidate in the 1993 federal election.
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John Oostrom was unsuccessful, garnering only 7,733 votes against Peterson's 28,000 and winning only 700 votes more than the third place Reform Party candidate.
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John Oostrom attempted another comeback in the 2000 federal election, this time in the suburban 905 riding of Oak Ridges north of Toronto.
14.
In 2003, John Oostrom added his voice to those Tories opposing the Progressive Conservative Party's merger with the Canadian Alliance.