Editing Ron Atkey (section)

==Politics==
Atkey was elected to the [[House of Commons of Canada]] as the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Canada|Progressive Conservative]] (Tory) [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[Toronto]] [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] of [[St. Paul's (electoral district)|St. Paul's]] in the [[1972 Canadian federal election|1972 election]].<ref name="1972 results">{{cite news |title=How the 1,117 candidates fared across Canada |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=October 31, 1972 |page=15}}</ref> He was defeated by [[John Roberts (Canadian politician)|John Roberts]] in the [[1974 Canadian federal election|1974 election]].<ref name="1974 results">{{cite news |title=How the party candidates fared across the country |newspaper=The Toronto Star |date=July 9, 1974 |page=A12}}</ref>

Atkey defeated Roberts in the [[1979 Canadian federal election|1979 election]] that brought the Tories to power under [[Joe Clark]].<ref name="1979 results">{{cite news |title=Counting the votes: The Liberals watch from their Quebec fortress ... as Conservatives sweep most of the West |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=May 24, 1979 |pages=10–11}}</ref> Clark appointed Atkey to the [[Canadian Cabinet]] as [[Minister of Employment and Immigration (Canada)|Minister of Employment and Immigration]]. Clark's [[minority government]] was short-lived, however, and Atkey was defeated in the [[1980 Canadian federal election|1980 election]].<ref name="1980 results">{{cite news |title=Federal general election results listed riding-by-riding |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ha4yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2698%2C1032477 |date=February 19, 1980 |pages=29–30}}</ref>

During his time as Minister, Atkey was instrumental in the decision to grant 50,000 [[Vietnamese boat people]] asylum in Canada in 1979, during the Southeast Asian refugee crisis. Atkey was influenced by an early manuscript copy of the book ''None is Too Many'', which revealed Canada's racist attitude toward Jews trying to enter Canada during [[the Holocaust]]. As a result, Canada's participation in resolving his crisis was a model for the world.<ref>[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/politician-ron-atkey-opened-canadas-doors-to-boat-people/article35108399/ Politician Ron Atkey opened Canada’s doors to boat people] Globe and Mail obituary by Ron Csillag, 2017 May 24</ref>