Editing Dan Heap

{{Short description|Canadian politician and Anglican priest (1925–2014)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=September 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| image            = Dan Heap.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| office1          = Member of Parliament<br />for [[Trinity—Spadina (federal electoral district)|Trinity—Spadina]]
| parliament1      = Canadian
| term_start1      = 1988
| term_end1        = 1993
| predecessor1     = Riding established
| successor1       = [[Tony Ianno]]
| office2          = Member of Parliament<br />for [[Spadina (electoral district)|Spadina]]
| parliament2      = Canadian
| term_start2      = 1981
| term_end2        = 1988
| predecessor2     = [[Peter Stollery]]
| successor2       = Riding abolished
| office3          = Alderman, [[Toronto City Council]]
| term_start3      = 1972
| term_end3        = 1981
| predecessor3     = Horace Brown
| successor3       = [[John Sewell]]
| office4          = [[Metropolitan Toronto Council]]lor
| term_start4      = 1974
| term_end4        = 1978
| predecessor4     = [[William Archer (Toronto)|William Archer]]
| successor4       = [[Allan Sparrow]]
| birth_name       = Daniel James Macdonnell Heap
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1925|09|24}}
| birth_place      = [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2014|04|25|1925|09|24|mf=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| party            = {{ubl | [[New Democratic Party]] | [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]]}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|Alice Boomhour|1950|2012|end=died}}
| alma_mater       = {{ubl | [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]] | [[McGill University]]}}
| module           = {{Infobox clergy |child=yes
| religion         = Christianity ([[Anglican]])
| church           = [[Anglican Church of Canada]]
| ordained         = 1950 (priest)
| congregations    = [[Church of the Holy Trinity (Toronto)|Church of the Holy Trinity]], Toronto
| offices_held     = 
}}
}}

'''Daniel James Macdonnell Heap''' (September 24, 1925 – April 25, 2014) was a [[Canadians|Canadian]] activist and politician. Heap served as a [[House of Commons of Canada|Member of Parliament]] with the [[New Democratic Party]], a [[Toronto City Council]]lor, a political activist and an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] [[worker-priest]]. He represented the [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], riding of [[Spadina (electoral district)|Spadina]] (after 1988 [[Trinity—Spadina (federal electoral district)|Trinity—Spadina]]) from 1981 to 1993 and Ward 6 on Toronto City Council from 1972 to 1981. As an activist he was involved in the peace movement, community issues around housing, homelessness, poverty and refugee rights among other social justice issues.

==Background==
Heap was born on September 24, 1925, in [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], into a middle-class family, the second of four children. His father, Fred Heap, was a lawyer and his mother was a piano teacher.<ref name=obitmay>{{cite news|title=Lifelong socialist was a champion for the marginalized|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/lifelong-socialist-was-a-champion-for-the-marginalized/article18709381/|accessdate=May 16, 2014|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=May 15, 2014}}</ref> Heap's maternal grandfather was a Presbyterian [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] inspiring Heap, from a young age, to want to take up the same calling.<ref name=obitmay/>

Heap was raised a [[Presbyterian]] in a family that was concerned about social causes. When he was 6, the family decided to boycott [[Japan]]ese oranges to protest the [[Japanese invasion of Manchuria]].<ref name=obitmay/>

For his last two years of high school, Heap attended [[Upper Canada College]] on a scholarship, and then studied classics and philosophy at [[Queen's University at Kingston|Queen's University]].<ref name=obitmay/>

A pacifist, Heap nevertheless joined the [[Canadian Army]] during the [[Second World War]] due to his opposition to [[Nazism]], later saying "It wasn't possible to be neutral in the face of Hitler". However, the war ended before he could be sent overseas.<ref name=obitmay/>

In 1945, while working in a factory as a summer job, he met members of the [[Student Christian Movement of Canada|Student Christian Movement]] and became a [[Christian socialist]]. He later also became a member of the Society of the Catholic Commonwealth and of the [[Co-operative Commonwealth Federation]],<ref name=titan/> forerunner of the [[New Democratic Party]].

Heap studied theology at the [[University of Chicago]] for a year before becoming an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] and transferring to [[McGill University]] to pursue a divinity degree.<ref name=obitmay/> While at McGill he became engaged to Alice Boomhour, a pacifist, activist in the SCM and CCF, and daughter of a [[United Church of Canada|United Church]] minister. They married in 1950.<ref name=alice/> That same year, he was ordained a priest within the [[Anglican Church of Canada]].<ref name=titan/>

After working as a parish priest in Quebec for only a few years in the 1950s, Heap decided against a career as a church employee and aligned himself with the [[Worker-Priest]] movement which paired ministry with social activism.<ref name=obitmay/> Heap moved his family to Toronto where he worked for 18 years as a labourer (cutter trimmer, later pressman) in a cardboard box factory in Toronto, where he became involved in the paperworker's union (later the [[Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada]] which eventually merged to become part of [[UNIFOR]]) and was elected a union representative<ref name=obitmay/> and attempted to "bring socialism to the Canadian worker".<ref name=titan/>

He and Alice raised seven children, including son Danny Heap, a computer science lecturer at the [[University of Toronto]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Former MP Dan Heap has settled into a new home but without wife Alice |first=Laurie |last=Monsebraaten |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2011/10/22/former_mp_dan_heap_has_settled_into_a_new_home_but_without_wife_alice.html |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=October 22, 2011}}</ref>

In 1965, Heap marched with [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] on his [[Selma to Montgomery marches]] while the rest of his family participated in a solidarity [[sit-in]] in Toronto.<ref name=obitmay/> The family also opened their home to [[Canada and the Vietnam War|Americans resisting the Vietnam War]], youth involved with the SCM and other activists.<ref name=obitmay/>

==Politics==
Heap entered politics and campaigned on a platform to oppose poverty, war and homelessness. He ran as the [[New Democratic Party (Canada)|New Democratic Party]]'s candidate in [[Spadina (electoral district)|Spadina]] in the [[1968 Canadian federal election|1968 federal election]] placing second in a campaign where he described himself as a "worker priest".  He also ran in the 1971 provincial election against [[Allan Grossman]] in the riding of [[St. Andrew—St. Patrick]], losing by 1137 votes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Riding by riding returns in the provincial election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=October 23, 1971 |page=10}}</ref> His first success in politics came when he was elected in the 1972 municipal election as the junior Alderman for Ward 6.<ref>{{cite news |title=4 city aldermen lose their seats |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=December 5, 1972 |page=1}}</ref> As well as serving on Toronto City Council from 1972 to 1981, he also represented Ward 6 on [[Metro Toronto Council]] from 1974 to 1978. When the [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal]] [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|Member of Parliament]] for Spadina, [[Peter Stollery]], was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada|Senate]] in 1981, Heap decided to run in the subsequent [[by-election]]. [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Pierre Trudeau]] had recommended Stollery for appointment to the Senate in order to open the "safe Liberal riding" for Trudeau's aide [[Jim Coutts]]. Heap defeated Coutts in the by-election, however, and was re-elected in the [[1984 Canadian federal election|1984]] and [[1988 Canadian federal election|1988 elections]].  He retired at the [[1993 Canadian federal election|1993 federal election]].

Heap was an outspoken MP, and campaigned against poverty, homelessness, and war.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|title=Dan Heap, former NDP MP and social justice activist, dead at 88 |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/04/26/dan_heap_former_ndp_mp_and_social_justice_activist_dead_at_88.html |accessdate=April 26, 2014 |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=April 26, 2014}}</ref> Upon being elected to parliament, he said his three priorities were world peace, worker control of the economy, and an end to social injustice.<ref>{{cite news |title=Stephen Lewis commentary |publisher=CityPulse at 6 |date=August 18, 1981 |work=see YouTube: CityPulse at 6 - Aug 18th, 1981}}</ref> He served as NDP critic on immigration, served on the member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Labour, Employment and Immigration,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3032235 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140426151318/http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3032235 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |publisher=[[Library and Archives Canada]] |title=Dan Heap, 1925- |date=March 19, 2008 |accessdate=April 27, 2014 }}</ref> and was a prominent spokesperson for social justice issues both in Canada and abroad. He was very concerned with issues such as refugees, the situations in [[Central America]], [[East Timor]], and [[South Africa]].<ref name=cbcobit>{{cite news|title=Dan Heap, former Toronto NDP MP, dead at 88|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/dan-heap-former-toronto-ndp-mp-dead-at-88-1.2622995|accessdate=April 26, 2014|newspaper=[[CBC News]]|date=April 26, 2014}}</ref>   Heap hired a young [[Olivia Chow]] as his constituency office assistant.<ref>{{cite news|title=Can Olivia Chow be Toronto's next mayor?|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/olivia-chow-is-in-the-drivers-seat/article17726075/?page=all|accessdate=April 26, 2014|newspaper=Globe and Mail|date=March 28, 2014}}</ref>

==Later life==
Despite retiring from politics, Heap remained involved as an activist, strongly backing the anti-war movement, and supporting NDP candidates in the region. He also remained involved at the downtown [[Church of the Holy Trinity, Toronto|Church of the Holy Trinity]] and social justice issues within the Anglican Church of Canada. In retirement, he preferred to go by the name "Don Heap", which he used before entering electoral politics in 1968.

In the late 1980s, he and his wife Alice sold their family home in Toronto's [[Kensington Market]] area at a fraction of the market price to the ''Homes First Society'', a community organization which provides housing for refugees.<ref name=titan/><ref name=obit/> The house had been a nexus for meetings and organizing among student activists around the anti-war, anti-apartheid and social housing movements from the 1960s to the 1980s with as many as a dozen young people staying with the Heap family at one time.<ref name=alice/>

In his late seventies and early eighties he remained involved in various issues such as refugee rights. Heap co-founded the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee to campaign on the issue of homelessness.<ref name=titan>{{cite news |last=Monsebraaten |first=Louise |title=He was a titan of Toronto social justice. Now he's sick and needs a home |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/article/1069850 |accessdate=October 15, 2011 |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=October 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Homeless activists demand Pitfield resign from committee |newspaper=Etobicoke Guardian |date=May 16, 2006}}</ref>

Heap suffered a [[heart attack]] in 2005 and was also diagnosed with [[Alzheimer's disease]] in 2006. In 2011, he and his wife faced eviction from their retirement home as they awaited admission to a long-term care facility, for which they had been on a waiting list for five years. In October 2011, Heap was admitted to the Kensington Gardens facility and his wife Alice got a spot there later that month.<ref name=titan/> Alice Heap, his wife of 61 years, died due to complications from [[pneumonia]] on March 24, 2012, at the age of 86.<ref name=alice>{{cite news |last=Monsebraaten |first=Laurie |title=Activist Alice Heap lived final days in peace |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/article/1151783 |accessdate=March 26, 2012 |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=March 25, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Casey |first=Liam |title=Toronto social justice crusader Alice Heap dies |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/article/1151621 |accessdate=March 25, 2012 |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=March 24, 2012}}</ref>

Heap died on April 25, 2014.<ref name=obit/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/former-ndp-mp-social-justice-advocate-dan-heap-dies-at-88-1.1793882 |title=Former NDP MP, social justice advocate Dan Heap dies at 88 |date=April 26, 2014}}</ref> One of his sons posted a message remembering him as an "advocate of the homeless, for refugees and for peace [among other causes]" and also as a "Pacifist, socialist, worker-priest, marxist Anglican, trade-unionist, city councillor, member of parliament, civilly disobedient marcher for human rights. Wearer of red shirts, cyclist, paddler of canoes, singer of songs."<ref name=cbcobit/>

==Tributes==
A sole support mother that Heap helped get childcare in the 1980s, later taught nursing at [[George Brown College]]. In 2013, Nadira Fraser established the "Dan and Alice Heap Bursary" to aid single parents to qualify for nursing.<ref name=obit/> The couple also has an athletic award which is attributed to their namesake, the Don & Alice Heap Rugby for All Athletic Award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcgill.ca/seedsofchange/project/don-alice-heap-rugby-all-athletic-award|title = The Don & Alice Heap Rugby for all Athletic Award}}</ref>

==Electoral history==

===Spadina===
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="6"|[[1968 Canadian federal election]]
|-
! colspan="2" style="width: 200px"|Party
! style="width: 170px"|Candidate
! style="width: 40px"|Votes
|-
{{Canadian party colour|CA|Liberal|row-name}}
|'''[[Perry Ryan (Canadian politician)|Perry Ryan]]'''
|align="right"|9,379
{{Canadian party colour|CA|NDP|row-name}}
|Dan Heap
|align="right"| 3,943
{{Canadian party colour|CA|PC|row-name}}
|Victor Bagnato
|align="right"| 3,353
|}

===[[St. Andrew—St. Patrick]]===
{{1971 Ontario general election/St. Andrew—St. Patrick}}

===Toronto City Council (Ward 6)===
'''1972'''
;Ward 6 ([[Financial District, Toronto]] - [[University of Toronto]])
:x-'''[[William Archer (Toronto)|William Archer]]''' - 7,395
:x-'''Dan Heap''' (reform) - 7,153
:[[June Marks]] (incumbent) - 6,396
:Horace Brown (incumbent) - 2,928
:Arthur Downes - 2,127

'''1974'''
;Ward 6 ([[Financial District, Toronto]] - [[University of Toronto]])
:x-'''Dan Heap''' (incumbent)
:x-'''[[Allan Sparrow]]'''
:[[William Archer (Toronto)|William Archer]] (incumbent)
:K Dock Yip
:John Comos
:Arthur Downes
:Fred Nelson

'''1976'''
;Ward 6 ([[Financial District, Toronto]] - [[University of Toronto]])
:x-'''Dan Heap''' (incumbent) - 8,503
:x-'''[[Allan Sparrow]]''' (incumbent) - 8,103
:Peter Budd - 4,448
:Arnold Linelsky - 2,046

'''1978'''
;Ward 6 ([[Financial District, Toronto]] - [[University of Toronto]])
:x-'''[[Allan Sparrow]]''' (incumbent) - 8,029
:x-'''Dan Heap''' (incumbent) - 7,514
:Dan Richards - 6,421
:Rose Smith - 2,785
:Joe Martin - 1,143

'''1980'''
;Ward 6 ([[Financial District, Toronto]] - [[University of Toronto]])
:x-'''[[Gordon Chong]]'''  - 9,522
:x-'''Dan Heap''' (incumbent) - 9,341
:[[George Hislop]] - 7,348
:Rose Smith - 2,959
:Fred Chappell - 1,339
:Darryl Randall - 659
:Gary Weagle - 505

===Spadina===
{{1981 Canadian federal by-elections/Spadina}}
{{1984 Canadian federal election/Spadina}}

===[[Trinity—Spadina (federal electoral district)|Trinity—Spadina]]===
{{1988 Canadian federal election/Trinity—Spadina}}

== Archives ==
{{Archival records|title=Dan Heap fonds|location=|inventory_number=Fonds 1327|description_URL=http://gencat.eloquent-systems.com/torontodetail.html?key=38|dates=|access_conditions=}}
There is a Dan Heap [[fonds]] at [[Library and Archives Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Finding aid to Dan Heap fonds, Library and Archives Canada|url=http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000002237.pdf|last=|first=|date=|website=|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427054647/http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf001/p000002237.pdf |archive-date=27 April 2014 |access-date=May 26, 2020}}</ref> Archival reference number is R11601.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=5262}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Canada|Christianity|Politics|Organized labour|Socialism}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heap, Dan}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Anglican socialists]]
[[Category:Anglican pacifists]]
[[Category:Canadian Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Canadian Christian pacifists]]
[[Category:Canadian Christian socialists]]
[[Category:Canadian Marxists]]
[[Category:Converts to Anglicanism from Presbyterianism]]
[[Category:McGill University alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario]]
[[Category:Metropolitan Toronto councillors]]
[[Category:New Democratic Party MPs]]
[[Category:Politicians from Winnipeg]]
[[Category:Queen's University at Kingston alumni]]
[[Category:Toronto city councillors]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Manitoba]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Ontario]]
[[Category:Upper Canada College alumni]]
[[Category:Canadian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Canadian Army personnel]]
[[Category:Canadian military personnel from Manitoba]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian municipal councillors]]