Barry Mather
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for New Westminster
In office
September 1962 – June 1968
Preceded byWilliam McLennan
Succeeded byDouglas Hogarth
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Surrey
In office
June 1968 – October 1972
Preceded byDistrict was created in 1966
Succeeded byDistrict changed name in 1971 to Surrey—White Rock
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Surrey—White Rock
In office
October 1972 – May 1974
Preceded byDistrict changed name in 1971 from Surrey
Succeeded byBenno Friesen
Personal details
Born(1909-02-20)20 February 1909
Condor, Alberta, Canada
Died30 March 1982(1982-03-30) (aged 73)
Nerja, Spain
Political partyNew Democratic Party
Professionjournalist

Barry Mather (20 February 1909 – 30 March 1982) was a Canadian journalist, columnist, and politician.

Born in Condor, Alberta, he was a journalist for the Vancouver News Herald and a columnist with The Vancouver Sun before being elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the 1962 federal election for the British Columbia riding of New Westminster. A member of the New Democratic Party, he was re-elected in the 1963, 1965, 1968, and 1972 elections in the ridings of New Westminster, Surrey, and Surrey—White Rock.

In 1965, he was the first Member of Parliament to introduce a freedom of information bill as a private member's bill. Although it didn't pass, he would re-introduce the same legislation in every parliamentary session between 1968 and 1974. In 1983, an Access to Information Act would finally be passed.[1] Mather was also one of the first parliamentarians to call for restrictions on the sale of cigarettes; in 1969, he called for a ban on all cigarette advertising.[2]

He was the co-author of the 1958 book, New Westminster, The Royal City. He was married to Camille Mather, a former Co-operative Commonwealth Federation member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the riding of Delta. They had two daughters: Mary and Jane.

He died of a heart attack during a vacation in Nerja in 1982.

References

  • "Barry Mather, ex-MP, dies in Spain at 73". The Globe and Mail. 1 April 1982.
  1. ↑ Access to Information: Making it Work for Canadians Archived 8 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ Winnipeg Free Press, 17 January 1969, p. 6; Winnipeg Free Press, 7 February 1969, p. 7.
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