Gordon Cressy

Background

Cressy was born in 1943 in Toronto, and attended Lawrence Park Collegiate and Northern Secondary School.

Education

He graduated from George Williams College in Chicago in 1967 with a degree in science, and from the University of Toronto in 1969 with a Master of Social Work degree.

Career

He worked as executive director of a group home for teenagers, and as a project director for the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. He first entered politics in 1970, winning election as a school trustee on the Toronto Board of Education. He served as chair of the board in 1975 and 1976.

Cressy ran as an Ontario New Democratic Party candidate in Saint David for the 1977 provincial election, losing to incumbent Master in Public Policy Margaret Scrivener.

As senior alderman, he also represented the ward on Metro Toronto Council. He served on the executive committees of both councils, as chairman of the Portuguese Industrial Task Force in 1979, and as chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Social Services and Housing Committee in 1980.

He retired from elected politics in 1982 to accept a job as president of the Toronto chapter of the United Way, and was succeeded in the 1982 municipal election by Joanne Campbell. Cressy remained with the United Way until 1987, when he left to join the University of Toronto as vice-president of institutional relations.

He has since held similar positions with Ryerson University and George Brown College, and has worked on international development projects in Trinidad and Tobago.

Gordon Cressy served on mayor-elect John Tory"s transition team following the 2014 election.

Achievements

• In 2016, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.

Membership

In 2016, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario.