Born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Harry and Margaret Newman, Newman received his degree from the Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph. He worked as a farmer in the Pickering area. He was married to Molly Mitchell with whom he had three children.[1]
Politics
Newman started as a councillor for Pickering Township and eventually became reeve of Ontario County.[2]
In February 1974 he was appointed as Minister of Environment.[7] During his time as Environment Minister he was criticized for failing to ban non-returnable bottles and for refusing to place restrictions on the use of snowmobiles.[2] In October 1975, he was appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Food.[8] In this capacity Newman was responsible for the creation of the Foodland Ontario program, which continues to today, designed to promote the sale of Ontario-grown agricultural products.[9]
He resigned from Cabinet in 1979 due to high blood pressure and did not run in 1981.[2]
In 1981, he was appointed to the board of the LCBO. He was also a member of a committee appointed to study the best use of the Pickering Airport lands.[2] A supporter of a wide range of community groups, Newman had a particularly strong association with the Ajax-Pickering Hospital and St. Paul's Church-On-The-Hill, Dunbarton.
Newman died October 12, 1988, at Ajax-Pickering Hospital following an illness of almost two years. He was 60.[1]