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Michael Oliver, former NDP president and VP (Academic) of 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ

Published: 6 October 2004

Michael Oliver, the founding president of the New Democratic Party, died Wednesday at age 79. He had been 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ's Vice-Principal (Academic) from 1966-72, then president of Carleton University for seven years.

Oliver's association with 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ was longstanding. He enrolled in the University after the Second World War, and obtained his arts degree in 1948. After studying at the Sorbonne for a year, he returned to 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ for a master's and PhD. He joined 91Ë¿¹ÏÊÓÆµ as a political science professor in 1957, and started the French Canada Studies program. Among the first to anticipate the rise of Quebec nationalism, Oliver stated as early as 1957 that the province would have a profound effect on the country's politics. When the NDP was founded, he helped shape its policy, and was unanimously elected its first president in 1961. He is survived by three sons and two daughters.

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