Les Benjamin

Who was Les Benjamin?

Leslie Gordon Benjamin was a Canadian Member of Parliament. Benjamin was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1968 as a New Democratic Party MP from Saskatchewan. In parliament, as the NDP's Transport critic, he often clashed with Otto Lang over the Crow Rate that allowed subsidized rail transport for prairie farmers and was an opponent of deregulation. He retired from parliament in 1993.

When Ronald Reagan addressed the Parliament of Canada in 1987, Benjamin heckled him by crying "he's mad!"

Benjamin was of Welsh heritage with his father's family coming to Canada from the Rumney Valley.

Prior to entering politics, Benjamin worked variously as a railway station agent, telegrapher and secretary.