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Mike Foster (Canadian politician)

Ontario politician (20th century)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ6830380 ↗
Source-derived summary

Michael Foster is a former municipal politician in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was an alderman in the Metro Toronto municipality of North York from 1978 to 1985, and later campaigned for Mayor of North York in 1988. He has also sought election to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Foster is a member of the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Early life and career

Foster studying political science at York University. Before entering political life, he worked in community service, produced a television problem on community affairs, and was the administrator of a legal aid clinic. In June 1978, he was listed as a worker at Etobicoke's Welfare Action Centre.

North York councillor

Foster was first elected to North York's city council in 1978 with a narrow victory over the incumbent alderman, Marilyn Meshburg, who had defeated him in his first attempt two years earlier. Foster's challenge of Meshburg was somewhat unusual, in that both candidates were progressives on labour issues and other matters. Meshburg was supported by the Metro Reform citizens' group, while Foster was backed by the municipal wing of the NDP and the Metro Labour Council.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Mike Foster (Canadian politician)” as ontario politician (20th century). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mike, Foster and Canadian.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1978, 1985, 1988—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Mike, Foster and Canadian providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Mike Foster (Canadian politician)”, the useful work is to connect “ontario politician (20th century)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6830380. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1978, 1985 and 1988.

Critical limits

Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Mike Foster (Canadian politician)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Mike Foster (Canadian politician) primary sources, Mike Foster (Canadian politician) archive and Mike research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Mike Foster (Canadian politician)”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Mike Foster (Canadian politician)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.