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Research dossier · People & Ideas

Stephen Lewis

Canadian politician (1937–2026)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
People and ideasInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 5, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

Stephen Henry Lewis was a Canadian politician, public speaker, broadcaster and diplomat who served as leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) from 1970 to 1978. Elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1963 at the age of 26, he became the province's leader of the Official Opposition in 1975. He later served as the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Stephen Lewis” as canadian politician (1937–2026). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Stephen, Lewis 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—1970, 1978, 1963, 1975—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Stephen, Lewis 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 “Stephen Lewis”, the useful work is to connect “canadian politician (1937–2026)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1970, 1978, 1963 and 1975.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. 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
Verify next

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 “Stephen Lewis”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Stephen Lewis primary sources, Stephen Lewis archive and Stephen 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 “Stephen Lewis”?
  2. Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Stephen Lewis” 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.