A former MP who represented the riding of London-Middlesex has died.
Garnet Bloomfield passed away Wednesday at the age of 89. He was elected to Parliament as a Liberal MP in the 1980 election, after an unsuccessful attempt to win the riding in the 1979 election. He served as the MP for London-Middlesex for four years until his defeat in 1984 by Progressive Conservative candidate Terry Clifford. In 1988, he ran against Clifford again, losing by just eight votes.
Holding a strict pro-life stance, Bloomfield voted against adopting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 because it did not guarantee the right to life. In a 2013 interview with The Interim, a publication of the Campaign Life Coalition, Bloomfield said then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau did not hold the vote against him.
"He said “you know Garnet, I understand where you’re coming from, I just want you to know that I’m doing the best that I can for the situation that is before us. I appreciate your view and we will think on that.” So I left the room, and after the deal (charter) was done, he twice appointed me parliamentary secretary, and that’s entirely up to the prime minister’s whim, and you know, for a new MP to disagree with a very important bill and he didn’t hold anything against me. I had a lot more respect for him after that," Bloomfield told The Interim.
In 2014, Bloomfield signed his name to an open letter to Justin Trudeau after the then-Liberal leader announced that he would oppose the nomination of any Liberal candidates who would not vote in favour of a woman's right to choose. The letter, from seven former Liberal MPs including former London-Fanshawe MP Pat O'Brien, asked Trudeau to reverse his policy but was unsuccessful.
The election of 1988 would not be the last time Bloomfield ran for office. In the 1997 federal election, he ran under the banner of the Reform Party in the riding of Perth-Middleseex, but was defeated by Liberal John Richardson. He ran in the riding again in 2000, when Richardson was re-elected.
Bloomfield was pre-deceased by Mildred, his wife of 64 years, and his son Ken, who died in 2014.
Visitation will be held Monday from 2pm-4pm and 6pm-9pm at Westview Funeral Chapel on Wonderland Rd. N in London. A funeral will be held Tuesday.