John Baird Finlay

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John Baird Finlay (January 29, 1929 – October 17, 2010) was a Canadian teacher and politician. He served as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Oxford from 1993 to 2004. Finlay was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and grew up in Toronto and England. He earned a BA from the University of Toronto and an MEd from the University of Western Ontario. He spent his career in education, working as a teacher, principal, and finally superintendent of the Oxford County Board of Education from 1977 to 1988.

Finlay first ran for office in 1963 and later in provincial elections, winning federal office in 1993 and being re-elected in 1997 and 2000. He retired from Parliament in 2004. Finlay lived with Parkinson's disease in later life and died in Tavistock, Ontario, at age 81. He was married to Tove Jensen and Mary Ann Silverthorn.