in the 1987 provincial election, defeating New Democrat Jack Tubman and Progressive Conservative incumbent Phil Gillies. The Liberals won a landslide majority government in this election under David Peterson's leadership, and Neumann entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He was parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs from 1987 to 1988 and chaired the standing committee on social development from 1988 to 1990. In a 1989 interview, he cited a new telecommunications discovery centre, an industrial park, and the completion of Highway 403 as the Peterson government's main achievements for his area. Neumann also lobbied for increased Via Rail service; in August 1990, he announced that a previously cancelled commuter rail service to Brantford would reopen. The Liberals were defeated in the 1990 provincial election, and Neumann lost his seat to New Democrat Brad Ward. He ran again in the 1995 provincial election but lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Ron Johnson. Since 1990 Neumann resumed his teaching career after leaving political life, retiring from the Brant County Board of Education in 1997. He ran for mayor of Brantford in 2000, but, despite an endorsement from the Brantford Expositor, he finished an unexpectedly poor third against incumbent Chris Friel. From 1998 to 2005, Neumann worked as executive director of the Ontario Association of Adult and Continuing Education School Board Administrators (CESBA), based in Brantford. He welcomed a $78,000 federal grant for literacy training in 2004. He was also president of the local Kiwanis society in 2002–03. Neumann returned to elected office in the 2010 municipal election, winning the second seat in Brantford's fifth ward. He serves on the brownfields community advisory committee, the social services committee, and the Brantford Heritage Committee. Federal politics Neumann supported Jean Chrétien's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada in 1993 and continued to support Chrétien's leadership in the years that followed. He supported Marguerite Ceschi-Smith's bid for the Liberal nomination in Brant in the buildup to the 2004 federal election. Ceschi-Smith lost to Lloyd St. Amand. Electoral record Provincial Municipal References External links Profile at the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 1941 births Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Mayors of Brantford