and Nature on the Prairie, 1976 The Social Gospel in Canada (editor), 1975 Sun Bright and Well Beloved: Three Hundred Years of a North American Family and their Farther Past, 1998 The View from Murney Tower: Salem Bland, the Late Victorian Controversies, and the Search for a New Christianity, 2008 Politics Allen was elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election held on June 17, 1982, defeating Liberal Joe Barbara and replacing former Liberal leader Stuart Smith as the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton West. He was re-elected over Liberal Paul Hanover by 450 votes in the 1985 provincial election, and defeated Liberal Mary Kiss by 1,096 votes in the provincial election of 1987. In 1983, Allen introduced a resolution calling for Ontario to be made a nuclear-free zone. It was defeated by a vote of 63 to 38. As the NDP critic for Constitutional Affairs and a member of l'Association interparlementaire de langue francaise, Allen was a vocal supporter of the Meech Lake Accord, and with Liberal critic, Charles Beer, drafted the Ontario Legislature's official report on the Accord. In government The NDP won the provincial election of 1990. Given his academic background, Allen was appointed Minister of Colleges and Universities and Minister of Skills Development on October 1, 1990. He was also charged with creating an Ontario Training and Adjustment Board to establish a comprehensive training program in Ontario. In the cabinet shuffle of February 3, 1993, Allen was asked to become a Minister Without Portfolio in order to take responsibility for international trade. On August 22, 1994, he was re-appointed to a full cabinet position as Minister of Housing. The NDP were defeated in the provincial election of 1995, and Allen lost the Hamilton West riding to Progressive Conservative Lillian Ross by over 4,000 votes. Allen moved on to become chairperson of the Board of Wesley Urban Ministries in Hamilton (1996–2001) and resumed a career of historical research and writing. References External links 1929 births 2019 deaths Duke University alumni Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Members of the United Church of Canada Ontario New Democratic Party MPPs People from Dundas, Ontario Politicians from Vancouver