Dave Levac was born and raised in the great riding of Brant, where he continues to live with his wife, Rosemarie. They have three adult children.
After teaching elementary and secondary school for 12 years, Dave became an elementary principal in 1989. In his capacity as a principal, Dave developed Peace Park and conflict resolution programs, for which, among other accomplishments, he received OECTA's Distinguished Teacher Award in 1994.
Community service has always been a top priority for Dave, which culminated for him in 1997 with four major accomplishments: he served as Coordinator for the Queen's Visit to Brantford, Chairperson and Founder of Brantford's Walk of Fame, Founder and Chair of the Walter Gretzky C.N.I.B. Celebrity Golf Tournament, and Vice-Chair of the Brant United Way Campaign.
Dave's many contributions to life in Brant and Brantford was recognized when he was named 1997's Citizen of the Year by readers of The Brantford Expositor.
In 1998, Dave founded and chaired the Friends of the Firefighters Committee, which raised over $100,000 for the purchase of thermal imaging cameras for the Brantford Fire Department. In 2001, the Friends of the Firefighters raised over $50,000 to purchase thermal imagers for the County of Brant Fire Department. The Friends of the Fire Fighters then, in 2010 raised $27,000.00 to purchase CO detectors for home placement.
In addition to the Friends of the Firefighters, Dave has been involved with The Heart & Stroke Foundation, Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), Knights of Columbus, Circle of Friends Community Living, the Parkinson Society of Canada, Honourary Chair for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Brant, the Brantford International Jazz Festival and especially, the Thank-A-Vet Luncheon.
Following a distinguished career in education, Dave turned to politics. Dave was first elected to the Provincial legislature for the riding of Brant in 1999, when he served as the Public Safety & Security Critic and the South Central Liberal Caucus Chair.
In his first two terms, Dave had two private member’s bills successfully receive Royal Assent: Firefighters' Memorial Day Act, 2000; and Sabrina's Law, 2005. Dave continues to support many stakeholders with the introduction of private member’s bills.
Dave's work on behalf of his community was rewarded when he ran for office again in 2003 and received a greater share of the vote. In October 2003, the new Premier, Dalton McGuinty, appointed Dave Chief Government Whip and Vice-Chair of Cabinet's Education Committee; and in 2005, Dave was promoted to Chair of Cabinet's Education Committee.
During his term, Dave has produced a number of other Private Members Bills (PMB). For a complete list of Dave's PMB's please visit: http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/go2.jsp?Page=/bills/bills_main&menuItem=bills_header&locale=en.
In addition, Dave has also co-sponsored the Smoke-Free Amendment Act (Cigarillos), 2008, which received Royal Assent and most recently the Holodomor Memorial Day Act, 2009. These bills are unique in that the Holodomor Memorial Day Act, 2009 was the first ever Tri-sponsored bill in the history of the Ontario Legislature and the Smoke-Free Amendment Act (Cigarillos), 2008 was the first ever co-sponsored bill.
For Dave's work on the Holodomor Memorial Day Act Dave was awarded the prestigious Order of Merit from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. The equivalent of a British Knighthood.
In addition to this honour Dave has received many awards including the Canada 125 Medal in 1993, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for Service to the Community, an Ontario Service Award in 1998, and recently received the YMCA Canada Peace Medal in 2008.
Since 2003, Dave has been instrumental in bringing good news into the riding of Brant. In addition to funding announcements of all kinds, Dave worked to get the Brantford General Hospital approval of the long sought after MRI; he obtained funding for the Brantford campuses of Wilfrid Laurier and Nipissing Universities; he moved the Community Health Centre and Family Health Team forward so that Brant residents have access to more health care; and Dave brought provincial funding for Brownfield redevelopment in the City of Brantford and various trail projects.
Dave was successfully re-elected for a third term in 2007. At that time, residents of the riding of Brant saw a change to the make up of their riding boundaries. Dave now represents the City of Brantford, the County of Brant, the Six Nations Territory, and the Mississauga's of New Credit Territory.
Dave was then appointed Parliamentary Assistant for Community Safety and Correctional Services.
In 2010 Dave was appointed to the position of Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure (Energy). He was also asked to Chair the Economic, Environmental and Resources Policy (EERP) Committee of Cabinet and to sit as a member of the Standing Committee on General Government.
In addition, Dave was asked by the former Speaker of the House of the Assembly of Ontario to be the government representative for the Council of State Government/Eastern Region Committee (CSG/ERC) and the new Speaker re-confirmed this appointment. With regional members’ consent, Dave was re-appointed by the Premier as South Central Liberal Caucus Chair.
Following the 2011 provincial general election MPP Levac was elected by a majority of votes cast by all of the recently elected Members of the Ontario Legislature as the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
Dave is a master of working within the system and has brought an amazing amount of successes to his riding in his own quiet confidant way. He plans on continuing to create partnerships and lower the temperature of contentious issues whenever and wherever they may present themselves in the future. This will allow all stakeholders to come together to find solutions to problems.