Steve Butland

Butland was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario on March 26, 1941, the only child of Beatrice Paquette and Henry Seymour Butland, a mechanic who had emigrated from England in the 1920s.

He received his early education at William Merrifield Public School and Sault Collegiate Institute secondary school.^[2] He received a bachelors degree from Laurentian University and a masters degree in education from Northern Michigan University.^[3]

Having no training in broadcasting, in the early 1970s, he briefly hosted a late-night sports program on local CJIC-TV, that he later described as “so bad.”^[4]

Prior to entering federal politics, he worked as a school teacher and principal for 26 years in the Catholic separate school system. His first teaching job was at St. Mary's High School teaching the children of recent immigrants when he was not yet in his 20s. “Half of my class were 16 years old, and I guess I was 19 and a little bit. About a third of them did not speak a word of English. The vast majority were from Italy ... I was no more ready to be a teacher after I graduated than I was to be a plumber. Within three or four years, I started to enjoy teaching.”^[5]

In June 1966 he was appointed vice principal at Sacred Heart Catholic School^[6] and had the same role at St. Theresa School.^[7]

He also served as district president of the Sault English Catholic Teachers Association.^[8] In this role he advocated for better pay for teachers and for teachers to be excluded from the federal unemployment insurance program.^[9]

He was later appointed principal of Holy Family Separate School^[10] and other schools in the Catholic elementary school system.

In the 1970s, he took a one-year sabbatical and spent four months teaching on Pohnpei, a Pacific island in the eastern Caroline Islands. This experience directly contributed to his decision to get involved in public service, later saying, “I learned that Canada is the best country in the world and I’ll give back to the country. I thought maybe I could go into the political world.”^[11]

A hard-working campaigner, Butland knocked on over 4,000 doors to win his first election to Sault Ste. Marie city council in the 1980 municipal election. He garnered the most votes against three other challengers including an incumbent councillor to represent the city’s east-end Ward 1.^[12] He was re-elected in 1982 and 1985.

In April 1988, Butland announced that he would seek the New Democratic Party’s nomination for the Sault Ste. Marie riding for that year’s federal election. At the time, he had been a member of the party’s local association executive for five years. The Canada-US free trade agreement factored heavily in Sault Ste. Marie. Butland argued that agreement would be “a first step in the demise of Canada.” He also campaigned for direct and sustained federal investment, instead of occasional grants, to create employment opportunities particularly for young people in the region.^[13]

He faced off against the incumbent Progressive Conservative MP and then-solicitor general Jim Kelleher. Despite the Progressive Conservatives being re-elected to a majority government, Butland managed to defeat Kelleher by a 1,060 vote margin with 35.3 per cent of the vote. Butland's win was one of only two ridings where a cabinet minister had been defeated and some community leaders expressed concern that the loss of a seat at cabinet would hurt the community.

In parliament, he served as the NDP’s critic for public works and municipal affairs.^[14] He advocated for the federal government to repair the locks at Sault Ste. Marie so Canadian traffic on the Great Lakes would not become solely dependant on the US locks.^[15] He was critical of increases in public spending on advertising that occurred under the Mulroney government.^[16]

In early 1990, when the Sault Ste. Marie language resolution controversy had divided the community and was threatening to further exacerbate national unity concerns, Butland warned other politicians to avoid exploiting the matter for their own political advantage. He told the House of Commons, "Yes, we have problems in my community. Yes. there is divisiveness. Yes, there is tension. Outside interference from whatever source or side at this point is not helpful and will only aggravate tensions."^[17]

Butland faced a difficult path to re-election in 1993. The recession of the early 1990s had hit employment in Ontario and Sault Ste. Marie particularly hard, dragging down the popularity of the provincial NDP government that had been elected two years earlier. On top of this, a nation-wide sentiment that it was time for a change at the federal level worked to the advantage of the opposition Liberal Party. Butland lost re-election to Liberal candidate and former mayor Ron Irwin by 12,437 votes.

Butland was discouraged by the loss. Reflecting years later he said “I was successful many more times than I was unsuccessful and it’s much easier to deal with when you’re the winner. The first time I lost I had a hard time and I thought ‘this is tough’.”^[18]

On August 8, 1964, Butland wed Sharran Misner at St. Gregory’s Church in Sault Ste. Marie. The couple had three daughters, Stefanie, Suzanne and Stacy.^[27]

In late October 2014, Butland admitted to having made an "unforgivable" decision that resulted in a conviction and the loss of his driver's licence. That March, he had been driving home through Michigan from visiting with his daughter in Sarnia, Ontario. He had been experiencing severe back pain diagnosed as compressed disks and vertebra in his neck. To relieve his pain on the long drive he had taken "two strong shots" of whisky. Pulled over for speeding, he was charged and ultimately convicted of being "visibly impaired." Due to a reciprocal agreement between Michigan and Ontario, his licence was suspended for a year. Stressing that he didn't have a drinking problem, Butland was contrite in his description of the incident to the reporters. "It was one night where I made a major, major error and I am extremely humiliated."^[28]

Butland died on October 15, 2025, at the age of 84.^[29]

News of his death was first shared on October 21 through an email sent to city staff by the city's chief administrative officer which was later reported in the media.

In the obituary that followed, his family announced that his remains had been cremated and would be interred alongside his parents at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in March 2026, on what would have been his 85th birthday.^[30]

City mayor Mathew Shoemaker praised Butland’s reputation as a public figure. “It’s rare in public life for someone to serve as long as Steve did and still be held in such high regard by so many – a true testament to the respect he earned and the way he carried himself.”^[31]

Former NDP MPP Bud Wildman spoke about his friend’s positivity saying, “He always had a positive outlook … He was an optimist and really believed that people could work together to solve problems.”^[32]

Terry Sheehan, who had served on council with Butland and been mentored by him when he became a member of Parliament lauded his character. “He was a person who knew when to lead and knew when to follow. He was just a fantastic person all around.”^[33]

Joe Fratesi, the former mayor and city’s chief administrative officer praised Butland’s reliability and focus on citizens. “I enjoyed working with Steve. You could always count on him and he made sure the ordinary person was looked after and their basic needs were looked after.”^[34]