TORONTO – Dr. Fraser Mustard, a Canadian pioneer of early childhood education whose work helped pave the way for full-day kindergarten, has died. He was 84.
A colleague at the Founders Network said Mustard died at home Wednesday night surrounded by his family.
Cheryl Mooney, who worked with Mustard for 15 years, said the doctor was a visionary who saw what needed to be done before others did.
“He worked hard on getting people to see that vision” and left an indelible mark on the field of education, she said in an interview Thursday.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, who first met Mustard in 1996, called him a “strong influence” and champion of children.
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“He was way ahead of his time and it’s a big loss to all of us here in Ontario,” the premier said.
Mustard’s primary mission was to convey the crucial importance of a child’s experiences in the first six years of life.
He co-authored a seminal report in 1999 that urged the Ontario government to foster positive early childhood growth with new programs and increased funding, among other recommendations.
Though the initiative was voted down, a similar report by his friend Charles Pascal a decade later laid the foundation for the government’s full-day kindergarten program.
“I think he was happy to see results,” Mooney said. “He wanted to see more keep happening.”
When Ontario, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island forged ahead with full-day kindergarten last year, Mustard called it “a step in the right direction.”
But he stressed intervention to improve a child’s development should start even earlier.
Mustard’s focus on childhood and education marked a shift in his career after years spent in medical research, including work that established the role of Aspirin in staving off cardiovascular disease.
He was a founding member of McMaster University’s medical school and launched the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, an organization that brought together renowned researchers from across the country to tackle major scientific and social issues.
His work earned him the Order of Ontario and the Order of Canada.
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