Former Ottawa mayor and one-time Hamilton Mountain MP Marion Dewar died in a Toronto hospital.

Dewar, 80, had a serious fall last week while visiting the Toronto International Film Festival.

A parachute candidate for the NDP, she won the Hamilton Mountain riding for the party in a 1987 byelection, but was defeated the following year by Liberal Beth Phinney by only 74 votes.

NDP Hamilton Centre MP David Christopherson ran for the nomination for the same riding that year.

"She defeated me and two days later, I was walking the streets with her canvassing," he said.

"She was so gracious and so decent about the whole thing that I felt very comfortable picking up my marbles to help get her elected."

He said that despite being a parachute candidate, she connected with Hamiltonians.

"She could explain to you how our complicated health care system works and they didn't feel that it was a politician talking to them."

Dewar was elected to Ottawa council in 1972 and served as mayor from 1978 to 1985.

During that period, she organized Project 4,000 to bring Vietnamese boat people -- refugees of the Vietnam War who had spent years in Asian refugee camps -- to Ottawa.

"The project inspired and galvanized the people of Ottawa," said Premier Dalton McGuinty, MPP for Ottawa South.

"Within weeks of its founding, the first Vietnamese refugees arrived at Ottawa International Airport to begin new lives in Canada.

"As an activist, public servant, volunteer and private citizen, Marion Dewar was a passionate advocate for the rights of women, a champion of the most vulnerable, and a great force for good in her city and in this province."

Dewar served as president of the federal NDP for several years during the 1980s.

Her son, Paul Dewar, is the NDP candidate in Ottawa Centre.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Dewar was known for championing nuclear disarmament and pushing for gender equality provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

"(She) worked tirelessly to improve the lives of others, particularly the most vulnerable members of our society," he said in a statement.