Jim Flaherty

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Image:Jimf.jpg James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC , MP, BA , LL.B (born December 30, 1949) is Canada's Minister of Finance; he had formerly served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005 he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, representing the Progressive Conservative Party. He was previously a senior cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris, and has unsuccessfully sought the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives on two occasions. Flaherty won the riding of Whitby—Oshawa in the federal election held January 23, 2006 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada beating Liberal incumbent Judi Longfield by nearly 4000 votes. Flaherty's wife Christine Elliott is currently representing Whitby-Ajax in the Ontario Legislature.

1 Education and political career
2 References
3 External links

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Education and political career

Flaherty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University, as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He practised law before entering political life, and became a senior partner at the firm Flaherty Dow Elliott. He first ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, but finished third against New Democrat Drummond White and Liberal Allan Furlong in the riding of Durham Centre. He ran again in the 1995 election, and this time defeated Furlong and White during a significant regional shift in favour of his party.

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In the Ontario cabinet

He was named Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Premier Mike Harris on October 10, 1997, and kept this position until after the 1999 election. He also served as interim Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services from April 27 to July 27, 1998, when Minister Bob Runciman temporarily resigned from active duty after revealing privileged information in the legislature.

Flaherty was easily re-elected in the 1999 election in the redistributed riding of Whitby--Ajax, and was named Attorney General with responsibility for Native Affairs on June 17, 1999. On February 8, 2001, he was promoted to Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier. It was during this period that Flaherty became identified as one of the most right-wing figures in the Harris administration. He was a key promoter of tax credits for parents sending their children to private and denominational schools, which the Tories had campaigned against in 1999. Minister of Education Janet Ecker did not support this policy change, and there are reports that she considered leaving cabinet after its announcement.

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2002 Ontario PC leadership campaign

Flaherty ran to succeed Harris in the 2002 PC leadership election, but lost to Ernie Eves. His leadership campaign focused on "law and order" themes, and one of his most controversial proposals was to make homelessness illegal. Flaherty's plan was to have special constables encourage homeless persons to seek out shelters or hospitals. He claimed that his policy would save the lives of homeless persons; critics described it as callous, and ineffective against the root causes of homelessness. His proposal was denounced by leadership rival Elizabeth Witmer, who stated that "I find his plan absolutely disgusting. It is inhumane and is totally lacking in compassion."

Flaherty also promised to implement further tax cuts, carry through with plans to create a tax credit for parents sending their children to private school, and privatizing the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Flaherty also emerged as a social conservative in this campaign, distinguished by his vocal stance against abortion, and his association with pro-life groups.

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Later provincial career and second leadership campaign

On April 15, 2002, Eves appointed him to the less-prominent position of Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. He retained this position until the Tories were defeated in the provincial election of 2003. Flaherty himself was re-elected, though by a sharply reduced margin.

Prior to the 2003 election, Flaherty appeared as a speaker at a "Canadians for Bush" rally in the Niagara region, organized by controversial right-wing minister Tristan Emmanuel in support of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Following the defeat of the Conservatives, Eves announced that he would resign as leader in 2004. Flaherty declared himself a candidate to succeed him, but was defeated by John Tory by a margin of 54% to 46% on the second ballot of the PC leadership election held on September 18, 2004. His supporters included former cabinet ministers John Baird, Tim Hudak and Norm Sterling.

Flaherty's 2004 leadership campaign was similar to that of 2002. He again emphasized right-wing themes, including further tax cuts and greater privatization. He also promised to create EXCEL scholarships, wherein students attaining high grades in high school would have half their university tuition paid by the government.

Until 2005, Flaherty served as finance critic in John Tory's shadow cabinet.

On February 4 2006, the Toronto Star reported that Flaherty still owed as much as $64,000 to the PC Party of Ontario from his 2004 leadership campaign.[1]

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Campaign for the House of Commons

On June 13, 2005, the Canadian news website bourque.org reported that a meeting of prominent Conservative organizers and fundraisers had been held to plan for a Flaherty bid for the leadership of the federal party should Stephen Harper choose or be forced to step down.

In December 2005, the minority Liberal government collapsed, and the 2006 general election was called. Flaherty resigned his seat in the Ontario legislature to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Whitby—Oshawa, unseating incumbent Judi Longfield.

Flaherty's wife, Christine Elliott, won Flaherty's former provincial seat in a by-election; defeating Longfield who was running as the provincial Liberal candidate. This marked the first time in Canadian history that a husband and wife have simultaneously represented the same electoral district at two different levels of government.

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