Garth Turner

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Hon. John Garth Turner

Incumbent
Riding	Halton—Peel (1988-1993); Halton (2006-present)
In office since	2006 election
Preceded by	Gary Carr
Born	March 14, 1949 Woodstock, Ontario
Residence	Campbellville
Political party	Independent
Profession(s)	Author, columnist, journalist, teacher
Spouse	Dorothy Turner
In office
1988 election – 1993 election
Preceded by	New district
Succeeded by	Julian Reed

John Garth Turner, PC, MP, BA (born March 14, 1949) is a Canadian business journalist, broadcaster, and politician. A former member of the Progressive Conservative caucus, he returned to political life as a candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the 2006 federal election, beating Liberal Gary Carr in the riding of Halton, Ontario. On October 18, 2006, the Conservative Party suspended him from the Conservative caucus. He now sits in the House of Commons as an independent.

Contents 1 Early life and career 2 Progressive Conservative MP 3 Investment guru 4 Conservative MP 5 Out of caucus/independent MP 6 External links 7 Footnotes

[edit] Early life and career

Turner was born in Woodstock, Ontario, and educated at the University of Toronto Schools, the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario. His great-grandfather, Ebenezer Vining Bodwell, was also a Member of Parliament. ^[1]

Before entering a career in politics, Turner was a business columnist at the Toronto Sun.

[edit] Progressive Conservative MP

Turner was elected as the Progressive Conservative MP for Halton—Peel in the 1988 election, being made chair of the consumer and corporate affairs committee where he championed the cause of the middle class. He became a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 1993, placing a distant fourth on the first ballot, with 76 votes. In the short-lived cabinet of Kim Campbell he was appointed Minister of National Revenue, but lost his seat in the 1993 election as his party lost all but two seats.

[edit] Investment guru

After his election loss, Turner returned to journalism, becoming business editor for Baton Broadcasting and authoring a string of books on real estate and personal finance. This exposure contributed to his becoming a popular speaker on financial issues.

After parting with Baton, he formed the television production company Millennium Media Television. In 2002, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television investigative newsmagazine Disclosure aired a report, "Paying for Time", alleging his Millennium Media Television programs sometimes broadcast unattributed quasi-infomercials.

Also during this period, Turner accepted work as a paid presenter to prospective clients for a variety of investment companies, which attracted the attention of the Ontario Securities Commission – Turner was never a registered investment advisor – and the OSC launched but abandoned an informal investigation of his activities.

Turner's investment advice has been suspect on occasion, such as advising people to buy Nortel stock when it began to decline in value, and would continue to do so until it was worth only pennies (although many other analysts gave the same advice).

Turner is also founder and CEO of The Credit River Company, a Caledon-based destination and ecotourism company that is noted for the restoration of heritage buildings in the area. Turner served as national director of the Vancouver-based Sierra Legal Defence Fund, an organization dedicated to upholding environmental laws, resigning after his return to the House of Commons.

[edit] Conservative MP

Turner returned to politics with his election as a Conservative MP for Halton in the general election in 2006. He was viewed as one of the few newly elected Red Tories in Ontario for the Conservative Party.

Turner was one of the MPs who most vocally opposed the floor-crossing of former Liberal member David Emerson to the Conservative Cabinet of Stephen Harper.

After a stern chat with Stephen Harper about Emerson, Turner wrote on his blog that "I'm expecting the Whip will be assigning me a renovated washroom somewhere in a forgotten corner of a vermin-infested dank basement in Ottawa. That should go well with my seat in the House of Commons that will be visible only during lunar eclipses." Turner reported a week later in his blog that he received a newly renovated office with a good view.

[edit] Out of caucus/independent MP

On 18 October 2006, Conservative MPs voted to suspend Turner from the Conservative caucus. While the Conservative party has made no statement citing specific reasons for the decision, the press conference announcing Turner's dismissal cited concerns over caucus confidentiality and Turner's tone about prime minister Harper in his weblog. For the time being, Turner will continue to maintain his seat in the House of Commons as an independent Member of Parliament. On 19 October 2006, the Toronto Star reported that Turner may join the Green Party of Canada as its first ever Member of Parliament.^[2] Turner announced that he resigned his membership of the Conservative Party after senior officials informed Turner that he is suspended from running as a Conservative for an indefinite period of time. ^[3]

After a series of "Town Hall" meetings with Halton residents, Turner confirmed that he would remain independent. ^[4]

25th Ministry - Government of Kim Campbell
Cabinet Post
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Otto Jelinek	Minister of National Revenue (June 25, 1993 – November 3, 1993)	David Anderson

Preceded by riding created	Member of Parliament for Halton—Peel 1988–1993	Succeeded by Julian Reed, Liberal
Preceded by Gary Carr, Liberal	Member of Parliament for Halton 2006–present	Succeeded by Incumbent

[edit] External links

• Turner's official campaign website and blog
• Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
• Profile in The Ottawa Citizen, February 2006

[edit] Footnotes