Conservative Party candidates, 2004 Canadian federal election
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The Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of candidates in the 2004 federal election, and won 99 seats out of 308 to form the Official Opposition. Many of the party's candidates have their own biography pages; information about others may be found here.
[edit] Manitoba
[edit] Bill Archer (Churchill)
Archer was born in 1957 in Saskatchewan and attended Winnipeg Bible College in the 1970s. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba in 1991, and became a partner with the Archer & Phillips Law Office in 1993.[1]
Archer volunteered for Progressive Conservative candidate Cecil Thorne for the 1999 provincial election in the northern election division of Thompson,[2] and was himself was the party's candidate in 2003. He worked as his own campaign manager, and campaigned against the taxation rates charged by local school boards.
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 provincial | Thompson | Progressive Conservative | 532 | 2/3 | Steve Ashton, New Democratic Party | |
| 2004 federal | Churchill | Conservative | 2,999 | 15.13 | 3/4 | Bev Desjarlais, New Democratic Party |
[edit] Bryan McLeod (Elmwood—Transcona)
McLeod has lived his entire life in Winnipeg's north end. He has been involved in many volunteer organizations, and is a Taekwondo Master Instructor.
He first campaigned for public office in the 2002 municipal election, seeking election to the Winnipeg City Council for the division of Elmwood-East Kildonan. He called for more police officers in the community, and for laws mandating clean homes and streets.[1] He finished fourth in a field of four candidates.
McLeod later campaigned for the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in the 2003 provincial election. After the campaign, he wrote a letter openly criticizing party leader Stuart Murray.[2]
McLeod was a part-time political science student at the University of Winnipeg during the 2004 campaign.[3] At one stage in the campaign, he argued that Manitoba Housing residents are 89 times more likely to be victims of crime than people who own their own homes. The provincial minister responsible for Housing described this claim as "absurd", and McLeod later said that he could not remember where he saw the statistic.[4]
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 municipal | Winnipeg City Council, Elmwood-East Kildonan | n/a | 1,229 | 2/4 | Jim Maloway, New Democratic Party | |
| 2003 provincial | Elmwood | Progressive Conservative | 1,229 | 2/4 | Jim Maloway, New Democratic Party | |
| 2004 federal | Elmwood—Transcona | Conservative | 7,644 | 26.11 | 2/7 | Bill Blaikie, New Democratic Party |
[edit] Kris Stevenson (Winnipeg North)
Stevenson was born to a Peguis Nation family in Steelier, Manitoba, was raised in Selkirk and now lives in Winnipeg. He has extensive experience working in aboriginal youth programs. Stevenson was employed with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs as a Communications Assistant at the time of the election, and has worked related organizations such as Shabbiest Waking Aboriginal Head Start and the Manitoba Child and Family Services.[3] He has also been an athlete and coach in north Winnipeg, and was working toward a degree in education at the University of Winnipeg at the time of the election.[4]
Stevenson was one of three aboriginal candidates to run for the Conservative Party in the 2004 election (National Post, 15 July 2004). He received 3,186 votes (12.27%), finishing third against New Democratic Party incumbent Judy Wasylycia-Leis.
[edit] Nova Scotia
[edit] Michael MacDonald (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour)
MacDonald finished third. The winner was Michael Savage of the Liberal Party of Canada. MacDonald received 8,739 votes to Savage's 17,425.
[edit] Ontario
[edit] Bernie Tanz (Eglinton—Lawrence)
Tanz is a graduate of York Mills Collegiate, attended the University of California, and is a real estate developer in private life. He joined the Progressive Conservative Party in 1994, and joined the Conservative Party after its merger with the Canadian Alliance.[5] Tanz campaigned for a seat on the East York municipal council in 1994 at age 37, calling for greater cooperation between the public and private sectors.[6] He was narrowly defeated for the second position by Tim Cholvat.
In 1999, the Ontario government of Mike Harris sold a prime downtown Toronto property unit at half of its market value to All-City Storage, a California-based firm on which Tanz served as a director. The sale was subsequently the subject of an investigation by the Globe and Mail newspaper. Tanz described himself as an inactive director, and said that he knew nothing about the situation.[7]
Tanz finished second against Joe Volpe in 2004. He is now campaigning to succeed Jane Pitfield as the representative for Toronto's 26th ward in the 2006 municipal election.[8]
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 East York municipal | Council, Fourth Ward | - | 2,411 | 17.71 | 3/5 | Lorna Krawchuk and Tim Cholvat |
| 2004 federal | Eglinton—Lawrence | Conservative | 11,792 | 25.05 | 2/5 | Joe Volpe, Liberal |
[edit] Leon Patrick O'Connor (Hamilton Centre)
O'Connor is an educational assistant, and was 58 years old in 2004 (Hamilton Spectator, 21 June 2004). He is a First Nations Canadian, and has campaigned in support of native issues and concerns.
He was originally a member of the Liberal Party, and worked with Sheila Copps in several campaigns. He left the Liberals to join the Canadian Alliance in 2000, claiming that the Liberal Party had become arrogant in office (Canadian Press, 2 June 2000). O'Connor campaigned for the Alliance in the 2000 campaign. On one occasion, he was targeted by threatening fax sent to his home address comparing his party to the Nazis and leader Stockwell Day to Adolf Hitler (Spectator, 20 November 2000).
O'Connor later sought the Progressive Conservative nomination for Hamilton West in the 2003 provincial election, losing to Doug Brown (Spectator, 22 February 2003).
The Canadian Alliance merged with the federal Progressive Conservative Party in early 2004 to create the Conservative Party of Canada. O'Connor supported the new party, and ran as its candidate in Hamilton Centre. He also registered for a municipal by-election in Hamilton's second ward in 2004, but withdrew before nominations closed (Spectator, 26 August 2004).
O'Connor is a moderate on some social issues, and is pro-choice on abortion (Spectator, 8 June 2004). He campaigned for the Conservative nomination in Hamilton Centre for the 2006 election, but lost to Eliot Hill (Spectator, 13 May 2005).
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 provincial | Hamilton West | Alliance | 7,295 | 2/10 | Stan Keyes, Liberal | |
| 2004 federal | Churchill | Conservative | 6,714 | 15.13 | 3/7 | David Christopherson, New Democratic Party |
[edit] Blair MacLean (Kingston and the Islands)
MacLean received 12,582 votes (23.12%), finishing second against Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken. See his biography page for more information.
[edit] Riina DeFaria (Mississauga East—Cooksville)
DeFaria was the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville in the Canadian federal election, 2004. DeFeria also ran in the Canadian federal election, 2000 in the riding of Mississauga East for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada finishing a close third behind Jainstien Dookie of the Canadian Alliance and the winner Albina Guarnieri of the Liberal Party of Canada.
[edit] Leo Bonomi (St. Catharines)
Bonomi was born in St. Catharines. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science from the University of Western Ontario, and has taken business and commerce training at the University of Windsor. He works as an investment advisor in the Niagara region for BMO Nesbitt Burns, and has been a member of the Knights of Columbus for over thirty-five years. Bonomi was 53 years old in 2004.[5]
Bonomi defeated Cam Leach to win the Conservative nomination for St. Catharines. The Conservative Party targeted the riding, and Bonomi was favoured by some to win. Instead, he finished second against Liberal incumbent Walt Lastewka with 18,261 votes (34.71%).
[edit] Heather Jewell (Scarborough Southwest)
Jewell was born in 1962, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from York University. At the time of the election, she was head of the Condition of Broadcast License Closed-Captioning Department at Alliance Atlantis Communications.[6] Her campaign website featured four-minute power ballad campaign anthem, composed by Rob Wells. The song included the lines, "Scarborough Southwest/is entitled to the very best/an inspired member of Parliament/who will champion our interests/and uphold our aspirations/in the nation's capital.... Oh you know it's Heather Jewell" (National Post, 23 June 2004).
Jewell received 9,028 votes (23.78%), finishing second against Liberal incumbent Tom Wappel.
[edit] Josh Cooper (Thornhill)
Josh Cooper was the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Member of Parliament in 2004 representing Thornhill, Ontario.
He had won the nomination for the Canadian Alliance. After the merger of the Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, he was renominated.
Cooper is the Exectutive Director of the CJPAC. He is also owner of Par Golf Camp, and involved with the UJA Federation. He lost the election to Liberal candidate Susan Kadis by over 10,000 votes.
[edit] Loftus Cuddy (Toronto—Danforth)
Cuddy holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Toronto. He worked in defence insurance litigation for a year after his graduation, but switched to the plaintiff's side. For fifteen years before the 2004 election, he operated a practice in Toronto representing the interests of working-class people. He often worked pro bono in cases relating to social policy issues. Cuddy has been active in organizations such as the Royal Canadian Legion, the Holocaust Education Week Committee, and the Toronto Youth Symphony.[7] He was baptized as John Cuddy, but changed his name at age thirteen after becoming inspired by the writings of his great-great-grandfather, a Toronto minister.
Cuddy is the older brother of Jim Cuddy, the guitarist and vocalist of the rock group Blue Rodeo. His brother declined to endorse Loftus's campaign. This was not based on personal animosity, but because the younger Cuddy considered the Conservative Party to be too far to the right (Globe and Mail, 26 May 2004).
Loftus Cuddy was on the left-wing of his party, and endorsed same-sex marriage during the 2004 election.[8] He received 2,975 votes (6.21%), finishing third against New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton.
[edit] Ian MacNeil (Whitby—Oshawa)
MacNeil was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from St. Francis Xavier University, and a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Bradford. He is a banker, and has served as an assistant to the Minister of International Trade.[9] He moved to Oshawa in 1998, and was thirty-six years old at the time of the election (Toronto Star, 29 June 2004).
Whitby—Oshawa was a targeted seat for the Conservatives, but MacNeil was nonetheless defeated by Liberal incumbent Judi Longfield. He received 20,531 votes (36.06%).
[edit] Jordan Katz (Windsor West)
Katz was born in Windsor, Ontario, and was 32 years old at the time of the election. He studied economics at the University of Windsor, although he began working as a pit boss at Casino Windsor before completing his degree. He has also worked as a hotel chef (Windsor Star, 25 May 2004), and is active with the Windsor Jewish Federation and the Canada Israel Committee.[10] He won the Conservative nomination over Greg Novini in late March 2004 (Windsor Star, 1-2 April 2004).
A Windsor Star poll taken during the campaign showed Katz with a narrow lead over New Democratic Party incumbent Brian Masse, although the reliability of the poll was disputed (5 & 11 June, 2004). A subsequent poll showed him in third place (Windsor Star, 12 June 2004). Katz finished third against Masse with 8,348 votes (18.91%).
Katz is Jewish, and may have been the victim of anti-semitic vandalism during the campaign when some of his signs were spray-painted with Swastikas. It is not clear if the vandalism was directed against Katz on a personal level or against the Conservative Party, which has sometimes been depicted by its opponents as intolerant of minority groups. Signs belonging to Conservative candidate Rick Fuschi, who is not Jewish, were similarly defaced in a neighbouring riding. The vandalism was condemned by Canadian Jewish Congress leader Bernie Farber, who was quoted as saying, "Whether the target is Katz as a Jew or as a Conservative, the message is unacceptable. The idea of any Canadian comparing any Canadian political party with the Nazis is outrageous." (Windsor Star, 15 June 2004).
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Leah Hendry, "Definition of neighbourhood becomes key election issue", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 October 2002, A11.
- ^ Bryan McLeod, "Tory 'assessment' less than frank" [letter], Winnipeg Free Press, 16 September 2003, A15.
- ^ Canada's Election 2004: Elmwood—Transcona, accessed 2 March 2007.
- ^ Nick Martin, "Tory's housing claim dismissed as 'absurd'", Winnipeg Free Press, 11 June 2004, A8.
- ^ Bernie Tanz: Campaign biography, Globe and Mail, 2004, accessed 12 July 2006.
- ^ Nicolaas Van Rijn, "Borough of East York", Toronto Star, 10 November 1994, E4; Peter Small, "East York race a wide-open affair", Toronto Star, 11 November 1994, A7.
- ^ John Barber, "Ontario took unnecessary hit on land deal, critics say", Globe and Mail, 14 December 1999, A8.
- ^ James Cowan, "The Race to Replace Jane", National Post, 18 March 2006, A15.
