James J. Bradley
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James J. Bradley (born February 19, 1945 in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada) is a long-time Ontario Liberal Party politician and Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Before entering politics, Bradley was a teacher with the Lincoln County Board of Education. He was elected to St. Catharines' city council in 1970, but also remained in the classroom until 1977.
After failed bids in the elections of 1967 and 1971, Bradley was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 election in the riding of St. Catharines, and has served as MPP for that riding since that time. He fended off strong challenges from the New Democratic Party in the 1990 election and the Progressive Conservative Party in 1995 election. On all other occasions since 1977, he has been re-elected without difficulty.
When the Liberals came to power under David Peterson following the 1985 election, Bradley became Minister of the Environment and held that position until the Liberals were defeated in the 1990 election. He was generally regarded as a committed Environment Minister, although some believe that his ambitions for the portfolio were undermined by Peterson and Finance Minister Robert Nixon.
Bradley was a vocal opponent of David Peterson's plans to call an election in 1990, preferring that the party wait until 1992 before going to the polls. While the Liberals were defeated, Bradley was personally re-elected and had a prominent position in the Opposition benches.
When Nixon, the interim leader of the Liberals, left Queen's Park to accept an appointment he was replaced by Murray Elston. Elston resigned as interim leader to run in the 1992 Ontario Liberal Leadership Convention, and Bradley became interim leader of the party and interim Leader of the Opposition from November 1991 until the election of Lyn McLeod in February 1992. He remained an opposition stalwart until the Liberals won the 2003 election under Dalton McGuinty.
There was some speculation that Bradley would be re-appointed Minister of the Environment in McGuinty's government, but this did not occur. Instead, he was named Minister of Tourism and Recreation on October 23, 2003. He was also given ministerial responsibility for Seniors on June 29, 2005. On October 11, 2005, Bradley was also appointed to replace Dwight Duncan as Government House Leader, following Duncan's appointment as Minister of Finance.
| Preceded by Murray Elston |
Ontario Liberal leaders 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Lyn McLeod |
| Preceded by Murray Elston |
Leader of the Opposition in the Ontario Legislature 1991–1992 |
Succeeded by Lyn McLeod |
[edit] Electoral record
1977 provincial election, St. Catharines
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Jim Bradley | 12,392 | 38.89 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Eleanor Lancaster | 11,669 | 36.62 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Fred Dickson | 7,556 | 23.71 | ||
| Communist | Eric Blair | 247 | 0.78 | ||
| Total valid votes | 31,864 | 100.00 | |||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 213 | ||||
| Turnout | 32,077 | 60.91 | |||
1981 provincial election, St. Catharines
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 16,509 | 51.85 | +12.96 | |
| Progressive Conservative | John Larocque | 10,273 | 32.26 | -4.36 | |
| New Democratic Party | Don Loucks | 4,927 | 15.47 | -8.24 | |
| Communist | Norman J. Newell | 132 | 0.41 | -0.37 | |
| Total valid votes | 31,841 | 100.00 | |||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 181 | ||||
| Turnout | 32,022 | 57.20 | |||
1985 provincial election, St. Catharines
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 20,605 | 57.94 | +6.09 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Elaine Herzog | 9,029 | 25.39 | -6.87 | |
| New Democratic Party | Michael Cormier | 5,624 | 15.81 | -0.34 | |
| Communist | Eric Blair | 305 | 0.86 | +0.45 | |
| Total valid votes | 35,563 | 100.00 | |||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 201 | ||||
| Turnout | 35,764 | 61.65 | |||
1987 provincial election, St. Catharines (redistributed)
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 17,584 | 63.30 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Rob West | 5,566 | 20.04 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Chuck Bradley | 4,258 | 15.33 | ||
| Communist | Eric Blair | 369 | 1.33 | ||
| Total valid votes | 27,777 | 100.00 | |||
1990 provincial election, St. Catharines
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | +/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 11,565 | 38.76 | -24.54 | |
| New Democratic Party | Dave Kappele | 10,629 | 35.63 | +15.59 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Bruce Timms | 3,926 | 13.16 | -2.17 | |
| Confederation of Regions | Eva Longhurst | 2,384 | 7.99 | +7.99 | |
| Family Coalition Party | Bert Pynenburg | 1,331 | 4.46 | +4.46 | |
| Total valid votes | 29,835 | 100.00 | |||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 337 | ||||
| Turnout | 30,172 | 66.77 | |||
| 1995 provincial election, St. Catharines | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 13,761 | 46.53 | +7.77 | $33,835.95 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Archie Heide | 11,486 | 38.84 | +25.68 | $36,875.32 | |
| New Democratic Party | Jeff Burch | 3,929 | 13.29 | -22.34 | $12,043.92 | |
| Family Coalition Party | Jon Siemens | 245 | 0.83 | -3.63 | $0.00 | |
| Natural Law Party | Marcy Sheremetta | 153 | 0.52 | +0.52 | $0.00 | |
| Total valid votes | 29,574 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 227 | |||||
| Turnout | 29,801 | 64.58 |
|
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| 1999 provincial election, St. Catharines | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 25,186 | 53.90 | $45,478.14 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | (x)Tom Froese | 17,994 | 38.51 | $68,831.44 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Gordon Coggins | 2,902 | 6.21 | $8,286.11 | ||
| Natural Law Party | Helene Ann Darisse | 272 | 0.58 | $0.00 | ||
| Green | Douglas Woodard | 215 | 0.46 | $83.93 | ||
| Ind. (Marxist-Leninist) | Ron Walker | 154 | 0.33 | $112.00 | ||
| Total valid votes | 46,723 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 336 | |||||
| Turnout | 47,059 | 59.61 |
|
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| 2003 provincial election, St. Catharines | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Liberal | (x)Jim Bradley | 25,319 | 57.44 | +3.54 | $63,576.04 | |
| Progressive Conservative | Mark Brickell | 12,932 | 29.34 | -9.17 | $72,267.48 | |
| New Democratic Party | John Bacher | 3,944 | 8.95 | +2.74 | $8,542.84 | |
| Green | Jim Fannon | 1,167 | 2.65 | +2.19 | $2,858.89 | |
| Family Coalition Party | Linda Klassen | 714 | 1.62 | +1.62 | $13.80 | |
| Total valid votes | 44,076 | 100.00 | ||||
| Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 271 | |||||
| Turnout | 44,347 | 56.43 |
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The 1999 and 2003 expenditure entries are taken from official candidate reports as listed by Elections Ontario. The figures cited are the Total Candidate's Campaign Expenses Subject to Limitation, and include transfers from constituency associations. The 1995 expenditures are taken from an official listing of election expenses published by Elections Ontario.
| Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Brown | McKellar | Blake | Mowat | Hardy | Ross | Graham | MacKay | Rowell | Proudfoot | Dewart | Hay | Sinclair | Hepburn | Conant | H. Nixon | Hepburn | Oliver | Thomson | Oliver | Wintermeyer | Thompson | R. Nixon | Smith | Peterson | R. Nixon | Elston | Bradley | McLeod | McGuinty | |||
