Sheila Copps

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Sheila Maureen Copps, PC, HBA, LL.D (hc), (born November 27, 1952, in Hamilton, Ontario)^[1] is a Canadian journalist and former politician.

Copps is a second-generation member of a political family that has dominated Hamilton-area politics on the municipal, provincial and federal levels. Her father, Victor K. Copps, was one of the most influential mayors of the City of Hamilton; the city's landmark sports arena, Copps Coliseum, is named in his honour. Her mother, Geraldine Copps, was a Hamilton city councillor.

Considered a prominent left-wing member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Copps has been an advocate for women's and minority rights, and protection of the environment. Her combative style and reputation for flamboyance has hampered her personal popularity, however, and is sometimes perceived as closing her from progressive policy ideas.

[edit] Early career

Copps earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French and English from King's University College (University of Western Ontario) at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and pursued further studies at McMaster University in Hamilton and the University of Rouen in France. She worked as a newspaper journalist, both with the Hamilton Spectator and the Ottawa Citizen.

Copps entered provincial politics in the 1977 provincial election, running for the Ontario Liberal Party in Hamilton Centre. She lost, finishing fourteen votes behind incumbent New Democrat Mike Davison. Copps appeared on the ballot for this election as "Sheila Copps Miller", using the surname of her then-husband. In all subsequent campaigns, she would refer to herself as "Sheila Copps".

After working as a constituency assistant to party leader Stuart Smith for the next four years, Copps again ran in Hamilton Centre for the 1981 election. She defeated Davison by 2,804 votes, and joined thirty-three other Liberals in forming the Official Opposition to Premier William Davis's Progressive Conservative government. Copps ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party in 1982 following Smith's resignation, and despite her lack of experience finished a strong second against future premier David Peterson.

She turned to national politics in the 1984 federal election, campaigning for the federal Liberals in the riding of Hamilton East. This election resulted in a landslide victory for Brian Mulroney and his Progressive Conservative Party, which won 211 out of 282 seats. Copps was personally elected, defeating New Democratic Party candidate David Christopherson by 2,661 votes, but had relatively few allies in the House of Commons for the next four years.

Copps proved to be an influential member of the small Liberal opposition. She became a prominent member of the "Rat Pack," a group of young Liberal MPs who made it their business to bring misery to the Mulroney government. She earned both praise and scorn for her spirited attacks on Mulroney and his ministers. She released her autobiography, Nobody's Baby, only two years into her federal career, and was by all accounts a rising star in Canadian politics. The book came after Minister of Justice John Crosbie told Copps to "just quiet down, baby" during a heated debate. Some believed she was destined to become Canada's first female Prime Minister. In 1987, she became the first sitting MP to give birth (to a daughter, Danelle).

She was re-elected without difficulty in the 1988 federal election. With the resignation of Liberal leader John Turner in 1990, Copps raised her national profile considerably by campaigning in the Liberal leadership race to succeed him. She finished third, behind Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

In 1992, Copps supported Murray Elston's bid to succeed David Peterson as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.

[edit] Insults against Copps

Copps was a prominent target of the Progressive Conservative Party during her years as an opposition member. She was often heckled in parliamentary debates, and the tone of the criticism was frequently sexist. She was once told by Tory Member of Parliament (MP) John Crosbie to "just quiet down, baby" in response to a question in 1985. Copps responded that she was "nobody's baby", a line which would remain her trademark for years. Crosbie also took another dig at a fundraising dinner in Victoria, British Columbia in 1990 by saying she made him think of the song lyrics, "Pass the tequila, Sheila, lay down and love me again!" Bill Kempling, another Tory MP, was forced to apologize after calling her a "slut". After joining the federal cabinet, Copps was also called a "bitch" by Reform MP Ian McClelland.

The feud between John C. Crosbie and Copps appears to have cooled down in recent years. Crosbie devoted an entire chapter in his autobiography to his confrontations with Copps. In her second autobiography Worth Fighting For, Copps had Crosbie write an introduction in which he wrote "I write this Introduction to her new book as a tribute to a feisty, sometimes ferocious, feminist protagonist, never shy or retiring but redoubtable political personality. She was a constant thorn in my side while she was in Opposition, but her marriage to my fellow Newfoundlander Austin Thorne has made her more serene and has calmed her sometimes volcanic and partisan excesses."

[edit] Federal minister

The Liberals swept to power in the 1993 election, crushing Kim Campbell's Tories. Chrétien became prime minister following the election, and named Copps as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment. This marked the first time in Canadian history that a woman had been named to the post of Deputy Prime Minister. Following a 1996 cabinet shuffle, she relinquished the Environment portfolio and became Minister of Canadian Heritage.

In a curious sidebar of Canadian political history, Copps resigned briefly in the spring of 1996. One of Chrétien's campaign promises had been to abolish Brian Mulroney's hated Goods and Services Tax, a promise he later reneged on in an effort to avoid decreasing government revenues. During the 1993 election campaign, Copps promised during a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation "town hall" program that she would resign if the GST was not abolished. After commissioning a poll which suggested that she would win her riding should a by-election be called, Copps accordingly vacated her Hamilton East seat in 1996, and promptly ran again in the ensuing by-election. The by-election would have Reform put up billboards around her riding, one of which featured a pig at a trough with "SHEILA" marked on it; and another with her picture and, "Promise to cut the GST: It worked last time!" written on it. Copps won handily, though with a significantly reduced percentage of the vote from 1993, and Chrétien reinstated her to her previous cabinet posts. During her victory speech, she noted that the Liberals "kicked butt" in the by-election; an editorial cartoon in the conservative Toronto Sun tabloid the next day portrayed Hamilton East voters as "buttheads," which caused some controversy.

Copps' strong brand of Canadian nationalism has often drawn controversy. She led a largely unsuccessful campaign in the 1990s to keep American magazines from producing "split-run" Canadian editions and faced widespread criticism for her efforts to bolster nationalism through the distribution of tens of thousands of free Canadian flags. The program had cost about CAD $45 million for about one million flags, making each flag cost about $45. In addition, the manufacturers added no eyelets, sleeves or halyard lines to the flags, thus rendering them unflyable. The flag effort led many to accuse her of being too generous with taxpayer money for projects of questionable relevance, especially in times of financial difficulty and budget cuts.

Following the 1997 election, Copps' somewhat damaged reputation led to Chrétien removing her from the position of deputy prime minister, which was instead given to political stalwart Herb Gray. Copps made little upward progress in cabinet after this demotion, and by many accounts came to have relatively little influence over the direction of government policy. Many believe that Anne McLellan surpassed her as the most prominent woman in government during this period.

Following Jean Chrétien's announcement of his intent to retire in February 2004, Copps became the first candidate to officially declare for the party leadership. Despite her efforts to build support among women, minority groups and the party's left-wing, she began and ended the leadership contest well behind the overwhelming favourite, Paul Martin. She was supported by few MPs, and many questioned the relevance of her campaign. Some speculated that she would withdraw prior to the Liberal leadership convention on November 14, 2003. She did not, but instead gave a nomination speech that was effectively a concession, urging her followers to rally around Martin as party leader after the vote. As expected, Martin easily won the Liberal leadership and went on to become prime minister.

On December 9, 2003, Copps turned down the offer of a patronage appointment from Martin and announced that she intended to remain in the House of Commons. Many suspect that Martin wanted to appoint Copps as Canada's ambassador to France or UNESCO.

[edit] Nomination battle

Riding redistribution placed Copps in a serious nomination battle with another Liberal MP, Tony Valeri. Valeri, a Martin supporter, was first elected in 1993. With redistribution, part of Valeri's Stoney Creek riding was merged with part of Copps's Hamilton East to create Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, while the remainder was merged with other neighbouring ridings to create Niagara West—Glanbrook. The remaining portion of Hamilton East was merged with parts of Hamilton West to create Hamilton Centre. Of the 115,709 consituents of the riding of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, a slight majority of constituents (58,462) were from Valeri's Stoney Creek riding while a minority (57,247) were from Copps' Hamilton East riding.

Valeri's position was that the majority of his former constituents live in the new Hamilton East—Stoney Creek and the majority of the constituents in the new riding were from his old Stoney Creek riding. Copps maintained that Valeri should have sought the nomination in Niagara West—Glanbrook, where he resides, even though Copps had long since established her home in Ottawa with husband Austin Thorne and daughter Danelle.

In a December interview with Hamilton's CHCH-TV, Copps complained that Martin was trying to drive her, other women and other Martin opponents out of the Liberal caucus. On January 14, 2004, she suggested that she could campaign for the New Democratic Party in the upcoming election if Valeri won the Liberal nomination. Copps later retracted this threat.

On March 6, 2004, Valeri defeated Copps in the nomination battle by 2,802 votes to 2,491. Copps alleged improprieties in the nomination process and the conduct of the vote, and called on various authorities to investigate. She initially appealed the vote results to the Liberal Party of Canada. Her appeal was late as it was filed beyond the 72 hour deadline after the commencement of the nomination meeting, but the Appeals Commission of the Liberal Party waived the deadline. Nevertheless, Copps dropped the appeal on March 29, alleging a lack of transparency in the process.

In July 2005, Hamilton police announced a formal end to the investigation after finding no evidence to substantiate Copps' allegations including tampering of her telephones on the day of the nomination. As the access codes to her phone system were apparently listed on a bulletin board, the police estimated that at least 40 individuals had access to the phone system.

[edit] Respite and Worth Fighting For

Copps' second autobiography "Worth Fighting For" was the cause of much controversy towards both the Martin administration and Copps herself

On May 14, 2004, Copps stood in the Canadian House of Commons and announced she would not run for re-election as an independent. She later suggested in comments to reporters that she may return to politics once Paul Martin is no longer Prime Minister. In her first public engagement after departing politics, she accepted a role in a Kingston, Ontario stage production of Steel Magnolias. She also guest starred on the night time soap opera Train 48.

Her second autobiography, Worth Fighting For, was published by McClelland and Stewart in October 2004, and resulted in further public controversy with Paul Martin and other members of the Liberal Party. Copps alleged that Martin had put a pledge in his 1995 budget to rescind the "outdated" Canada Health Act, and further claimed that her intervention had the offending line removed from the document. Her allegations have not been supported by any of the other individuals involved, and have been denied by Martin, David Dodge (whom Copps claims faxed her the draft of the budget), Diane Marleau (who was Health Minister at the time) and others. The credibility of her claim is further undermined by Copps' admission that she is writing based on memory alone, without any documents or other evidence to back her up.

After leaving politics, Copps wrote regular commentary for the National Post. In September 2005, concurrent with a redesign, she was introduced as a regular columnist for the Toronto Sun.

She also hosts a weekly syndicated radio talk show, Weekends with Sheila Copps, focusing on lifestyle issues such as health and financial planning. She succeeded Dini Petty as host of the series. She is also employed by Quebecor, a prominent Canadian media distribution company. In this capacity she has been working on a new series for the History Channel.

[edit] Possible return to politics

With the defeat of Tony Valeri in the 2006 election, some have speculated that Copps may again contest the Liberal nomination for the next federal election in the Hamilton East-Stoney Creek riding, although some time prior to Valeri's defeat she herself stated that she has no interest in returning to the House of Commons. In 2006, subsequent to Paul Martin's resignation as Prime Minister, Copps decided not to seek the Liberal leadership.

[edit] The King Edward Accord

Following the 2006 election, Liberal MP Paul Zed (Liberal, New Brunswick) and former MP Dennis Mills (Liberal, Ontario) organized a gala event to pay tribute to Copps and heal wounds caused by party infighting. Held on March 23, 2006, the event was attended by a host of prominent Liberals, including former Prime Minister John Turner, and Aline Chretien. The event also served as a fundraiser for Liberal women in Canadian politics.

[edit] Current legal battle

In March 2006, the St-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal, a prominent sovereigntist group, demanded $100,000 from Copps, claiming that she had defamed them in a television interview on January 6, 2006. Sovereigntists claim that Options Canada illegally spent $3.5 million to promote federalism in Quebec, while Copps claimed that the St-Jean Baptiste society spent $4.8 million from the Quebec Government to promote sovereignty, which the group denies. Copps claims that she was unaware on the groups demands until she was approached for comment by reporters on Sunday, March 5, 2006, and that she has yet to receive any legal notice from the group. [1]

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Deputy Prime Ministers of Canada
MacEachen | Chrétien | Nielsen | Mazankowski | Charest | Copps | Gray | Manley | McLellan

[edit] See also

• 2004 Liberal Party of Canada infighting

[edit] External links

• Perspective of a digital copyright reformer on Sheila Copps, MP
• latest political column
• Audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA's Joseph Planta
• Sheila Copps Editorial Cartoon Gallery By Graeme MacKay of The Hamilton Spectator

[edit] References

1. ^ CNEWS Biography: Sheila Copps. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.