Michael Colle
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Michael (Mike) Colle (born February 1, 1945 in Foggia, Italy) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of Eglinton—Lawrence for the Ontario Liberal Party.
Colle moved to Canada at a young age, and was educated at Carleton University. He worked as a teacher of history and economics for eighteen years, including several terms at St. Michael's College School in Toronto. Colle served on the City of York municipal council from 1982 to 1985, and on the Metro Toronto Council as a York representative from 1988 to 1994. He was also chair of the Toronto Transit Commission from 1991 to 1994.
Colle was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating incumbent New Democrat Tony Rizzo in the riding of Oakwood by about 1000 votes. Rizzo had previously voted against his government's same-sex benefits plan, and received little assistance from the Toronto NDP organization. In the provincial election of 1999, Colle defeated incumbent Progressive Conservative John Parker by about 9,000 votes in the redistributed riding of Eglinton—Lawrence. The Progressive Conservatives won both elections, and Colle sat in opposition during this period. In 1996, Colle supported Dwight Duncan's unsuccessful bid to become Liberal Party leader.
Colle has championed environmental causes during his time in the legislature (including the protection of the Oak Ridges Moraine), and is not generally regarded as a right-wing Liberal. Despite this, he was a co-chair of Mel Lastman's 1997 bid to become Mayor of Toronto. Lastman was also supported by prominent members of the Progressive Conservative Party in Toronto, and was opposed by members of the social democratic New Democratic Party.
The Liberals won the 2003 election, and Colle was re-elected by over 10,000 votes in his own riding. Despite having been a prominent member of the opposition, and some public speculation, he was not initially appointed to the cabinet by Premier Dalton McGuinty. On October 23, 2003, he was named Parliamentary Assistant to Greg Sorbara, the provincial Finance Minister.
Colle was promoted to cabinet on June 29, 2005 as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Coincidentally, his federal riding counterpart Joseph Volpe held the same portfolio in the federal cabinet until February 6, 2006.
Colle has been criticized for his role in giving out $32 million in government grants to immigrant and cultural groups without official applications or formal statements of purpose. In one case that the auditor general highlighted, the Ontario Cricket Association received $1 million when it asked for $150,000.[1] Premier McGuinty agreed to commission a special report on the matter, to be released in July 2007.[2] Colle was to appear before the Standing Committee on Estimates before the Legislature was prorogued by the Premier. Some believe this was arranged to prevent his testimony from going public.[3] On July 26, 2007, Premier McGuinty announced that Colle resigned as Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Gerry Phillips was sworn in as the new Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, in addition to his current responsibilities as Minister of Government Services.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Ferguson, Rob. "Summer break starting early at Queen's Park", Toronto Star, 6 June 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ Howlett, Karen. "McGuinty asks auditor to probe multicultural grants", The Globe and Mail. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ Howlett, Karen. "Ontario legislature prorogued", The Globe and Mail, 5 June 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
- ^ "Minister quits over grants", Toronto Star, 26 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-26.
| Preceded by Lois Griffin |
Chair of the Toronto Transit Commission 1991-1994 |
Succeeded by Paul Christie |
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