Tony Ianno

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Tony Ianno
Member of Parliament
In office
1993–2006
Preceded by Dan Heap
Succeeded by Olivia Chow
Constituency Trinity—Spadina
Personal details
Born (1957-01-02) January 2, 1957
Toronto, Ontario
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Christine Innes
Children 4
Residence Toronto, Ontario
Profession Stock Promoter
Cabinet Minister of State for Families and Caregivers (2004-2006)

Tony Ianno, PC (born January 2, 1957) is a businessman and a former Canadian politician. He served as a Liberal Party of Canada MP representing Trinity-Spadina (1993–2006) and Minister of Families and Caregivers (2004–06).

Personal life

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ianno graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science degree. He and his wife, Christine Innes, have four children. He is also the cousin of former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister Joseph Cordiano. His wife, Christine, was the Liberal candidate for Trinity-Spadina in the 2008 federal election and 2011 federal election, but was defeated by Olivia Chow both times. after politics Ianno became involved in illegal stock promotion and was convicted. Currently the OSC is investigating Ianno for inside trading. [1]

Politics

Ianno was a long-time political organizer and helped a number of Italian-Canadians win federal and provincial Liberal nominations in Toronto in the 1980s. He also was a key figure in organizing support among Toronto's large Italian-Canadian population for Jean Chrétien during the 1990 Liberal leadership campaign. [2]

He first ran for office in the 1988 election, as part of a group of four Liberals who, according to author William Johnson, "brought a new turbulence to the politics of Metro Toronto."[3] The group, which included Joe Volpe, Armindo Silva, and Jasbir Singh, worked together and used aggressive tactics to secure nominations in the Toronto area.[4] Ianno was nominated in the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina, but was defeated by New Democratic Party incumbent Dan Heap.

He ran again in the 1993 election and was elected in a Liberal sweep where they won nearly every seat in Ontario. Ianno continued to represent Trinity-Spadina for the next 13 years until he was defeated in 2006.

While most Ontario seats were easily won by the Liberals under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Trinity—Spadina was closely fought each time. Ianno narrowly held the diverse downtown riding through four federal elections, facing strong competition from New Democratic Party candidates. Much of his support came from the Italian, Portuguese and Chinese areas. Toronto's traditional Little Italy and Chinatown areas are in the riding. Ianno narrowly defeated Toronto city councillor Olivia Chow in the 1997 election and Globe and Mail journalist Michael Valpy who ran for the NDP in the 2000 election. In the 2004 election, Ianno again faced councillor Chow and managed to win re-election by a slim margin, as the Liberals were reduced to a minority government due to the Sponsorship Scandal.

On July 20, 2004, Ianno was appointed to the junior position of Minister of State (Families and Caregivers) in Paul Martin's cabinet following the Liberals' re-election.

During the 2006 election, Ianno faced off against Chow for the third time. This time she defeated him, winning 46% of the vote to Ianno's 40%. Some attributed Ianno's loss to his perceived support for the Toronto Port Authority and the Toronto City Centre Airport. Although Ianno did not have an official role in the Authority's creation or policies, he nonetheless defended a controversial payout to the Authority as compensation for the cancellation of the Island Airport Bridge.

His party's proposal redress the Head Tax also did not help his campaign, as the Liberals had not consulted many of the major Canadian-Chinese groups (despite claiming to), the promised amount was reduced to from $12.5 million to $2.5 million, and the pre-condition was that the government would make no apology, while the three opposition parties pledged to make a full apology. Several gaffes by the Liberals also reflected negatively on Ianno, including when Mike Klander (the executive vice-president of the federal Liberals' Ontario wing) made posts on his blog comparing Chow to a Chow Chow dog and calling her husband an "asshole".[5][6] Klander apologized for the remark and resigned.

Later life

After the election, the Globe and Mail reported on February 11, 2006 that Ianno had been "burning up the caucus phone lines" testing the waters for a possible bid in the Liberal leadership campaign to replace Martin.[7] On April 8, 2006, Mr. Ianno told Canadian Press that he decided to run for the party presidency, in which he was unsuccessful.[8]

On March 9, 2010, the Ontario Securities Commission made allegations of market manipulation against Ianno.[9] Ianno has denied the charges.[10] The matter was heard before the commission in September 2011.[11] Ianno accepted a plea deal which had him pay a $100,000 fine and was banned from working as a stock trader for five years.[12]

Ianno is currently being investigated for insider trading in the shares of Aurelian resources.[13]

Electoral record

Canadian federal election, 2006: Trinity—Spadina
Party Candidate Votes%±ppExpenditures
New DemocraticOlivia Chow 28,748 46.03 +3.99 $78,702
LiberalTony Ianno 25,067 40.14 -3.41 $66,373
ConservativeSam Goldstein 5,625 9.01 +0.36 $22,879
GreenThom Chapman 2,398 3.84 -0.40 $165
Progressive CanadianAsif Hossain 392 0.63 -0.37 $257
Marxist–LeninistNick Lin 138 0.22 +0.03
Canadian ActionJohn Riddell 82 0.13 -0.04 $25
Total valid votes 62,450100.00
Total rejected ballots 2780.44-0.17
Turnout 62,72870.9+7.2
Canadian federal election, 2004: Trinity—Spadina
Party Candidate Votes%±ppExpenditures
LiberalTony Ianno 23,202 43.55 -3.86 $68,821
New DemocraticOlivia Chow 22,397 42.04 +3.87 $77,070
ConservativeDavid Watters 4,605 8.64 -2.15 $34,598
GreenMark Viitala 2,259 4.24 +2.91 $1,330
Progressive CanadianAsif Hossain 531 1.00 $24
Marxist–LeninistNick Lin 102 0.19 -0.06 $164
Canadian ActionTristan Alexander Downe-Dewdney 91 0.17 N/A
IndependentDaniel Knezetic 89 0.17 $3,103
Total valid votes 53,276100.00
Total rejected ballots 3290.61
Turnout 53,60563.7
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.
Canadian federal election, 1997: Trinity—Spadina
Party Candidate Votes%±pp
LiberalTony Ianno 18,215 45.30 -5.84
New DemocraticOlivia Chow 16,413 40.81 +13.83
Progressive ConservativeDanielle Wai Mascall 2,793 6.95 -1.15
ReformNolan Young 1,649 4.10 -3.73
GreenSat Singh Khalsa 392 0.97 -0.64
Natural LawAshley Deans 194 0.48 -0.53
IndependentJohn Roderick Wilson 159 0.40
Marxist–LeninistJ.-P. Bedard 140 0.35 +0.16
Canadian ActionThomas P. Beckerle 130 0.32
IndependentRoberto Verdecchia 129 0.32
Total valid votes 40,214100.00

References

  1. Former MP's wife named as Trinity-Spadina candidate, CTV News. February 5, 2008.
  2. http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_zolf/20020722.html.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Montreal Gazette, Jul 15 1988
  4. A Word on Two Retiring Incumbent MPs, Pundits' Guide to Canadian Federal Elections. October 2010.
  5. NDP's Olivia Chow wins bid for seat on third try. CTV News. January 24, 2006.
  6. Liberal exec quits over his blog remarks about NDPers, CBC News. December 27, 2005.
  7. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060211.wxliberal0211/BNStory/National/home.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. Liberal hopefuls try out their lines in Edmonton meet, CBC News. April, 8, 2006.
  9. In the Matter of Anthony Ianno and Saverio Manzo, OSC Proceedings. March 8, 2010.
  10. Ex-MP Tony Ianno faces securities probe, Toronto Star. March 10, 2010.
  11. Before the Commission, Ontario Securities Commission. Last Accessed April 23, 2011.
  12. Rubin, Josh (2011-09-12). "Victims say ex-MP Ianno used politics to gather investors". Toronto Star. 
  13. http://www.moneyville.ca/article/1052704

External links

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