Jim Flaherty

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Hon. James Michael "Jim" Flaherty

37th Minister of Finance
Incumbent
Riding	Whitby—Oshawa
In office since	2006 Federal Election
Preceded by	Judi Longfield
Born	December 30, 1949 (age 57) Lachine, Quebec
Residence	Whitby, Ontario
Political party	Conservative
Profession(s)	Lawyer
Spouse	Christine Elliott

James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, BA, LL.B, MP (born December 30, 1949) is Canada's Minister of Finance; he had formerly served as Ontario's Minister of Finance.

From 1995 until 2005 he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, representing the Progressive Conservative Party. He was previously a senior cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris, and has sought the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives on two occasions.

Flaherty won the riding of Whitby—Oshawa in the federal election held January 23, 2006 as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada beating Liberal incumbent Judi Longfield by nearly 4000 votes. Flaherty's wife Christine Elliott is currently representing Whitby-Ajax in the Ontario Legislature.

Contents 1 Education 2 Provincial Politics 2.1 Cabinet 2.2 2002 Ontario PC leadership Bid 2.3 Opposition and 2004 Ontario PC Leadership Bid 3 Federal Politics 3.1 Appointment to Cabinet 3.2 October 31, 2006 Income trust announcement 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Education

Flaherty holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University (attending on a hockey scholarship), as well as a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University. He practised law before entering political life, and became a senior partner at the firm Flaherty Dow Elliott.

[edit] Provincial Politics

He first ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, but finished third against New Democrat Drummond White and Liberal Allan Furlong in the riding of Durham Centre. He ran again in the 1995 election, and this time defeated Furlong and White during a significant regional shift in favour of his party.

[edit] Cabinet

He was named Minister of Labour in the Cabinet of Premier Mike Harris on October 10, 1997, and kept this position until after the 1999 election. He also served as interim Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services from April 27 to July 27, 1998, when Minister Bob Runciman temporarily resigned from active duty after revealing privileged information in the legislature.

Flaherty was easily re-elected in the 1999 election in the redistributed riding of Whitby--Ajax, and was named Attorney General with responsibility for Native Affairs on June 17, 1999. On February 8, 2001, he was promoted to Minister of Finance and Deputy Premier. It was during this period that Flaherty became identified as one of the most right-wing figures in the Harris administration. He was a key promoter of tax credits for parents sending their children to private and denominational schools, which the Tories had campaigned against in 1999. Minister of Education Janet Ecker did not support this policy change, and there are reports that she considered leaving cabinet after its announcement..

[edit] 2002 Ontario PC leadership Bid

Flaherty ran to succeed Harris in the 2002 PC leadership election, but lost to frontrunner Ernie Eves, his predecessor as Finance Minister. Flaherty's campaign featured attacks on Eves, calling him a "serial waffler" and a "pale, pink imitation of Dalton McGuinty."

Flaherty's leadership campaign focused on "law and order" themes, and one of his most controversial proposals was to make homelessness illegal. Flaherty's plan was to have special constables encourage homeless persons to seek out shelters or hospitals. He argued that his policy would save the lives of homeless persons; leadership rival Elizabeth Witmer and other critics described it as callous, and ineffective against the root causes of homelessness.

Flaherty also promised to implement further tax cuts, carry through with plans to create a tax credit for parents sending their children to private school, and privatizing the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. Flaherty also emerged as a social conservative in this campaign, distinguished by his vocal stance against abortion, and his association with pro-life groups.

On April 15, 2002, Eves appointed him to the less-prominent position of Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation. He retained this position until the Tories were defeated in the provincial election of 2003. Flaherty himself was re-elected, though by a sharply reduced margin.

[edit] Opposition and 2004 Ontario PC Leadership Bid

Following the defeat of the Conservatives, Eves announced that he would resign as leader in 2004. Flaherty declared himself a candidate to succeed him, but was defeated by John Tory by a margin of 54% to 46% on the second ballot of the PC leadership election held on September 18, 2004. His supporters included former cabinet ministers John Baird, Tim Hudak and Norm Sterling.

Flaherty's 2004 leadership campaign was similar to that of 2002. He again emphasized right-wing themes, including further tax cuts and greater privatization. He also promised to create EXCEL scholarships, wherein students attaining high grades in high school would have half their university tuition paid by the government.

Until 2005, Flaherty served as finance critic in John Tory's shadow cabinet.

On February 4, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that Flaherty still owed as much as $64,000 to the PC Party of Ontario from his 2004 leadership campaign.[1]

[edit] Federal Politics

On June 13, 2005, the Canadian news website bourque.org reported that a meeting of prominent Conservative organizers and fundraisers had been held to plan for a Flaherty bid for the leadership of the federal party should Stephen Harper choose or be forced to step down.

In December 2005, the minority Liberal government collapsed, and the 2006 general election was called. Flaherty resigned his seat in the Ontario legislature to run for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Whitby—Oshawa, unseating incumbent Judi Longfield.

Flaherty's wife, Christine Elliott, won Flaherty's former provincial seat in a by-election, defeating Longfield who was running as the provincial Liberal candidate. This marked the first time in Canadian history that a husband and wife have simultaneously represented the same electoral district at two different levels of government.

[edit] Appointment to Cabinet

On February 6, 2006, Flaherty became Minister of Finance in Stephen Harper's newly elected Conservative cabinet.^[1]

[edit] October 31, 2006 Income trust announcement

Flaherty has become a central figure in the debate surrounding the new proposed rules for taxation of Canadian income trusts. The Finance Minister's October 31, 2006 announcement to changes in rules to tax Income Trusts, backtracking on a campaign promise. There had been an increasing number of corporations converting to income trusts which would result in them paying lowered taxes; Flaherty argued that income trusts would cost the government hundreds of millions in lost revenue and shift the burden onto ordinary people. ^[2].

The Canadian Press voted the Harper Government and Jim Flaherty 'Business Newsmaker of 2006' for the surprise announcement to tax Income Trusts on October 31, 2006 ^{[3] [4]}. Diane Francis, editor-at-large for the National Post, urged that the rule changes be recanted, arguing that there were flaws in the policy which hurt ordinary, hard-working Canadian investors ^[5].

Special hearings by the Finance Committee commenced January 30, 2007. John McCallum, the Liberal Finance critic has called on Minister Flaherty to explain the reasoning behind the change in Income Trust Tax policy ^{[6][7] [8]}." The Conservatives have the support of Jack Layton and the NDP on this issue.

On February 28, 2007 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance released their report Taxing Income Trusts: Reconcilable or Irreconcilable differences?.

Preceded by Judi Longfield, Liberal

Member of Parliament for Whitby—Oshawa 2006–

Succeeded by Incumbent

28th Ministry - Government of Stephen Harper
Cabinet Post
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Ralph Goodale	Minister of Finance (from 6-Feb-2006)	Incumbent

Provincial Government of Ernie Eves
Cabinet Post
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Position Created	Minister of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation (2002–2003)	Position Abolished
Provincial Government of Mike Harris
Cabinet Posts (4)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Ernie Eves	Deputy Premier of Ontario (2001–2002)	Elizabeth Witmer
Ernie Eves	Minister of Finance (2001–2002)	Janet Ecker
Charles Harnick	Attorney General of Ontario (1999–2001)	David Young
Elizabeth Witmer	Minister of Labour (1997–1999)	Chris Stockwell
Special Cabinet Responsibilities
Predecessor	Title	Successor
Charles Harnick	Minister responsible for Native Affairs (1999–2001)	David Young

Members of the current Canadian Cabinet
Ambrose | Baird | Bernier | Blackburn | Cannon | Clement | Day | Emerson | Finley | Flaherty | Fortier | Harper | Hearn | LeBreton | Lunn | MacKay | Nicholson | O'Connor | Oda | Prentice | Skelton | Solberg | Strahl | Thompson | Toews | Van Loan | Verner Secretaries of State Guergis | Hill | Kenney | Paradis | Ritz

Ministers of Finance of Canada
Galt | Rose | Hincks | Tilley | Cartwright | Tilley | McLelan | Tupper | Foster | Fielding | White | Drayton | Fielding | Robb | Bennett | Robb | Dunning | Bennett | Rhodes | Dunning | Ralston | Ilsley | Abbott | Harris | Fleming | Nowlan | Gordon | Sharp | Benson | Turner | Macdonald | Chrétien | Crosbie | MacEachen | Lalonde | Wilson | Mazankowski | Loiselle | Martin | Manley | Goodale | Flaherty

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Profile from Conservative campaign website

Persondata
NAME	Flaherty, Jim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Flaherty, James Michael (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 30, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH	Lachine, Quebec, Canada
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH