Joe Fontana

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This article is about the Canadian politician. For the fictional detective from Law & Order, see Joe Fontana.

Joseph Frank "Joe" Fontana, PC, (born January 13, 1950 in Celare, Cosenza, Italy) was a Liberal member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of London North Centre, in London, Ontario.

In 1954 his father Ugo (a police officer), his mother Pearl and his sisters Anna and Maria emigrated from Italy to Timmins, Ontario, (where another sister, Adrianna, was later born).

He later studied chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo, but left school after becoming the drummer in a rock band. While in the band he met his first wife Marilyn, with whom he had a son, Joey. They settled in London and Fontana briefly returned to school at the University of Western Ontario, but left to work in real estate and the insurance industry.

He opposed the building of a federal prison in London and soon became involved in local politics. In 1976 he ran for city council, representing Ward 3, but lost; in 1978 he also lost the Liberal nomination for the federal riding of London-Middlesex, but was elected to London City Council later in the year and served there until 1988, sitting on London's Board of Control from 1985 to 1988. In 1986 he married his second wife Vicky.

In 1988 he was elected to the House of Commons as a member of the opposition and served as Critic for Urban Affairs and Housing. He also formed the band "True Grit" with several Liberals including Roger Gallaway and future prime minister Jean Chrétien (who played trombone). He became the Ontario chair of the Liberal Caucus and was involved in the Task Force on VIA Rail and the Task Force on the Economy and Recession. In 1990 he supported Paul Martin's attempt to become leader of the Liberal Party.

He was re-elected in 1993 and became Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport, playing a key role in, among other things, the introduction of the National Airports Policy. From 1996 to 1999 he served a record three times as chair of the National Liberal Caucus and in 1999 became chair of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the chair of the Southwestern Ontario Liberal Caucus.

He served as Minister of Labour in Paul Martin's minority government until February 6, 2006, when Stephen Harper was sworn in as Prime Minister.

He was re-elected in 1997, 2000, 2004, and 2006.

When he is not in Ottawa he resides in Arva, a few kilometres north of London.

Recently appointed as the critic for Science and Research within the Liberal Shadow Cabinet, Mr. Fontana was strongly speculated to be considering a run for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, though he ultimately did not seek the post, supporting Gerard Kennedy instead.[4]

On September 8, 2006, Fontana announced that he would run for Mayor in London against current Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best. On September 20, 2006, Fontana formally resigned his seat in the House of Commons in order to run for Mayor.^[1]^[2] He was unsuccessful, losing to Mayor DeCicco-Best. Fontana expressed his discontent for the London Free Press's arguable bias for DeCicco-Best in the weeks prior to the election and stated "There is a benefit in not winning and that is because I am going to cancel my subscription to The London Free Press... I debated The Free Press more than the mayor".^[3]

[edit] References

^ Hansard, 39th Parliament, 1st Session, Number 049, [1]. Accessed 21 September 2006.
^ Hansard, 39th Parliament, 1st Session, Number 049, [2]. Accessed 21 September 2006.
^ London Free Press, November 13, 2006 [3]

[edit] External links

Cabinet Post
27th Ministry - Government of Paul Martin
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Claudette Bradshaw	Minister of Labour (2004–2006) styled as Minister of Labour and Housing	Jean-Pierre Blackburn

Preceded by Jim Jepson	Member of Parliament from London East 1988–1996	Succeeded by District Abolished
Preceded by New District	Member of Parliament from London-Adelaide 1996–1997	Succeeded by District Abolished
Preceded by New District	Member of Parliament from London North Centre 1997–2006	Succeeded by Glen Pearson

Persondata
NAME	Fontana, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Fontana, Joseph Frank (full name)
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	January 13, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH	Celare, Cosenza, Italy
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH