Jeff Leal
Encyclopedia
Jeff Leal is a politician
in the Canadian
province of Ontario
. He has represented Peterborough
in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
since 2003 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party
.
. He has a Honours Bachelor of Arts
degree in Economics and Political Science
from Trent University
(1978) and a degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor
(1981). He served on the Peterborough city council
from 1985 to 2003, representing the Otonabee Ward, and also worked as executive assistant to Members of Provincial Parliament
(MPPs) John Eakins
and Larry South
in the 1980s. In private life, he was a health and safety representative for Coyle Corrugated Containers before his election to the provincial legislature.
Leal sided with a majority of Peterborough councillors in rejecting the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada
's call for a referendum to declare Peterborough a unilingual anglophone
city in 1988.
In 2000, Leal cast a symbolic vote against granting $535,000 under the National Child Benefit
reinvestment plan to agencies that provide services for the poor. He explained that his vote was a protest against management of this program by Mike Harris
's provincial government, in which monies earned by welfare recipients in the Ontario Works program were diverted to the agencies in question. While he acknowledged that these organizations did useful work, Leal argued that the money would be better spent if kept by the actual recipients. Other councillors agreed with Leal's argument, but added they were powerless to change the system at the local level.
Leal chaired Peterborough's social services committee after the 2000 municipal election and also served on a committee that looked into the future prospects of the Peterborough Memorial Centre
. In early 2002, he argued that the existing building should be renovated rather than replaced.
In 2002, Leal voted against construction of a parkway through the city's protected green space. The following year, he voted for a motion opposing the American invasion of Iraq
. Leal opposed the proclamation of a gay pride
day for Peterborough in 2003, although he later attended the city's Pride parade as a Member of Provincial Parliament
.
and was narrowly defeated by Progressive Conservative
incumbent Gary Stewart
. He defeated Stewart by over six thousand votes in a 2003
rematch, amid a provincial shift to the Liberal Party. The Liberals won a majority government
in the latter election under Dalton McGuinty
's leadership, and Leal entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He helped secure provincial funding for Peterborough following a damaging flood in mid-2004.
On September 27, 2004, Leal was named parliamentary assistant to the minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. On July 4, 2005, he was reassigned as parliamentary assistant to the minister of Economic Development and Trade and in this capacity chaired the Small Business Agency of Ontario
. Leal later became parliamentary assistant to the minister of Energy in November 2005 and to the minister of the Environment in September 2006. In the latter capacity, he chaired a series of information sessions about Ontario's Clean Water Act
.
In early 2006, Leal introduced a private member's bill
to ban advertisements for websites linked to online gambling
sites not licensed by the federal or provincial governments. The provincial government introduced its own legislation on the subject later in the year, based on Leal's bill.
Leal was expected to face a difficult challenge in the 2007 provincial election
. He was instead re-elected with an increased majority, helped in part by the provincial government's creation of a new hospital in his riding. Shortly after the election, he was named as parliamentary assistant to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs. In February 2010, he was promoted to Chief Government Whip
.
Leal introduced a private member's bill in 2008 to provide creditor protection for Registered Retirement Savings Plan
s (RRSPs). Two years later, he introduced a separate bill that would require companies with twenty or more employees to offer a savings or pension plan that all employees would automatically join (with the ability to opt out). The latter bill also proposed a new legal framework that would allow insurers and other institutions to create large plans covering workers in different companies, the self-employed, and workers who switch jobs after starting a plan. The stated purpose of this bill, which was supported by the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
, was to reduce the costs of such insurance plans compared with retail mutual funds. The New Democratic Party of Ontario strongly opposed the bill on the argument that it would benefit the insurance industry at the expense of consumers, as well as forestalling renewed investment in the Canada Pension Plan
.
's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
in 2006.
Municipal (partial)
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
. He has represented Peterborough
Peterborough (provincial electoral district)
Peterborough is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
since 2003 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
.
Early life and municipal career
Leal was born and raised in PeterboroughPeterborough, Ontario
Peterborough is a city on the Otonabee River in southern Ontario, Canada, 125 kilometres northeast of Toronto. The population of the City of Peterborough was 74,898 as of the 2006 census, while the census metropolitan area has a population of 121,428 as of a 2009 estimate. It presently ranks...
. He has a Honours Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Economics and Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
(1978) and a degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor
University of Windsor
The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...
(1981). He served on the Peterborough city council
Peterborough, Ontario City Council
The Peterborough City Council is a city council that governs Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. It consists of the mayor and ten councillors, who are elected in five two-member wards across the city. Each member serves on various city committees. The council meets on Monday evenings on a three-week...
from 1985 to 2003, representing the Otonabee Ward, and also worked as executive assistant to Members of Provincial Parliament
Member of Provincial Parliament
A Member of Provincial Parliament is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" and the initialism "MPP" were formally adopted by the Legislature on April 7, 1938...
(MPPs) John Eakins
John Eakins
John Eakins was a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1975 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson.Eakins was educated in Lindsay, Ontario...
and Larry South
Larry South
Laurence George South is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990....
in the 1980s. In private life, he was a health and safety representative for Coyle Corrugated Containers before his election to the provincial legislature.
Leal sided with a majority of Peterborough councillors in rejecting the Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada
Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada
The Alliance for the Preservation of English in Canada was a group in Canada, which campaigned against the Canadian government's policy of official bilingualism....
's call for a referendum to declare Peterborough a unilingual anglophone
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
city in 1988.
In 2000, Leal cast a symbolic vote against granting $535,000 under the National Child Benefit
National Child Benefit
The Canadian National Child Benefit initiative aims to help children living in poverty. The program is a partnership between federal, provincial and territorial governments and First Nations in Canada...
reinvestment plan to agencies that provide services for the poor. He explained that his vote was a protest against management of this program by Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
's provincial government, in which monies earned by welfare recipients in the Ontario Works program were diverted to the agencies in question. While he acknowledged that these organizations did useful work, Leal argued that the money would be better spent if kept by the actual recipients. Other councillors agreed with Leal's argument, but added they were powerless to change the system at the local level.
Leal chaired Peterborough's social services committee after the 2000 municipal election and also served on a committee that looked into the future prospects of the Peterborough Memorial Centre
Peterborough Memorial Centre
The Peterborough Memorial Centre is a 4,329-seat multi-purpose arena in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Built in 1956, it is now home to the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League and the Peterborough Lakers of the Major Series Lacrosse league....
. In early 2002, he argued that the existing building should be renovated rather than replaced.
In 2002, Leal voted against construction of a parkway through the city's protected green space. The following year, he voted for a motion opposing the American invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
. Leal opposed the proclamation of a gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
day for Peterborough in 2003, although he later attended the city's Pride parade as a Member of Provincial Parliament
Member of Provincial Parliament
A Member of Provincial Parliament is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" and the initialism "MPP" were formally adopted by the Legislature on April 7, 1938...
.
Legislator
Leal first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1999 provincial electionOntario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
and was narrowly defeated by Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
incumbent Gary Stewart
Gary Stewart (politician)
Richard Gary Stewart is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and briefly served as a cabinet minister under Mike Harris.Stewart was educated at Banting Institute, receiving a Mortician Certificate, and...
. He defeated Stewart by over six thousand votes in a 2003
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
rematch, amid a provincial shift to the Liberal Party. The Liberals won a majority government
Majority government
A majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in the latter election under Dalton McGuinty
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty, Jr., MPP is a Canadian lawyer, politician and, since October 23, 2003, the 24th and current Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario....
's leadership, and Leal entered the legislature as a government backbencher. He helped secure provincial funding for Peterborough following a damaging flood in mid-2004.
On September 27, 2004, Leal was named parliamentary assistant to the minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. On July 4, 2005, he was reassigned as parliamentary assistant to the minister of Economic Development and Trade and in this capacity chaired the Small Business Agency of Ontario
Small Business Agency of Ontario
The Small Business Agency of Ontario is an agency of the Government of Ontario, operating as part of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. It was established by the government of Dalton McGuinty in 2005....
. Leal later became parliamentary assistant to the minister of Energy in November 2005 and to the minister of the Environment in September 2006. In the latter capacity, he chaired a series of information sessions about Ontario's Clean Water Act
Clean Water Act (Ontario)
The Clean Water Act is a law enacted by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Canada. The purpose of this Act is to protect existing and future sources of drinking water....
.
In early 2006, Leal introduced a private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
to ban advertisements for websites linked to online gambling
Online gambling
Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
sites not licensed by the federal or provincial governments. The provincial government introduced its own legislation on the subject later in the year, based on Leal's bill.
Leal was expected to face a difficult challenge in the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...
. He was instead re-elected with an increased majority, helped in part by the provincial government's creation of a new hospital in his riding. Shortly after the election, he was named as parliamentary assistant to the minister of Aboriginal Affairs. In February 2010, he was promoted to Chief Government Whip
Chief Government Whip (Ontario)
The Chief Government Whip of Ontario is the member of the government responsible for ensuring that members of the governing party attend and vote in the provincial Legislature as the party leadership desires....
.
Leal introduced a private member's bill in 2008 to provide creditor protection for Registered Retirement Savings Plan
Registered Retirement Savings Plan
A Registered Retirement Savings Plan or RRSP is a type of Canadian account for holding savings and investment assets. Introduced in 1957, the RRSP's purpose is to promote savings for retirement by employees. It must comply with a variety of restrictions stipulated in the Canadian Income Tax Act...
s (RRSPs). Two years later, he introduced a separate bill that would require companies with twenty or more employees to offer a savings or pension plan that all employees would automatically join (with the ability to opt out). The latter bill also proposed a new legal framework that would allow insurers and other institutions to create large plans covering workers in different companies, the self-employed, and workers who switch jobs after starting a plan. The stated purpose of this bill, which was supported by the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is an organization representing life insurance and health insurance providers in Canada. Membership is voluntary, and the association's website indicates that it was formed in 1894.-Recent activities:...
, was to reduce the costs of such insurance plans compared with retail mutual funds. The New Democratic Party of Ontario strongly opposed the bill on the argument that it would benefit the insurance industry at the expense of consumers, as well as forestalling renewed investment in the Canada Pension Plan
Canada Pension Plan
The Canada Pension Plan is a contributory, earnings-related social insurance program. It forms one of the two major components of Canada's public retirement income system, the other component being Old Age Security...
.
Federal politics
Leal supported Gerard KennedyGerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada...
's bid to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
in 2006.
Electoral record
ProvincialMunicipal (partial)