Steve Mahoney
Encyclopedia
Steven W. Mahoney, PC
(born July 18, 1947 in Sault Ste. Marie
, Ontario
) is a Canadian
politician. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1987 to 1995, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons
from 1997 to 2004. In the latter capacity, he served as a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien
. Mahoney is a member of the Liberal Party
.
Mahoney was educated at Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke, Toronto. From 1978 to 1987, he served as a councillor on the Mississauga
City Council and the Regional Council of Peel
.
Mahoney was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election
, defeating his closest opponent by over 14,000 votes in the newly-created riding of Mississauga West
. For the next three years, he served as a backbench Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) supporting the government of David Peterson
.
The Liberals lost the 1990 provincial election
, though Mahoney was re-elected without difficulty and became Chief Opposition Whip. He ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party
in 1992, although he had only a minimal support base within the party. Most political observers believed he was attempting to increase his public profile, to be assured of a cabinet position when the Liberals returned to power. He was generally regarded as being on the right-wing of the party during this campaign.
Mahoney placed fifth out of six candidates on the first ballot of the 1992 Liberal leadership convention
, following a nomination speech that one reporter likened to a stream-of-consciousness performance. He withdrew from the contest after the second ballot, and endorsed Lyn McLeod
. (This support was pivotal to McLeod's victory on the fifth ballot, as she defeated runner-up Murray Elston
by only nine votes.)
The Progressive Conservative Party
won a majority government in the 1995 election
, and Mahoney was narrowly defeated in Mississauga West by PC candidate Rob Sampson
. He switched to federal politics two years later, and easily elected to the Canadian House of Commons for Mississauga West in the 1997 federal election
, defeating his nearest opponent by over 21,000 votes. He scored an equally easily victory in the 2000 federal election
.
Mahoney supported Paul Martin
in the 1990 federal Liberal leadership convention, but subsequently opposed efforts by other Martin supporters to remove Jean Chrétien from the leadership position. During his time in parliament, he was considered a Chrétien loyalist. On April 11, 2003 Chrétien appointed Mahoney Secretary of State
for selected Crown Corporations. His primary responsibility was for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and he was generally regarded as minister responsible for affordable housing. Mahoney was demoted to the backbenches again when Paul Martin
became Prime Minister of Canada
on December 11, 2003.
As a result of redistribution, Mahoney was forced to run against fellow Liberal Member of Parliament
Carolyn Parrish for the Liberal nomination in Mississauga—Erindale
in the 2004 federal election
. The nomination battle was extremely polarizing for the party. While Mahoney had been a Chrétien supporter, Parrish was considered (incorrectly, it turned out) as a Paul Martin loyalist. In addition, Parrish was often criticized in the Canadian media for making statements that were interpreted as anti-American, while Mahoney frequently condemned anti-American rhetoric during his time in the Commons. (On February 27, 2003, he ended one spoken-word intervention by yelling "God Bless America".) There was also personal acrimony between the candidates: on one occasion, Mahoney accused Parrish of illegal fundraising and called for criminal charges to be filed.
Parrish defeated Mahoney for the nomination, 2,165 votes to 1,925. After losing the contest, Mahoney told reporters "This woman [Parrish] is so low in the gutter that it's a shame that she's standing to represent the Liberal party". http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:WrQKJ8IugFoJ:www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/07/canada/parrish_mahoney040307+%22Steve+Mahoney%22+%22Carolyn+Parrish%22&hl=en Mahoney did not contest the 2004 election.
Mahoney is currently chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario, having been appointed to that position in May 2006. Since his appointment as Chair of the WSIB in May 2006, Steve Mahoney has been very active in meeting our stakeholders across the province. The Chair's tour has included meetings with worker groups, employer associations, labour unions, medical professional associations, and chambers of commerce. He has visited every WSIB office and has held meetings with management and staff at a number of companies, such as Novelis and Goodyear.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
(born July 18, 1947 in Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
, 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....
) is a 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...
politician. He was a member of 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...
from 1987 to 1995, and a member of the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
from 1997 to 2004. In the latter capacity, he served as a cabinet minister in the government of Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
. Mahoney is a member of the Liberal Party
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...
.
Mahoney was educated at Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke, Toronto. From 1978 to 1987, he served as a councillor on the Mississauga
Mississauga, Ontario
Mississauga is a city in Southern Ontario located in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and in the western part of the Greater Toronto Area. With an estimated population of 734,000, it is Canada's sixth-most populous municipality, and has almost doubled in population in each of the last two decades...
City Council and the Regional Council of Peel
Peel County, Ontario
Peel County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1851 from a portion of York County. In 1973, Peel County became the Regional Municipality of Peel, as a result of the Ontario provincial government's regionalization of the rapidly developing counties...
.
Mahoney was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
, defeating his closest opponent by over 14,000 votes in the newly-created riding of Mississauga West
Mississauga West
For the current provincial electoral district, see Mississauga West Mississauga West was a federal electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 2003. It was located in the city of Mississauga in the province of Ontario...
. For the next three years, he served as a backbench Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) supporting the government of David Peterson
David Peterson
David Robert Peterson, PC, O.Ont was the 20th Premier of the Province of Ontario, Canada, from June 26, 1985 to October 1, 1990. He was the first Liberal premier of Ontario in 42 years....
.
The Liberals lost the 1990 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
, though Mahoney was re-elected without difficulty and became Chief Opposition Whip. He ran for the leadership 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...
in 1992, although he had only a minimal support base within the party. Most political observers believed he was attempting to increase his public profile, to be assured of a cabinet position when the Liberals returned to power. He was generally regarded as being on the right-wing of the party during this campaign.
Mahoney placed fifth out of six candidates on the first ballot of the 1992 Liberal leadership convention
Ontario Liberal leadership conventions
Ballot-by-ballot results of leadership elections in the Ontario Liberal Party, a political party in the Province of Ontario, Canada.Note: Before 1919, the leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party were chosen by the party's elected Members of the Legislative Assembly...
, following a nomination speech that one reporter likened to a stream-of-consciousness performance. He withdrew from the contest after the second ballot, and endorsed Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1992 to 1996.-Background - Pre...
. (This support was pivotal to McLeod's victory on the fifth ballot, as she defeated runner-up Murray Elston
Murray Elston
Murray John Elston is an executive and former Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1994, and was a prominent cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson...
by only nine votes.)
The Progressive Conservative Party
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...
won a majority government in the 1995 election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, and Mahoney was narrowly defeated in Mississauga West by PC candidate Rob Sampson
Rob Sampson
Rob Sampson is a politician in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.-Career:Sampson has a Bachelor of Arts degree and an MBA from Queen's...
. He switched to federal politics two years later, and easily elected to the Canadian House of Commons for Mississauga West in the 1997 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1997
The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...
, defeating his nearest opponent by over 21,000 votes. He scored an equally easily victory in the 2000 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2000
The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....
.
Mahoney supported Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
in the 1990 federal Liberal leadership convention, but subsequently opposed efforts by other Martin supporters to remove Jean Chrétien from the leadership position. During his time in parliament, he was considered a Chrétien loyalist. On April 11, 2003 Chrétien appointed Mahoney Secretary of State
Secretary of State (Canada)
Secretary of State was a title given to some Ministers of State in the Government of Canada sitting outside Cabinet from 1993 to 2003 and again from 2007 to 2008. Secretaries of State were members of the ministry and the Queen's Privy Council for Canada...
for selected Crown Corporations. His primary responsibility was for the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and he was generally regarded as minister responsible for affordable housing. Mahoney was demoted to the backbenches again when Paul Martin
Paul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
became Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
on December 11, 2003.
As a result of redistribution, Mahoney was forced to run against fellow Liberal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
Carolyn Parrish for the Liberal nomination in Mississauga—Erindale
Mississauga—Erindale
Mississauga—Erindale is a federalelectoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.It was created in 2003 from parts of Mississauga Centre and Mississauga West ridings....
in the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
. The nomination battle was extremely polarizing for the party. While Mahoney had been a Chrétien supporter, Parrish was considered (incorrectly, it turned out) as a Paul Martin loyalist. In addition, Parrish was often criticized in the Canadian media for making statements that were interpreted as anti-American, while Mahoney frequently condemned anti-American rhetoric during his time in the Commons. (On February 27, 2003, he ended one spoken-word intervention by yelling "God Bless America".) There was also personal acrimony between the candidates: on one occasion, Mahoney accused Parrish of illegal fundraising and called for criminal charges to be filed.
Parrish defeated Mahoney for the nomination, 2,165 votes to 1,925. After losing the contest, Mahoney told reporters "This woman [Parrish] is so low in the gutter that it's a shame that she's standing to represent the Liberal party". http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:WrQKJ8IugFoJ:www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/07/canada/parrish_mahoney040307+%22Steve+Mahoney%22+%22Carolyn+Parrish%22&hl=en Mahoney did not contest the 2004 election.
Mahoney is currently chair of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario, having been appointed to that position in May 2006. Since his appointment as Chair of the WSIB in May 2006, Steve Mahoney has been very active in meeting our stakeholders across the province. The Chair's tour has included meetings with worker groups, employer associations, labour unions, medical professional associations, and chambers of commerce. He has visited every WSIB office and has held meetings with management and staff at a number of companies, such as Novelis and Goodyear.