Tom Siddon
Encyclopedia
Thomas Edward "Tom" Siddon, PC
(born November 9, 1941) is a Canadian politician
.
Born in Drumheller, Alberta
Siddon pursued engineering, eventually earning a doctorate in aeroacoustics
. He became a professor at the University of British Columbia
and founded a successful aero-acoustics firm, Siddon-Harford & Associates. After serving as City Councillor in Richmond, BC for two years, he was first elected to parliament in a 1978 election as a Progressive Conservative
Member of Parliament
(MP) to represent the British Columbia
riding
of Burnaby—Richmond—Delta. He was successively elected in five Federal elections between 1978 and 1993, and worked under several Prime Ministers.
When Brian Mulroney
became leader of the PC Party, Siddon was appointed the party's science critic in the shadow cabinet
. After the Tories won the 1984 election
, he was given the cabinet post of Secretary of State for Science and Technology. Siddon proved to be a hard working and competent MP, and was promoted to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
position on November 21, 1985, in the wake of the tunagate
scandal that had forced the resignation of previous minister, John Fraser
.
Siddon remained in the Fisheries post for five years, until 1990, overseeing one of the most important eras in Canadian fishing history. By the mid-1980s, it was evident that severe overfishing was soon going to have consequences. Siddon thus attempted to impose stiff quotas on the catch; however, in retrospect, Siddon did not go far enough, and in 1991, a complete moratorium on cod
fishing had to be imposed.
In 1990 Siddon moved to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development position. Shortly after his swearing-in, Siddon was left to tackle another crisis, as the Oka Crisis
broke out. Siddon's greatest legacies and successes were also achieved as Minister of Indian Affairs with the agreement in 1992 to create the new territory of Nunavut
, and the establishment of the British Columbia Treaty Process.
When fellow British Columbian and ally Kim Campbell
became PC leader and prime minister in 1993, Siddon was promoted to the senior cabinet, becoming Minister of National Defence
on June 25, 1993. In this role, he was responsible for ordering new EH-101 navy helicopters to replace the aging Sea King
helicopters. The deal was finalized, but the opposition Liberal Party of Canada
made it an election issue and argued that the helicopters were too expensive. After winning the election, the Liberals canceled the contract and incurred cancellation fees of $500 million (CAD). The Sea Kings have since had twelve crashes and required 30 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time.
Siddon entered the 1993 election
expecting a tough battle. His support for native land claims and his earlier fishing quotas had made him one of the top targets of the new Reform Party of Canada
. Siddon ended up finishing third behind Raymond Chan
of the Liberal Party
and Nick Loenen of Reform.
SIddon was successful in settling out of court after hitting outspoken radio commentator Rafe Mair with a massive defamation lawsuit in the mid 1990's. Mr. Mair publicly apologized for comments made towards Siddon, and settled for what is said to be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Siddon returned to the private sector, but has remained active in Tory politics. He supported Peter MacKay
's leadership bid in 2003, and later became an early advocate of union between the Tories and Canadian Alliance
. In 2007, he was awarded a Doctorate of Laws from the University of British Columbia | Okanagan.
Siddon made a return to politics when he was elected to the Board of Education in Penticton, B.C. in November 2008. His campaign was based on more openness by the board with fewer in-camera meetings. Siddon was also a strong vocal opponent to the board's decision to tear down a historic auditorium and gymnasium in the local high school. Following a successful three years on the School Board, in 2011 Siddon decided not to seek re-election, but rather ran for the position of Area 'D' Director for the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen. Siddon easily beat out his two contenders, receiving 50.5% support in ballots cast.
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 November 9, 1941) is a Canadian politician
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...
.
Born in Drumheller, Alberta
Drumheller, Alberta
Drumheller is a town within the Red Deer River valley in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is located northeast of Calgary...
Siddon pursued engineering, eventually earning a doctorate in aeroacoustics
Aeroacoustics
Aeroacoustics is a branch of acoustics that studies noise generation via either turbulent fluid motion or aerodynamic forces interacting with surfaces. Noise generation can also be associated with periodically varying flows...
. He became a professor at the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
and founded a successful aero-acoustics firm, Siddon-Harford & Associates. After serving as City Councillor in Richmond, BC for two years, he was first elected to parliament in a 1978 election as a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
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,...
(MP) to represent the British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
riding
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...
of Burnaby—Richmond—Delta. He was successively elected in five Federal elections between 1978 and 1993, and worked under several Prime Ministers.
When Brian Mulroney
Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S...
became leader of the PC Party, Siddon was appointed the party's science critic in the shadow cabinet
Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is a senior group of opposition spokespeople in the Westminster system of government who together under the leadership of the Leader of the Opposition form an alternative cabinet to the government's, whose members shadow or mark each individual member of the government...
. After the Tories won the 1984 election
Canadian federal election, 1984
The Canadian federal election of 1984 was held on September 4 of that year to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 33rd Parliament of Canada...
, he was given the cabinet post of Secretary of State for Science and Technology. Siddon proved to be a hard working and competent MP, and was promoted to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada)
The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for supervising the fishing industry and administrating all navigable waterways in the country...
position on November 21, 1985, in the wake of the tunagate
Tunagate
Tunagate was a 1985 Canadian political scandal involving large quantities of possibly tainted tuna that were sold to the public under order of the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, John Fraser....
scandal that had forced the resignation of previous minister, John Fraser
John Fraser
-Politics:*John James Fraser , Canadian politician*John Fraser , Canadian Member of Parliament for Lambton East, Ontario...
.
Siddon remained in the Fisheries post for five years, until 1990, overseeing one of the most important eras in Canadian fishing history. By the mid-1980s, it was evident that severe overfishing was soon going to have consequences. Siddon thus attempted to impose stiff quotas on the catch; however, in retrospect, Siddon did not go far enough, and in 1991, a complete moratorium on cod
Cod
Cod is the common name for genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
fishing had to be imposed.
In 1990 Siddon moved to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development position. Shortly after his swearing-in, Siddon was left to tackle another crisis, as the Oka Crisis
Oka Crisis
The Oka Crisis was a land dispute between a group of Mohawk people and the town of Oka, Quebec, Canada which began on July 11, 1990 and lasted until September 26, 1990. At least one person died as a result...
broke out. Siddon's greatest legacies and successes were also achieved as Minister of Indian Affairs with the agreement in 1992 to create the new territory of Nunavut
Nunavut
Nunavut is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, though the actual boundaries had been established in 1993...
, and the establishment of the British Columbia Treaty Process.
When fellow British Columbian and ally Kim Campbell
Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 25, 1993, to November 4, 1993...
became PC leader and prime minister in 1993, Siddon was promoted to the senior cabinet, becoming Minister of National Defence
Minister of National Defence (Canada)
The Minister of National Defence is a Minister of the Crown; the Canadian politician within the Cabinet of Canada responsible for the Department of National Defence which oversees the Canadian Forces....
on June 25, 1993. In this role, he was responsible for ordering new EH-101 navy helicopters to replace the aging Sea King
CH-124 Sea King
The Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King is a twin-engined anti-submarine warfare helicopter designed for shipboard use. The Canadian variant is based on the US Navy's SH-3 and has been continuously in service with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Forces since 1963.-Design and development:The advent of...
helicopters. The deal was finalized, but the opposition 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...
made it an election issue and argued that the helicopters were too expensive. After winning the election, the Liberals canceled the contract and incurred cancellation fees of $500 million (CAD). The Sea Kings have since had twelve crashes and required 30 hours of maintenance for every hour of flight time.
Siddon entered the 1993 election
Canadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
expecting a tough battle. His support for native land claims and his earlier fishing quotas had made him one of the top targets of the new Reform Party of Canada
Reform Party of Canada
The Reform Party of Canada was a Canadian federal political party that existed from 1987 to 2000. It was originally founded as a Western Canada-based protest party, but attempted to expand eastward in the 1990s. It viewed itself as a populist party....
. Siddon ended up finishing third behind Raymond Chan
Raymond Chan
Raymond Chan, PC , is the first Chinese Canadian to be appointed to the Cabinet of Canada. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, Chan was elected to Parliament in the 1993 federal election, defeating then Defence Minister Tom Siddon in the riding of Richmond, British Columbia...
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...
and Nick Loenen of Reform.
SIddon was successful in settling out of court after hitting outspoken radio commentator Rafe Mair with a massive defamation lawsuit in the mid 1990's. Mr. Mair publicly apologized for comments made towards Siddon, and settled for what is said to be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Siddon returned to the private sector, but has remained active in Tory politics. He supported Peter MacKay
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, QC, MP is a lawyer and politician from Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for Central Nova and currently serves as Minister of National Defence in the Cabinet of Canada....
's leadership bid in 2003, and later became an early advocate of union between the Tories and Canadian Alliance
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...
. In 2007, he was awarded a Doctorate of Laws from the University of British Columbia | Okanagan.
Siddon made a return to politics when he was elected to the Board of Education in Penticton, B.C. in November 2008. His campaign was based on more openness by the board with fewer in-camera meetings. Siddon was also a strong vocal opponent to the board's decision to tear down a historic auditorium and gymnasium in the local high school. Following a successful three years on the School Board, in 2011 Siddon decided not to seek re-election, but rather ran for the position of Area 'D' Director for the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen. Siddon easily beat out his two contenders, receiving 50.5% support in ballots cast.