Gerard Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) 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
. Kennedy previously ran for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party
, losing to current premier
Dalton McGuinty
on the final ballot.
While attending the University of Alberta
in Edmonton
, he became involved in the local food bank
, eventually becoming its first executive director
in 1983. In 1986, he moved to Toronto
to run the Daily Bread Food Bank
and did so until he entered politics, in 1996.
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
as an Ontario Liberal Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in a 1996 by-election
to replace former premier
Bob Rae
in the York South
constituency. In the 1999
and 2003 general elections
, he was elected to represent the new Parkdale—High Park
constituency. He became the province's Minister of Education in 2003, serving in McGuinty's first government.
In 2006, he resigned his cabinet post and then his legislative seat to seek the federal Liberal Party's leadership. He finished third in delegate selection meetings, but at the leadership convention, he placed fourth on both the first and second ballot before withdrawing to support eventual winner Stéphane Dion
.
In the 2008 federal election
he ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in the Parkdale—High Park
electoral district and was elected as its Member of Parliament (MP). He ran for re-election in the 2011 federal election, but lost to former MP, Peggy Nash
.
and the Ottawa Valley
, ran a gas supply business in The Pas, Manitoba
, eventually becoming that town's mayor. His mother's ancestry was Ukrainian, and her family lived in Canada's Prairie region. At age 14, Kennedy moved to Winnipeg
to attended St. John's-Ravenscourt School
on a hockey scholarship. After high school, he attended Trent University
in Peterborough
, Ontario
, also on a hockey scholarship. When Trent's hockey program was cancelled, Kennedy switched education institutions and attended the University of Alberta
to continue his undergraduate studies, but left in his fourth year, without completing his degree. He then worked as a historical researcher for the Government of Alberta
in the early 1980s. He began his social activism career when he directed the volunteer program at an Edmonton Food Bank in 1983.
After moving to Ontario, Kennedy was the executive director of Toronto
's Daily Bread Food Bank from 1986 to 1996. The food bank distributed $30 million worth of food each year without government funding; 150,000 people are estimated to have used its services every month. Kennedy was named in Toronto Life
Magazine's list of fifty influential people in 1992, and was named newsmaker of the year by the Toronto Star
in 1993. Kennedy was also given an honourable mention in the Financial Post Magazines C.E.O. awards in 1995.
Kennedy is married to Jeanette Arsenault-Kennedy, a day care professional and Acadian
(Francophone) from Prince Edward Island. They have two children, daughter Théria and son John-Julien.
for the Ontario legislature in Toronto's York South
constituency, which was vacated by former Ontario New Democratic Party
(NDP) leader Bob Rae
. On May 23, Kennedy was the first candidate not from the NDP or its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
, to win the seat since 1955. He received 7774 votes; his nearest opponent was the NDP's David Miller
, at the time, a Toronto city councillor, who received 6656 votes.
Despite being a newcomer to politics, Kennedy became the front-runner to replace Lyn McLeod
as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in late 1996. Although popular on the left-wing, he encountered a strong "anyone-but-Kennedy" movement from the party's establishment and right-wing which was divided among several candidates on the leadership convention floor. Kennedy finished first on the first, second, third and fourth ballots, but was defeated on the fifth ballot by Dalton McGuinty
. Although McGuinty finished in fourth place on the first ballot, he was able to increase his support in the subsequent ballots, gaining delegates from the candidates that dropped off. The results of the leadership contest did not prove divisive within the party and both rivals eventually became strong allies. Kennedy served as the party's Health Critic during McGuinty's first opposition term.
constituency in the Ontario provincial election of 1999, because it contained most of his old York South constituency. However, he was forced to step aside for former leadership rival Joseph Cordiano
, because Liberal party leader McGuinty's policies dealing with redistribution and sitting MPPs was to give the senior MPP first choice, and Cordiano was the more senior of the two. He instead ran in the neighbouring riding of Parkdale—High Park
, which contained about one fifth of his previous constituency, mostly the affluent Baby Point neighbourhood. He faced an interesting challenge from Annamarie Castrilli, another former Liberal leadership challenger who had defected to the governing Progressive Conservatives
on the last sitting day of the legislature. Media reportage at the time anticipated that this would be a close race, due to the perceived relative strength of the three main parties being almost equally divided in this newly constituted constituency.
The Progressive Conservatives were re-elected, forming another majority government. Despite the Conservatives' good showing across the province, they did not win a single seat in the old Metro Toronto area; and, Kennedy won his seat with large plurality, with his closest rival, Castrilli, about 10,000 votes behind. He became opposition critic for the high-profile Education portfolio.
Under the two previous governments, the Education portfolio had been marked by considerable labour strife, due to either the austerity measure known as the Social Contract
under the Bob Rae government, or school board restructuring under the Mike Harris government. In the spring of 2005, Kennedy announced the establishment of a provincial framework in teacher's negotiations, which would see teacher's salaries increase by approximately 10.5 percent over four years in exchange for four years of labour peace. The framework included priorities such as workplace preparation courses and English as a Second Language programs.
On October 26, Kennedy was awarded the inaugural Ontario Student Trustees' Association "Award of Distinction" for his contributions to education, including his expansion of the role of student trustee.
On May 18, Kennedy formally resigned from the provincial legislature. This was after several weeks of criticism over drawing an MPP's salary, despite his absence from the legislature and his stated intention to live for part of the summer in Quebec. Kennedy responded saying that he intended to resign his seat "sooner rather than later," but first wanted to finish some local projects he'd been working on.
On August 16, Premier McGuinty called a by-election to replace Kennedy in Parkdale–High Park for September 14. The centre-left leaning riding was arguably held in part thanks to Kennedy's personal popularity (due to his work as food bank director and education minister) versus that of his party; Sylvia Watson
could not retain the seat for the Liberals in the subsequent by-election, apparently being unable to "ride the coattails of Kennedy's popularity".
The Toronto Star
reported that Gerard Kennedy appeared to have signed up more new members than any other candidate during the member recruitment period. The article stated that it had been "conventional wisdom" that Michael Ignatieff
and Bob Rae
were the leaders in the race but Kennedy's numbers indicated that it was a wide-open race.
On September 8, Joe Fontana
, MP for London North Centre
and Gerard Kennedy's Ontario Co-Chair, announced that he would be resigning his seat in the House of Commons to run for mayor in London; and, it was speculated Kennedy would run in the by-election, which he did not.
On "Super Weekend", from September 29 to October 1, the Liberal Party elected approximately 85% of delegates. Kennedy finished in third place with 17.3% of delegates being pledged to his campaign, a similar number to Stéphane Dion
, who received 16.0% and to Bob Rae
who received 20.3%.At the December Liberal leadership convention, the "Super Weekend" elected delegates were bound (or committed) to vote on the first ballot for the leadership candidate they had pledged to support. On the second and subsequent ballots, however, the delegates were - if they wished - able to switch their votes to another candidate. Besides sizable delegate support he was supported also by 20 MPs and former MPs, with about a dozen Ontario MPPs.
On November 27, Kennedy attracted media attention when he became the first leadership candidate to oppose a motion being debated in the Canadian House of Commons
, that would have declared the Québécois "a nation within a united Canada". Kennedy was joined in that position later that day by fellow candidates Ken Dryden
and Joe Volpe
.
At the convention, Dion placed higher than Kennedy in the first ballot voting, finishing ahead of Kennedy by two votes–17.8% to 17.7%). That gap increased to 2% after the second ballot–20.8% to 18.8%. Kennedy chose to leave the ballot before he would have been forced to, and supported Dion. Earlier, the two leadership contenders had allegedly struck a pact in which the first off the ballot would throw his support to the other. Pundits said that this surprise move had caught the Ignatieff and Rae strategists off guard. Kennedy delivered his delegates extraordinarily en masse, as Dion's support increased to 37.0% on the third ballot, moving from third place to first and eliminating Rae. Dion retained the position for the fourth and decisive ballot which resulted in him winning the leadership.
In late August 2007, Kennedy entered the academic world accepting a position at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University
. He served a one year term as a Distinguished Visiting Professor
until September 2008.
In late September 2007, Kennedy was part of a group observing Ukraine's parliamentary elections
in the Mariupol
electoral commission. Kennedy reported back to the Canadian media that the group he was a party to was confronted by Ukrainian police who stripped passports and observer statuses. Kennedy said that the police were interfering in the process, and the observer group felt intimidated by the police who carried weapons and followed the group around for a day. Kennedy concluded that there were major flaws in the voting process, as the group was also witness to extra ballots being distributed.
nomination for Parkdale—High Park
in the next federal election
. At the time, the electoral district was represented by New Democrat
Peggy Nash
. Kennedy won the nomination by acclamation on April 24, 2007.
On March 31, 2008, although he was not a member of the Canadian House of Commons
, Kennedy was appointed to the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet by leader Stéphane Dion. Kennedy served as Intergovernmental Affairs critic, which gave him responsibility to speak on behalf of the Liberal Party on matters of federal-provincial relations.
In the October 2008 federal election, Kennedy defeated Nash by over 3300 votes, or roughly by a seven percent margin. He was mentioned as a possible candidate in the 2008/09 Liberal leadership race, but eventually decided to pass on another leadership run.
to provide sanctuary in Canada for American and other countries' war resisters on moral, political or religious grounds.
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....
, Canada. He served as Ontario's Minister of Education
Ministry of Education (Ontario)
The Ministry of Education is the agency of the Ontario government in the Canadian province of Ontario responsible for government policy, funding, curriculum planning and direction in all levels of public education, including elementary and secondary schools.This Ministry is responsible for...
from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of 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...
. Kennedy previously 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...
, losing to current premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
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....
on the final ballot.
While attending the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, he became involved in the local food bank
Food bank
A food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
, eventually becoming its first executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
in 1983. In 1986, he moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
to run the Daily Bread Food Bank
Daily Bread Food Bank
The Daily Bread Food Bank is a non-denominational Canadian charity organisation that strives to end hunger in urban communities. The organisation is based in Toronto, Ontario, and feeds thousands of low income people a year. They also provide valuable resources to the same demographic in order to...
and did so until he entered politics, in 1996.
He was elected to 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...
as an Ontario Liberal Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in a 1996 by-election
By-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
to replace former premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
in the York South
York South
York South was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1979, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1999....
constituency. In the 1999
Ontario 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 2003 general elections
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....
, he was elected to represent the new Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park (provincial electoral district)
Parkdale—High Park is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
constituency. He became the province's Minister of Education in 2003, serving in McGuinty's first government.
In 2006, he resigned his cabinet post and then his legislative seat to seek the federal Liberal Party's leadership. He finished third in delegate selection meetings, but at the leadership convention, he placed fourth on both the first and second ballot before withdrawing to support eventual winner Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
.
In the 2008 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
he ran for the Liberal Party of Canada in the Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....
electoral district and was elected as its Member of Parliament (MP). He ran for re-election in the 2011 federal election, but lost to former MP, Peggy Nash
Peggy Nash
Peggy A. Nash is a Canadian labour official and politician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the Parkdale—High Park electoral district in Toronto, and was the Official Opposition's Finance Critic, in Canada's 41st parliament...
.
Background
Kennedy is one of six children born to Jack and Caroline Kennedy (née Shemanski). Kennedy's father, descendant from Scottish ancestry originating in Cape Breton IslandCape Breton Island
Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....
and the Ottawa Valley
Ottawa Valley
The Ottawa Valley is the valley along the boundary between Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec along the Ottawa River. The valley is the transition between the Saint Lawrence Lowlands and the Canadian Shield...
, ran a gas supply business in The Pas, Manitoba
The Pas, Manitoba
The Pas is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located in Division No. 21, Manitoba in the Northern Region, some 630 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, near the border of Saskatchewan. It is sometimes still called Paskoyac by locals as the first trading post was called Fort Paskoyac...
, eventually becoming that town's mayor. His mother's ancestry was Ukrainian, and her family lived in Canada's Prairie region. At age 14, Kennedy moved to Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
to attended St. John's-Ravenscourt School
St. John's-Ravenscourt School
St. John's-Ravenscourt School is an independent, co-educational, university-preparatory school founded in 1820. Located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the school delivers an enriched curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, is the royal patron of the...
on a hockey scholarship. After high school, he attended 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...
in Peterborough
Peterborough, 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...
, 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....
, also on a hockey scholarship. When Trent's hockey program was cancelled, Kennedy switched education institutions and attended the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
to continue his undergraduate studies, but left in his fourth year, without completing his degree. He then worked as a historical researcher for the Government of Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
in the early 1980s. He began his social activism career when he directed the volunteer program at an Edmonton Food Bank in 1983.
After moving to Ontario, Kennedy was the executive director of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
's Daily Bread Food Bank from 1986 to 1996. The food bank distributed $30 million worth of food each year without government funding; 150,000 people are estimated to have used its services every month. Kennedy was named in Toronto Life
Toronto Life
Toronto Life is a monthly Canadian magazine about entertainment, politics and life in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Life also publishes a number of annual special interest guides about the city, including Home Decor, Stylebook, Eating & Drinking, Real Estate and Weddings. Established in 1966,...
Magazine's list of fifty influential people in 1992, and was named newsmaker of the year by the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
in 1993. Kennedy was also given an honourable mention in the Financial Post Magazines C.E.O. awards in 1995.
Kennedy is married to Jeanette Arsenault-Kennedy, a day care professional and Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
(Francophone) from Prince Edward Island. They have two children, daughter Théria and son John-Julien.
York South
Kennedy entered political life in May 1996, running in a by-electionBy-election
A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....
for the Ontario legislature in Toronto's York South
York South
York South was an electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1904 to 1979, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1926 to 1999....
constituency, which was vacated by former Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
(NDP) leader Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
. On May 23, Kennedy was the first candidate not from the NDP or its predecessor, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
, to win the seat since 1955. He received 7774 votes; his nearest opponent was the NDP's David Miller
David Miller (Canadian politician)
David Raymond Miller is a Canadian politician. He was the 63rd Mayor of Toronto and the second since the 1998 amalgamation. He was elected to the position in 2003 for a three-year term and re-elected in 2006 for a four-year term...
, at the time, a Toronto city councillor, who received 6656 votes.
Despite being a newcomer to politics, Kennedy became the front-runner to replace 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...
as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party in late 1996. Although popular on the left-wing, he encountered a strong "anyone-but-Kennedy" movement from the party's establishment and right-wing which was divided among several candidates on the leadership convention floor. Kennedy finished first on the first, second, third and fourth ballots, but was defeated on the fifth ballot by 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....
. Although McGuinty finished in fourth place on the first ballot, he was able to increase his support in the subsequent ballots, gaining delegates from the candidates that dropped off. The results of the leadership contest did not prove divisive within the party and both rivals eventually became strong allies. Kennedy served as the party's Health Critic during McGuinty's first opposition term.
Parkdale–High Park
Kennedy wanted to run in the redistributed York South—WestonYork South—Weston (provincial electoral district)
York South—Weston is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999.Its Member of Provincial Parliament is Liberal Laura Albanese.-Geography:...
constituency in the Ontario provincial election of 1999, because it contained most of his old York South constituency. However, he was forced to step aside for former leadership rival Joseph Cordiano
Joseph Cordiano
Joseph Cordiano is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was formerly a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and a cabinet minister in the government of Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty.-Early life:...
, because Liberal party leader McGuinty's policies dealing with redistribution and sitting MPPs was to give the senior MPP first choice, and Cordiano was the more senior of the two. He instead ran in the neighbouring riding of Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park (provincial electoral district)
Parkdale—High Park is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999....
, which contained about one fifth of his previous constituency, mostly the affluent Baby Point neighbourhood. He faced an interesting challenge from Annamarie Castrilli, another former Liberal leadership challenger who had defected to the governing Progressive Conservatives
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...
on the last sitting day of the legislature. Media reportage at the time anticipated that this would be a close race, due to the perceived relative strength of the three main parties being almost equally divided in this newly constituted constituency.
The Progressive Conservatives were re-elected, forming another majority government. Despite the Conservatives' good showing across the province, they did not win a single seat in the old Metro Toronto area; and, Kennedy won his seat with large plurality, with his closest rival, Castrilli, about 10,000 votes behind. He became opposition critic for the high-profile Education portfolio.
Minister of Education
The Liberals won a majority in the Ontario provincial election of 2003, and Kennedy was re-elected in Parkdale-High Park with about 58 percent of the vote (his nearest opponent received 16 percent). He was appointed Minister of Education on October 23, 2003.Under the two previous governments, the Education portfolio had been marked by considerable labour strife, due to either the austerity measure known as the Social Contract
Social Contract (Ontario)
The Social Contract refers to a 1993 initiative of the provincial Ontario New Democratic Party government of Bob Rae to impose austerity measures on civil service...
under the Bob Rae government, or school board restructuring under the Mike Harris government. In the spring of 2005, Kennedy announced the establishment of a provincial framework in teacher's negotiations, which would see teacher's salaries increase by approximately 10.5 percent over four years in exchange for four years of labour peace. The framework included priorities such as workplace preparation courses and English as a Second Language programs.
On October 26, Kennedy was awarded the inaugural Ontario Student Trustees' Association "Award of Distinction" for his contributions to education, including his expansion of the role of student trustee.
2006 federal Liberal leadership race
On April 5, 2006 Kennedy resigned as Minister of Education to pursue the federal Liberal Leadership. Premier McGuinty, who admitted that finding a replacement was difficult, was reported to have set that day as a deadline for Kennedy to make a decision in order to prevent the leadership speculation from overshadowing the Ontario government's agenda. Kennedy formally declared his candidacy in front of the House of Commons in Ottawa, on April 27, 2006.On May 18, Kennedy formally resigned from the provincial legislature. This was after several weeks of criticism over drawing an MPP's salary, despite his absence from the legislature and his stated intention to live for part of the summer in Quebec. Kennedy responded saying that he intended to resign his seat "sooner rather than later," but first wanted to finish some local projects he'd been working on.
On August 16, Premier McGuinty called a by-election to replace Kennedy in Parkdale–High Park for September 14. The centre-left leaning riding was arguably held in part thanks to Kennedy's personal popularity (due to his work as food bank director and education minister) versus that of his party; Sylvia Watson
Sylvia Watson
Sylvia Watson is a former Canadian politician. She was a Toronto City Councillor for ward 14, part of the riding of Parkdale-High Park from 2003 to 2006 and the candidate for the Liberal Party of Ontario in the 2006 by-election and in the 2007 general election.-Background:Watson and her family...
could not retain the seat for the Liberals in the subsequent by-election, apparently being unable to "ride the coattails of Kennedy's popularity".
The Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
reported that Gerard Kennedy appeared to have signed up more new members than any other candidate during the member recruitment period. The article stated that it had been "conventional wisdom" that Michael Ignatieff
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011...
and Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
were the leaders in the race but Kennedy's numbers indicated that it was a wide-open race.
On September 8, Joe Fontana
Joe Fontana
Joseph Frank "Joe" Fontana, PC is the current mayor of London, Ontario. He was previously a Liberal member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of London North Centre....
, MP for London North Centre
London North Centre
London North Centre is an electoral district in the province of Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
and Gerard Kennedy's Ontario Co-Chair, announced that he would be resigning his seat in the House of Commons to run for mayor in London; and, it was speculated Kennedy would run in the by-election, which he did not.
On "Super Weekend", from September 29 to October 1, the Liberal Party elected approximately 85% of delegates. Kennedy finished in third place with 17.3% of delegates being pledged to his campaign, a similar number to Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
, who received 16.0% and to Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
who received 20.3%.At the December Liberal leadership convention, the "Super Weekend" elected delegates were bound (or committed) to vote on the first ballot for the leadership candidate they had pledged to support. On the second and subsequent ballots, however, the delegates were - if they wished - able to switch their votes to another candidate. Besides sizable delegate support he was supported also by 20 MPs and former MPs, with about a dozen Ontario MPPs.
On November 27, Kennedy attracted media attention when he became the first leadership candidate to oppose a motion being debated in 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...
, that would have declared the Québécois "a nation within a united Canada". Kennedy was joined in that position later that day by fellow candidates Ken Dryden
Ken Dryden
Kenneth Wayne Dryden, PC, is a Canadian politician, lawyer, businessman, author, and former NHL goaltender. Dryden is married with two children and four grandchildren and is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame...
and Joe Volpe
Joe Volpe
Giuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011 federal election, being surpassed by the conservative member Joe Oliver Joe Oliver, and held two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet...
.
At the convention, Dion placed higher than Kennedy in the first ballot voting, finishing ahead of Kennedy by two votes–17.8% to 17.7%). That gap increased to 2% after the second ballot–20.8% to 18.8%. Kennedy chose to leave the ballot before he would have been forced to, and supported Dion. Earlier, the two leadership contenders had allegedly struck a pact in which the first off the ballot would throw his support to the other. Pundits said that this surprise move had caught the Ignatieff and Rae strategists off guard. Kennedy delivered his delegates extraordinarily en masse, as Dion's support increased to 37.0% on the third ballot, moving from third place to first and eliminating Rae. Dion retained the position for the fourth and decisive ballot which resulted in him winning the leadership.
Post leadership race
On December 19, 2006, Dion announced that Kennedy would be his special adviser on election readiness and renewal with "intimate involvement in all aspects of election readiness and the platform. Kennedy was also the chair of the mentorship committee. Kennedy said that his duties as election readiness adviser ended in the summer of 2007, but he continued as a special adviser to Stéphane Dion, appeared regularly as a strategist for the Liberals on television and was often quoted as a Liberal spokesman in newspapers.In late August 2007, Kennedy entered the academic world accepting a position at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
. He served a one year term as a Distinguished Visiting Professor
Distinguished Visiting Professor
Distinguished Visiting Professor is an academic title bestowed by American universities on prominent scholars who have been invited to teach a course in their area of expertise for one semester or more to enrolled undergraduate and graduate students....
until September 2008.
In late September 2007, Kennedy was part of a group observing Ukraine's parliamentary elections
Ukrainian parliamentary election, 2007
Early parliamentary elections in Ukraine took place on 30 September 2007. The date of the election was determined following agreement between the President Viktor Yushchenko, the Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Moroz on 27 May 2007, in an attempt...
in the Mariupol
Mariupol
Mariupol , formerly known as Zhdanov , is a port city in southeastern Ukraine. It is located on the coast of the Azov Sea, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Mariupol is the largest city in Priazovye - a geographical region around Azov Sea, divided by Russia and Ukraine - and is also a popular sea...
electoral commission. Kennedy reported back to the Canadian media that the group he was a party to was confronted by Ukrainian police who stripped passports and observer statuses. Kennedy said that the police were interfering in the process, and the observer group felt intimidated by the police who carried weapons and followed the group around for a day. Kennedy concluded that there were major flaws in the voting process, as the group was also witness to extra ballots being distributed.
2008 Election in Parkdale–High Park
On February 6, 2007, Kennedy confirmed that he would seek the LiberalLiberal 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...
nomination for Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1979.Peggy Nash of the New Democratic Party was elected the Member of Parliament for the riding on May 2, 2011....
in the next federal election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
. At the time, the electoral district was represented by New Democrat
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
Peggy Nash
Peggy Nash
Peggy A. Nash is a Canadian labour official and politician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is the New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for the Parkdale—High Park electoral district in Toronto, and was the Official Opposition's Finance Critic, in Canada's 41st parliament...
. Kennedy won the nomination by acclamation on April 24, 2007.
On March 31, 2008, although he was not 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...
, Kennedy was appointed to the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet by leader Stéphane Dion. Kennedy served as Intergovernmental Affairs critic, which gave him responsibility to speak on behalf of the Liberal Party on matters of federal-provincial relations.
In the October 2008 federal election, Kennedy defeated Nash by over 3300 votes, or roughly by a seven percent margin. He was mentioned as a possible candidate in the 2008/09 Liberal leadership race, but eventually decided to pass on another leadership run.
War resisters bill
On September 17, 2009, Kennedy tabled a private member's bill in the House of Commons. The bill would change provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection ActImmigration and Refugee Protection Act
Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is an Act of the Parliament of Canada, passed in 2001 as Bill C-11, which replaced the Immigration Act of 1976 as the primary federal legislation regulating Immigration to Canada....
to provide sanctuary in Canada for American and other countries' war resisters on moral, political or religious grounds.