John Rodriguez
Encyclopedia
John R. Rodriguez is a Canadian
politician. He served as the mayor
of Greater Sudbury, Ontario
from 2006 to 2010, and previously represented the electoral district
of Nickel Belt
in the Canadian House of Commons
from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993 as a member of the New Democratic Party
.
, Guyana
, and moved to Canada in 1956. He attended Toronto Teachers' College
, worked for a time as a teacher in St. Catharines, and moved to Coniston in Northern Ontario
in 1962, where he was appointed as principal of St. Paul School. He also attended Laurentian University
, and earned a Bachelor of Arts
degree in English and Spanish Literature.
Rodriguez became president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association
in 1968. He led a protest outside Queen's Park in 1969, to urge the provincial government
of John Robarts
to extend separate school funding to grades 11, 12 and 13. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Ontario Teachers' Federation
, and promoted greater cooperation between teachers and organized labour.
Rodriguez joined the New Democratic Party upon its formation in 1961. He ran for mayor of Coniston in 1967, and by his own admission was soundly defeated by the incumbent, Michael Solski
. He was elected to the Coniston town council in 1971. When Inco shut down its Coniston operations later in the year and appealed part of its municipal business tax, Rodriguez argued that the company had a moral responsibility to continue paying into a community it had helped to create. He did not seek re-election when Coniston was amalgamated into the new community of Nickel Centre
.
in the 1972 federal election
, and defeated incumbent Member of Parliament
(MP) Gaetan Serré
of the Liberal Party
. The Liberals under Pierre Trudeau
won a narrow minority government
in this election, and governed for the next two years with unofficial parliamentary support from the NDP. Rodriguez opposed this arrangement, and broke party ranks on two occasions to support non-confidence motions against the government. He became identified with the left-wing of the NDP, and was a vocal advocate of the party's pledge to nationalize Inco, as well as calling for the nationalization of Bell Canada
and Canadian Pacific.
In 1973, Rodriguez took part in a study group on Northern Ontario
that described the region as a "social, economic and political ghetto" in relation to the rest of the province. In the same year, he led a campaign to allow Chile
an refugees to resettle in Canada after the overthrow of Salvador Allende
's democratically-elected government. He spoke the words, "Vive Allende, vive Chile" at the end of one parliamentary speech.
Rodriguez was re-elected in the 1974 election
, in which the Liberals won a majority government
. The following year, he participated in efforts to prevent black activist Roosevelt Douglas from being deported from Canada. On one occasion, he recommended Liberal Solicitor-General Warren Allmand
to Douglas' supporters as a sympathetic contact in the Trudeau government. It was later discovered that a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
(RCMP) informer monitored both Allmand and Rodriguez on this matter, even though Allmand was the minister responsible for the RCMP at the time.
Also in 1975, Rodriguez criticized a sexist Canada Post
advertisement which showed a man writing a postal code on the bottom of a thong
ed woman. Postmaster General
Bryce Mackasey
apologized for the ad.
Rodriguez was one of two MPs who called for the Atomic Energy Control Board to release all its information about the health hazards posed by radiation in Elliot Lake in 1976. The following year, he engaged in a filibuster
against an income tax reform package that contained financial benefits for wealthy Canadians. Although filibusters are common practice in some parliamentary assemblies, and later become more common in Canada, this was the first such incident to occur in Canadian House of Commons in several years. Rodriguez spoke on the bill for six hours and ten minutes over a period of two days, setting a contemporary parliamentary record.
In the late 1970s, Rodriguez argued that the federal government should purchase Inco's excess nickel
stock to prevent job losses at a time when global prices were low. Prime Minister Trudeau rejected this proposal, arguing that it would depress the market even further. Rodriguez also joined with other Sudbury-area NDP politicians to support the 1978 Inco Strike, arguing that the workers would have faced massive layoffs had they not taken this action.
Rodriguez broke with his party caucus when he opposed the suspension of Progressive Conservative
MP Roch LaSalle from the House of Commons in 1978. LaSalle had referred to Finance Minister Jean Chrétien
as a liar on three occasions, and refused to apologize. The rest of the NDP caucus supported LaSalle's suspension.
Rodriguez was re-elected to a third term in the 1979 federal election
, as the Progressive Conservatives under Joe Clark
won a minority government. He was appointed as NDP Labour Critic in the parliament that followed.
In late 1979, Rodriguez emerged as the most prominent member of the NDP's "Left Caucus
", a successor group of sorts to The Waffle
. In a Globe and Mail interview, Rodriguez said that the new group differed from The Waffle in that its ultra-left elements were minor, and that it would abide by the results of NDP conventions even if it did not agree with them. The Left Caucus was nonetheless opposed by the party leadership, which argued that it would hurt the NDP's chances of winning election. Rodriguez spearheaded the group's only successful motion at the NDP's 1979 convention, protesting a jail sentence handed out to Jean-Claude Parrot
of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers
.
The Clark government lost a non-confidence motion in late 1979, and Canadians returned to the polls for another election in early 1980
. This time, Rodriguez was defeated in Nickel Belt by Liberal candidate Judy Erola
. Some local Progressive Conservatives later indicated that they ran a deliberately weak campaign to consolidate the opposition vote around Erola. Rodriguez criticized the Liberal campaign for portraying him as a borderline Marxist.
After leaving office, Rodriguez supplemented his small pension by working as a janitor for a month before regaining his job as a high school principal.
, as Erola fell to third place in her bid for re-election. The Progressive Conservatives won a landslide majority government under Brian Mulroney
, and Rodriguez was appointed as his party's critic on Unemployment Insurance (UI). In late 1984, he took part in a series of public forums organized by the NDP on the Mulroney government's job creation record.
Rodriguez served on the Commons Standing Committee on Labour, Employment and Immigration from 1984 to 1988. He was a vocal critic of the Forget Commission
's 1986 report on Unemployment Insurance reform, arguing that its reforms would drive Canadian social policy back to the nineteenth century. (One of Forget's recommendations was that persons unemployed for more than a year be forced to live on benefits as low as $40 per week.) Rodriguez later supported a committee report that rejected most of Forget's recommendations and made more generous counter-proposals. In the event, Employment and Immigration Minister
Benoit Bouchard
rejected both Forget's report and the committee's response, and did not undertake any significant UI reforms during this parliament. Rodriguez also described newly-appointed committee chair Claude Lanthier
as unfit for the position in late 1987, after Lanthier announced his support for work-for-welfare
schemes.
Rodriguez criticized aspects of the Mulroney government's new lobbyist registry in 1988, arguing that it would not adequately cover the leaders of industry associations. He nonetheless acknowledged, two years later, that the registry had changed Ottawa
's culture of lobbying for the better. He was skeptical about the FedNor
initiative launched in 1988, noting that the northern Ontario agency was created with only limited advisory powers.
Rodriguez was re-elected in the 1988 federal election
, as the Mulroney government was returned to office with a second majority government. He was appointed as his party's consumer and corporate affairs critic, and in this capacity became a prominent opponent of the Mulroney government's Goods And Services Tax
. He took part in a committee filibuster on the issue with fellow MP Dave Barrett
, and tried to have public hearings on the tax held across Canada. Rodriguez was also strongly critical of the severe anti-inflationary policies pursued by Bank of Canada
governor John Crow
, arguing that the recession of the early 1990s was exacerbated by high interest rates that undermined consumer confidence. He called on the federal government to set credit card interest rates in 1989, after a series of dramatic increases at several major banks.
Rodriguez criticized the Mulroney government's austerity reforms to unemployment insurance in its second term, arguing that the greatest burden of the changes would fall on those who could least afford them. He also opposed the 1991 Bank Act, Trust and Loan Act, on the grounds that it would allow major banks to take over smaller competition. Along with other MPs, he criticized the government's $4.4 billion bailout of Central Guaranty Trust in 1992.
Notwithstanding his criticisms of major banks, Rodriguez spent a week observing the inner workings of the Bank of Nova Scotia in the summer of 1991, as part of an immersion program for MPs arranged through the Parliament, Business and Labour Trust. Scotiabank senior vice-president Geoff Bellew said that most bank leaders were impressed with Rodriguez, who in turn said that the experience expanded his knowledge base. He rejected claims that the program would make him less critical of the banks, joking that it would let him "concentrate his fire".
Rodriguez opposed the 1990 Gulf War, and called for Canada to play a peacekeeping role overseas.
Party affairs, 1989–1993
The NDP's failure to move beyond third-party status in the 1988 election was a disappointment for many in the party. In January 1989, Rodriguez became the first party MP to publicly suggest that party leader Ed Broadbent
should considering resigning. He later backed away from this statement, but Broadbent did in fact announce his resignation in early March. Rumours circulated that Rodriguez would run to succeed him as party leader, but he instead gave his support to former British Columbia Premier
Dave Barrett
. Barrett was defeated by Audrey McLaughlin
on the fourth ballot of the party's 1989 convention. Rodriguez ran for party whip
in January 1990, but lost to Iain Angus
.
The NDP's internal divisions became public in 1993, when Ontario MP Steven Langdon
was removed as Finance Critic after criticizing the economic policies of Ontario NDP Premier
Bob Rae
. Rodriguez said that he admired Langdon's stand, and added that he did not support Rae's decision to cut jobs and spending to fight the provincial deficit. He also accused Rae of alienating the NDP's labour allies, and was particularly critical of proposed social contract
legislation that was enacted later in the year. Unlike Langdon, Rodriguez was not sanctioned for his comments.
Rodriguez was defeated in the 1993 federal election
by Liberal candidate Raymond Bonin
. All Ontario NDP candidates were hurt by the Rae government's unpopularity, and Rodriguez chose to focus on his personal record while de-emphasizing the national campaign. Although he polled better than any Ontario NDP candidate apart from Langdon, he still lost by a significant margin.
Personality
Rodriguez was known as a colourful and outspoken MP, and often provided the media with clever and amusing quips. On one occasion, he described the president of a crown corporation as having the consultative skills of an oyster
. On another, he lambasted Brian Mulroney as a "narrow political partisan" before adding "he's just the same as I am".
to resign for violating the privacy rights of an Ottawa consultant. He endorsed Svend Robinson
's bid for the federal NDP leadership the following year, after Audrey McLaughlin's resignation. Robinson led on the first ballot of the party's leadership convention, but gave his support to rival candidate Alexa McDonough
when he realized that he did not have enough support to win.
Rodriguez later became principal of St. David Catholic School in the Sudbury area, and was strongly critical of his forced retirement in 2005. "I'm not ready to retire", he said, "and I do resent being discriminated against because of my age". After leaving this position, he was hired as a remunerator with Statistics Canada
. He also volunteered for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, and received a commemorative medal for the Queen's jubilee in 2003. In 2005, he praised former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
for his role in supporting Canada in the 1995 Quebec referendum
.
In July 2006, Rodriguez announced that he would run for mayor
of Greater Sudbury in the 2006 municipal election
. He received endorsements from prominent local figures, including former mayor Jim Gordon, businessman and former mayoral candidate Paul Marleau, and former city councillor Gerry McIntaggart. One of his pledges was to lobby for Greater Sudbury to receive a share of the corporate taxes paid by mining companies to the federal and provincial governments. He also promised to preserve the distinct character of Greater Sudbury's outlying communities, and criticized what he described as a "culture of entitlement
" in some municipal services. His opponents accused him of making unrealistic promises; his pledge to eliminate homelessness was criticized by councillor Janet Gasparini, who applauded the goal but expressed doubts that this "growing national crisis" could be resolved in the short term at the municipal level.
On election day, Rodriguez defeated incumbent mayor David Courtemanche
by a significant margin.
Initiatives
Rodriguez announced an ambitious "first 100 days" agenda, highlighted by a reiteration of his pledge to seek a portion of federal and provincial mining taxes. He also pledged to create citizen committees that would to oversee a number of municipal projects (including the implementation of Floyd Laughren
's report on service improvements), review the city's recreational facilities, move toward the construction of a performing arts centre, pursue economic growth opportunities in the health care
sector, and devolve some legislative authority to existing local Community Action Networks. Rodriguez also promised to eliminate the fee on Greater Sudbury's TransCab service, which offers transportation to residents of remote areas not served by Greater Sudbury Transit
; this fee was eliminated in the 2007 municipal budget.
Near the beginning of his term, Rodriguez announced that stores in the Greater Sudbury would not be permitted to open on Boxing Day
. He introduced a 3-1-1
telephone service in early 2007, making it easier for residents to get information from city hall. He also resolved a long-standing cultural debate in the community by authorizing the Franco-Ontarian
flag to be flown at Tom Davies Square
. The latter decision was controversial: some praised the mayor for taking decisive action on the matter, while others accused him of isolating other cultural groups in the community. Later in the year, Rodriguez successfully lobbied for the elimination of some local long-distance telephone charges. He signed on to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
's Community Workplace Health and Safety Charter in 2007, and played a major role in helping Theatre Cambrian find a new location. The Sudbury Star described him as having had a good first year as mayor. He later introduced a fair wage policy, and converted many part-time municipal jobs into full-time positions.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Rodriguez promoted two major legacy projects for Greater Sudbury: a 1,800-seat performing arts centre, and a large multi-use recreation complex. Member of Provincial Parliament Rick Bartolucci
expressed skepticism about the viability of these initiatives, however, and council voted 7-6 against Rodriguez's funding formula in October 2008. Rodriguez acknowledged that the projects would need to be shelved for a while, but indicated that he planned to revisit them in the future.
In May 2009, Rodriguez announced the hiring of Greater Sudbury's first independent auditor. In the same month, he indicated that he would oppose any effort to dump nuclear waste in the Sudbury area. During a discussion on public-private partnership
s, Rodriguez said that he favoured continuing Greater Sudbury's policy of hiring contractors for construction and design, but having the municipality own and operate its public assets. In his 2009 State of the City address, he announced that Sudbury would spend $100 million in the next three years on road improvements.
As Mayor of Greater Sudbury, Rodriguez has lobbied for more of the city's wealth to be put toward fields such as research in mining and environmental sciences. He has said, "We have to seize the moment. We don't ever want to go back and be beholden to the big mining companies again." Following a global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, he announced a series of initiatives to combat unemployment in the city. These included offering his support to a job sharing
program, wherein workers at risk of being laid off may be kept on the payroll and paid through Employment Insurance.
Provincial politics
In the buildup to the 2007 provincial election
, Rodriguez joined with four other Northern Ontario mayors to prepare a pre-election paper that addressed issues of concern to the region, such as infrastructure renewal and water safety. Like his predecessor, Rodriguez argued that he and his colleagues would have more influence by working in a collaborative manner. He later issued a "Report of the Advisory Panel on Municipal Mining Revenues" in 2008, calling on the province of Ontario to use revenue from the provincial mining tax for infrastructure projects in mining communities. During the election campaign itself, Rodriguez attracted controversy by attending the opening of Liberal candidate Ron Dupuis' campaign office in Nickel Belt
. Dupuis was the deputy mayor of the city, and Rodriguez's presence led to conflicting claims about whether he was formally endorsing his candidacy. He later clarified that he was not endorsing any candidate.
Controversies and disputes
Greater Sudbury City Council faced controversy in February 2008, when it was revealed that councillors purchased over 100 tickets to an Elton John
concert at the Sudbury Arena
before sales were opened to the general public. Rodriguez himself purchased 10 tickets. Over 71 of these tickets were returned after a public backlash. Rodriguez said that he followed an established city practice in making the tickets available, though he acknowledged that his decision to offer so many tickets was "rushed and not given sufficient consideration". He also said that he never expected the matter to provoke such opposition. The city council in Kitchener
, Elton John's only other Canadian concert date during this tour, faced a similar controversy. The Greater Sudbury council later voted to give up its preferential access to arena events, with Rodriguez casting the deciding vote. In 2009, the Sudbury Star newspaper described the entire matter as a "silly controversy".
Rodriguez entered into a war of words with federal Industry Minister
Tony Clement
in July 2009, after the minister was interviewed by the Sudbury Star
newspaper regarding a strike at Vale Inco's operations in Sudbury. Clement characterized Vale's 2006 takeover of Inco as having saved the company from imminent bankruptcy, and the city of Sudbury from becoming a "valley of death". These remarks were widely criticized; former Inco CEO Scott Hand noted that at the time of the takeover, Inco was in fact a very stable and wealthy company which was the target of one of the most hotly-contested bidding wars in recent Canadian business history, and that the company had not made any announcement suggesting that any jobs in the Sudbury area were under threat. Rodriguez made similar points in an open letter to Clement, also noting that Sudbury's economy had diversified from nickel mining. He was quoted as saying, "The most charitable thing I can say is maybe the minister has been misinformed". Clement later backtracked from his original remarks, describing them as a "boneheaded" way of making the point he was trying to get across.
Plans
Rodriguez has said that he plans to seek re-election in 2010. However, he ended up losing the 2010 election
to Marianne Matichuk
.
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 served as the mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Greater Sudbury, 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....
from 2006 to 2010, and previously represented the electoral district
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 Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the Greater City of Sudbury.Nickel Belt has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953.It consists of:...
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...
from 1972 to 1980 and from 1984 to 1993 as a member of the New Democratic Party
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...
.
Early life and career
Rodriguez was born in GeorgetownGeorgetown, Guyana
Georgetown, estimated population 239,227 , is the capital and largest city of Guyana, located in the Demerara-Mahaica region. It is situated on the Atlantic Ocean coast at the mouth of the Demerara River and it was nicknamed 'Garden City of the Caribbean.' Georgetown is located at . The city serves...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, and moved to Canada in 1956. He attended Toronto Teachers' College
Toronto Normal School
The Toronto Normal School was a teachers college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1847, the Normal School was located at Church and Gould streets in central Toronto, and was a predecessor to the current Ontario Institute for Studies in Education...
, worked for a time as a teacher in St. Catharines, and moved to Coniston in Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
in 1962, where he was appointed as principal of St. Paul School. He also attended Laurentian University
Laurentian University
Laurentian University , was incorporated on March 28, 1960, is a mid-sized bilingual university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada....
, and earned a 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 English and Spanish Literature.
Rodriguez became president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association
Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association is an organization that represents teachers in publicly funded Roman Catholic schools in Ontario, Canada. It is an affiliated with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and Education International...
in 1968. He led a protest outside Queen's Park in 1969, to urge the provincial government
Government of Ontario
The Government of Ontario refers to the provincial government of the province of Ontario, Canada. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
of John Robarts
John Robarts
John Parmenter Robarts, PC, CC, QC was a Canadian lawyer and statesman, and the 17th Premier of Ontario.-Early life:...
to extend separate school funding to grades 11, 12 and 13. He also served on the Board of Governors of the Ontario Teachers' Federation
Ontario Teachers' Federation
The Ontario Teacher's Federation is a professional organization representing teachers in Ontario, Canada. All teachers in publicly-funded Ontario schools are required by law to be members of the federation...
, and promoted greater cooperation between teachers and organized labour.
Rodriguez joined the New Democratic Party upon its formation in 1961. He ran for mayor of Coniston in 1967, and by his own admission was soundly defeated by the incumbent, Michael Solski
Michael Solski
Michael Solski was a union leader, politician and author in the Canadian province of Ontario. He was president of the International Union of Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Local 598 from 1952 to 1959, at a time when 598 was the largest single union local in Canada...
. He was elected to the Coniston town council in 1971. When Inco shut down its Coniston operations later in the year and appealed part of its municipal business tax, Rodriguez argued that the company had a moral responsibility to continue paying into a community it had helped to create. He did not seek re-election when Coniston was amalgamated into the new community of Nickel Centre
Nickel Centre, Ontario
Nickel Centre was a town in Ontario, Canada, which existed from 1973 to 2000.It was created as part of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury. On January 1, 2001, the town and the Regional Municipality were dissolved and amalgamated into the city of Greater Sudbury...
.
1972 to 1980
Rodriguez contested the riding of Nickel BeltNickel Belt
Nickel Belt is one of two federal electoral districts serving the Greater City of Sudbury.Nickel Belt has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1953.It consists of:...
in the 1972 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1972
The Canadian federal election of 1972 was held on October 30, 1972 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 29th Parliament of Canada. It resulted in a slim victory for the governing Liberal Party, which won 109 seats, compared to 107 seats for the opposition Progressive...
, and defeated incumbent 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) Gaetan Serré
Gaetan Serré
Gaetan-Joseph Serré is a former Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Nickel Belt in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1972. He represented the Liberal Party....
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...
. The Liberals under Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
won a narrow minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
in this election, and governed for the next two years with unofficial parliamentary support from the NDP. Rodriguez opposed this arrangement, and broke party ranks on two occasions to support non-confidence motions against the government. He became identified with the left-wing of the NDP, and was a vocal advocate of the party's pledge to nationalize Inco, as well as calling for the nationalization of Bell Canada
Bell Canada
Bell Canada is a major Canadian telecommunications company. Including its subsidiaries such as Bell Aliant, Northwestel, Télébec, and NorthernTel, it is the incumbent local exchange carrier for telephone and DSL Internet services in most of Canada east of Manitoba and in the northern territories,...
and Canadian Pacific.
In 1973, Rodriguez took part in a study group on Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario
Northern Ontario is a region of the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north of Lake Huron , the French River and Lake Nipissing. The region has a land area of 802,000 km2 and constitutes 87% of the land area of Ontario, although it contains only about 6% of the population...
that described the region as a "social, economic and political ghetto" in relation to the rest of the province. In the same year, he led a campaign to allow Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an refugees to resettle in Canada after the overthrow of Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America....
's democratically-elected government. He spoke the words, "Vive Allende, vive Chile" at the end of one parliamentary speech.
Rodriguez was re-elected in the 1974 election
Canadian federal election, 1974
The Canadian federal election of 1974 was held on July 8, 1974 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 30th Parliament of Canada. The governing Liberal Party won its first majority government since 1968, and gave Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau his third term...
, in which 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...
. The following year, he participated in efforts to prevent black activist Roosevelt Douglas from being deported from Canada. On one occasion, he recommended Liberal Solicitor-General Warren Allmand
Warren Allmand
William Warren Allmand, is a former Canadian Liberal Party Member of Parliament and was a Cabinet member from 1972 to 1979....
to Douglas' supporters as a sympathetic contact in the Trudeau government. It was later discovered that a Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
(RCMP) informer monitored both Allmand and Rodriguez on this matter, even though Allmand was the minister responsible for the RCMP at the time.
Also in 1975, Rodriguez criticized a sexist Canada Post
Canada Post
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post , is the Canadian crown corporation which functions as the country's primary postal operator...
advertisement which showed a man writing a postal code on the bottom of a thong
G-string
A G-string is a type of thong underwear or swimsuit, a narrow piece of cloth, leather, or plastic, that covers or holds the genitals, passes between the buttocks, and is attached to a band around the hips, worn as swimwear or underwear by women and men...
ed woman. Postmaster General
Postmaster General of Canada
The Postmaster General of Canada was the Canadian cabinet minister responsible for the Post Office Department . In 1851, management of the post office was transferred from Britain to the provincial governments of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward...
Bryce Mackasey
Bryce Mackasey
Bryce Stuart Mackasey, PC was a Canadian Member of Parliament, Cabinet minister, and Ambassador to Portugal....
apologized for the ad.
Rodriguez was one of two MPs who called for the Atomic Energy Control Board to release all its information about the health hazards posed by radiation in Elliot Lake in 1976. The following year, he engaged in a filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
against an income tax reform package that contained financial benefits for wealthy Canadians. Although filibusters are common practice in some parliamentary assemblies, and later become more common in Canada, this was the first such incident to occur in Canadian House of Commons in several years. Rodriguez spoke on the bill for six hours and ten minutes over a period of two days, setting a contemporary parliamentary record.
In the late 1970s, Rodriguez argued that the federal government should purchase Inco's excess nickel
Nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel belongs to the transition metals and is hard and ductile...
stock to prevent job losses at a time when global prices were low. Prime Minister Trudeau rejected this proposal, arguing that it would depress the market even further. Rodriguez also joined with other Sudbury-area NDP politicians to support the 1978 Inco Strike, arguing that the workers would have faced massive layoffs had they not taken this action.
Rodriguez broke with his party caucus when he opposed the suspension of 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....
MP Roch LaSalle from the House of Commons in 1978. LaSalle had referred to Finance Minister 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....
as a liar on three occasions, and refused to apologize. The rest of the NDP caucus supported LaSalle's suspension.
Rodriguez was re-elected to a third term in the 1979 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
, as the Progressive Conservatives under Joe Clark
Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician...
won a minority government. He was appointed as NDP Labour Critic in the parliament that followed.
In late 1979, Rodriguez emerged as the most prominent member of the NDP's "Left Caucus
Left Caucus
The Left Caucus was an Ontario based left-wing pressure group within the New Democratic Party of Canada and the Ontario New Democratic Party from the late 1970s to early 1990s....
", a successor group of sorts to The Waffle
The Waffle
The Waffle was a radical wing of Canada's New Democratic Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It later transformed into an independent political party, with little electoral success before it permanently disbanded in the mid-1970s...
. In a Globe and Mail interview, Rodriguez said that the new group differed from The Waffle in that its ultra-left elements were minor, and that it would abide by the results of NDP conventions even if it did not agree with them. The Left Caucus was nonetheless opposed by the party leadership, which argued that it would hurt the NDP's chances of winning election. Rodriguez spearheaded the group's only successful motion at the NDP's 1979 convention, protesting a jail sentence handed out to Jean-Claude Parrot
Jean-Claude Parrot
Jean-Claude Parrot was National President of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers for fifteen years and its chief negotiator for eighteen....
of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers or CUPW is a public sector trade union representing postal workers employed at Canada Post as well as private sector workers outside Canada Post.-Activities:...
.
The Clark government lost a non-confidence motion in late 1979, and Canadians returned to the polls for another election in early 1980
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
. This time, Rodriguez was defeated in Nickel Belt by Liberal candidate Judy Erola
Judy Erola
Judith Erola, née Jacobson, PC is a former Canadian politician, who represented the riding of Nickel Belt in the Canadian House of Commons from 1980 to 1984. She was a member of the Liberal Party....
. Some local Progressive Conservatives later indicated that they ran a deliberately weak campaign to consolidate the opposition vote around Erola. Rodriguez criticized the Liberal campaign for portraying him as a borderline Marxist.
After leaving office, Rodriguez supplemented his small pension by working as a janitor for a month before regaining his job as a high school principal.
1984 to 1993
Rodriguez was returned to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1984 federal electionCanadian 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...
, as Erola fell to third place in her bid for re-election. The Progressive Conservatives won a landslide majority government under 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...
, and Rodriguez was appointed as his party's critic on Unemployment Insurance (UI). In late 1984, he took part in a series of public forums organized by the NDP on the Mulroney government's job creation record.
Rodriguez served on the Commons Standing Committee on Labour, Employment and Immigration from 1984 to 1988. He was a vocal critic of the Forget Commission
Claude Forget
Claude E. Forget, OC is a former Canadian politician.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Forget holds a master's degree in public finances from the London School of Economics as well as a bachelor's degree in economics. He was also admitted to the Barreau du Québec in 1959...
's 1986 report on Unemployment Insurance reform, arguing that its reforms would drive Canadian social policy back to the nineteenth century. (One of Forget's recommendations was that persons unemployed for more than a year be forced to live on benefits as low as $40 per week.) Rodriguez later supported a committee report that rejected most of Forget's recommendations and made more generous counter-proposals. In the event, Employment and Immigration Minister
Minister of Employment and Immigration (Canada)
The Minister of Employment and Immigration was an office in the Cabinet of Canada, in operation from 1977 to 1996. On July 12, 1996, the office of the Minister of Employment and Immigration was abolished and replaced with the office of Minister of Human Resources Development...
Benoit Bouchard
Benoît Bouchard
Benoît Bouchard, PC is a Canadian public official and former politician.After a career as a professor and teacher, Bouchard was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Roberval in the 1984 election...
rejected both Forget's report and the committee's response, and did not undertake any significant UI reforms during this parliament. Rodriguez also described newly-appointed committee chair Claude Lanthier
Claude Lanthier
Claude Lanthier is a former Canadian politician.An engineering professional, professor at University de Montreal’s École d’Architecture, and well known wine connoisseur Claude Lanthier (born January 24, 1933) is a former Canadian politician.An engineering professional, professor at University de...
as unfit for the position in late 1987, after Lanthier announced his support for work-for-welfare
Workfare
Workfare is an alternative model to conventional social welfare systems. The term was first introduced by civil rights leader James Charles Evers in 1968; however, it was popularized by Richard Nixon in a televised speech August 1969...
schemes.
Rodriguez criticized aspects of the Mulroney government's new lobbyist registry in 1988, arguing that it would not adequately cover the leaders of industry associations. He nonetheless acknowledged, two years later, that the registry had changed Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
's culture of lobbying for the better. He was skeptical about the FedNor
FedNor
The Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario is a program of Industry Canada whose mission is to address the economic development, diversification and job creation in Northern Ontario. FedNor especially aids women, Franco-ontarians, youth, and Aboriginal peoples in Ontario...
initiative launched in 1988, noting that the northern Ontario agency was created with only limited advisory powers.
Rodriguez was re-elected in the 1988 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, as the Mulroney government was returned to office with a second majority government. He was appointed as his party's consumer and corporate affairs critic, and in this capacity became a prominent opponent of the Mulroney government's Goods And Services Tax
Goods and Services Tax (Canada)
The Goods and Services Tax is a multi-level value added tax introduced in Canada on January 1, 1991, by then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his finance minister Michael Wilson. The GST replaced a hidden 13.5% Manufacturers' Sales Tax ; Mulroney claimed the GST was implemented because the MST...
. He took part in a committee filibuster on the issue with fellow MP Dave Barrett
Dave Barrett
David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...
, and tried to have public hearings on the tax held across Canada. Rodriguez was also strongly critical of the severe anti-inflationary policies pursued by Bank of Canada
Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada is Canada's central bank and "lender of last resort". The Bank was created by an Act of Parliament on July 3, 1934 as a privately owned corporation. In 1938, the Bank became a Crown corporation belonging to the Government of Canada...
governor John Crow
John Crow
John William Crow was the fifth Governor of the Bank of Canada from 1987 to 1994, succeeding Gerald Bouey. He was succeeded by Gordon Thiessen....
, arguing that the recession of the early 1990s was exacerbated by high interest rates that undermined consumer confidence. He called on the federal government to set credit card interest rates in 1989, after a series of dramatic increases at several major banks.
Rodriguez criticized the Mulroney government's austerity reforms to unemployment insurance in its second term, arguing that the greatest burden of the changes would fall on those who could least afford them. He also opposed the 1991 Bank Act, Trust and Loan Act, on the grounds that it would allow major banks to take over smaller competition. Along with other MPs, he criticized the government's $4.4 billion bailout of Central Guaranty Trust in 1992.
Notwithstanding his criticisms of major banks, Rodriguez spent a week observing the inner workings of the Bank of Nova Scotia in the summer of 1991, as part of an immersion program for MPs arranged through the Parliament, Business and Labour Trust. Scotiabank senior vice-president Geoff Bellew said that most bank leaders were impressed with Rodriguez, who in turn said that the experience expanded his knowledge base. He rejected claims that the program would make him less critical of the banks, joking that it would let him "concentrate his fire".
Rodriguez opposed the 1990 Gulf War, and called for Canada to play a peacekeeping role overseas.
Party affairs, 1989–1993
The NDP's failure to move beyond third-party status in the 1988 election was a disappointment for many in the party. In January 1989, Rodriguez became the first party MP to publicly suggest that party leader Ed Broadbent
Ed Broadbent
John Edward "Ed" Broadbent, is a Canadian social democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the federal New Democratic Party from 1975 to 1989. In the 2004 federal election, he returned to Parliament for one additional term as the Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre.-Life...
should considering resigning. He later backed away from this statement, but Broadbent did in fact announce his resignation in early March. Rumours circulated that Rodriguez would run to succeed him as party leader, but he instead gave his support to former British Columbia Premier
Premier of British Columbia
The Premier of British Columbia is the first minister, head of government, and de facto chief executive for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s the title Prime Minister of British Columbia was often used...
Dave Barrett
Dave Barrett
David Barrett, OC , commonly known as Dave Barrett, is a retired politician and social worker in British Columbia, Canada...
. Barrett was defeated by Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin
Audrey McLaughlin, PC, OC was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian...
on the fourth ballot of the party's 1989 convention. Rodriguez ran for party whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
in January 1990, but lost to Iain Angus
Iain Angus
Iain Francis Angus is a Canadian politician, who has served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the Canadian House of Commons, as well as on Thunder Bay City Council....
.
The NDP's internal divisions became public in 1993, when Ontario MP Steven Langdon
Steven Langdon
Steven W. Langdon is a Canadian academic, politician, economist, and former parliamentarian.Born in Stratford, Ontario, Langdon graduated from the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto in 1969...
was removed as Finance Critic after criticizing the economic policies of Ontario NDP 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....
. Rodriguez said that he admired Langdon's stand, and added that he did not support Rae's decision to cut jobs and spending to fight the provincial deficit. He also accused Rae of alienating the NDP's labour allies, and was particularly critical of proposed 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...
legislation that was enacted later in the year. Unlike Langdon, Rodriguez was not sanctioned for his comments.
Rodriguez was defeated in the 1993 federal 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...
by Liberal candidate Raymond Bonin
Raymond Bonin
Raymond C. "Ray" Bonin is a Canadian politician.Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Bonin was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons representing the riding of Nickel Belt, representing the riding from 1993 to 2008. Prior to entering politics, he was a professor at Sudbury's Cambrian College...
. All Ontario NDP candidates were hurt by the Rae government's unpopularity, and Rodriguez chose to focus on his personal record while de-emphasizing the national campaign. Although he polled better than any Ontario NDP candidate apart from Langdon, he still lost by a significant margin.
Personality
Rodriguez was known as a colourful and outspoken MP, and often provided the media with clever and amusing quips. On one occasion, he described the president of a crown corporation as having the consultative skills of an oyster
Oyster
The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
. On another, he lambasted Brian Mulroney as a "narrow political partisan" before adding "he's just the same as I am".
Out of parliament
In 1994, Rodriguez called for provincial NDP cabinet minister Shelley MartelShelley Martel
Shelley Dawn Marie Martel is a Canadian politician. A former member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she represented the riding of Sudbury East from 1987 to 1999, and Nickel Belt from 1999 until 2007, as a New Democrat....
to resign for violating the privacy rights of an Ottawa consultant. He endorsed Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson is a former Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 2004, representing the suburban Vancouver-area constituency of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party...
's bid for the federal NDP leadership the following year, after Audrey McLaughlin's resignation. Robinson led on the first ballot of the party's leadership convention, but gave his support to rival candidate Alexa McDonough
Alexa McDonough
Alexa Ann Shaw McDonough OC is a Canadian politician who became the first woman to lead a major, recognized political party in Canada, when she was elected the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party's leader in 1980...
when he realized that he did not have enough support to win.
Rodriguez later became principal of St. David Catholic School in the Sudbury area, and was strongly critical of his forced retirement in 2005. "I'm not ready to retire", he said, "and I do resent being discriminated against because of my age". After leaving this position, he was hired as a remunerator with Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada is the Canadian federal government agency commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. Its headquarters is in Ottawa....
. He also volunteered for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, and received a commemorative medal for the Queen's jubilee in 2003. In 2005, he praised former Liberal Prime Minister 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....
for his role in supporting Canada in the 1995 Quebec referendum
1995 Quebec referendum
The 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
.
Mayor of Greater Sudbury
CampaignIn July 2006, Rodriguez announced that he would run for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Greater Sudbury in the 2006 municipal election
Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2006
The Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2006 was held in the city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on November 13, 2006. All municipal elections in the province of Ontario are held on the same date; see Ontario municipal elections, 2006 for elections in other cities.The election chose the mayor...
. He received endorsements from prominent local figures, including former mayor Jim Gordon, businessman and former mayoral candidate Paul Marleau, and former city councillor Gerry McIntaggart. One of his pledges was to lobby for Greater Sudbury to receive a share of the corporate taxes paid by mining companies to the federal and provincial governments. He also promised to preserve the distinct character of Greater Sudbury's outlying communities, and criticized what he described as a "culture of entitlement
Culture of entitlement
Culture of entitlement is a concept meant to encapsulate the social or economic beliefs that a government, usually through entitlement programs, should provide access to goods or services such as employment opportunities or health care at no additional cost to its tax payers...
" in some municipal services. His opponents accused him of making unrealistic promises; his pledge to eliminate homelessness was criticized by councillor Janet Gasparini, who applauded the goal but expressed doubts that this "growing national crisis" could be resolved in the short term at the municipal level.
On election day, Rodriguez defeated incumbent mayor David Courtemanche
David Courtemanche
David Courtemanche is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the former mayor of Greater Sudbury, having served one term from 2003 to 2006.-Background:...
by a significant margin.
Initiatives
Rodriguez announced an ambitious "first 100 days" agenda, highlighted by a reiteration of his pledge to seek a portion of federal and provincial mining taxes. He also pledged to create citizen committees that would to oversee a number of municipal projects (including the implementation of Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren
Floyd Laughren is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1998 as a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party, and served as Finance Minister and Deputy Premier in the government of Bob Rae.-Background:Laughren's childhood was far...
's report on service improvements), review the city's recreational facilities, move toward the construction of a performing arts centre, pursue economic growth opportunities in the health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
sector, and devolve some legislative authority to existing local Community Action Networks. Rodriguez also promised to eliminate the fee on Greater Sudbury's TransCab service, which offers transportation to residents of remote areas not served by Greater Sudbury Transit
Greater Sudbury Transit
Greater Sudbury Transit is a public transport authority that operates buses in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.-Overview:Greater Sudbury Transit features over 90 buses on 28 regular routes servicing the city centre and outlying neighbourhoods such as Capreol, Chelmsford, Lively and Falconbridge. The...
; this fee was eliminated in the 2007 municipal budget.
Near the beginning of his term, Rodriguez announced that stores in the Greater Sudbury would not be permitted to open on Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
. He introduced a 3-1-1
3-1-1
The non-emergency telephone number 3-1-1 is a special N-1-1 telephone number in many communities in Canada and the United States that provides quick, easy-to-remember access to non-emergency municipal services or a Citizen Service Center...
telephone service in early 2007, making it easier for residents to get information from city hall. He also resolved a long-standing cultural debate in the community by authorizing the Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarian
Franco-Ontarians are French Canadian or francophone residents of the Canadian province of Ontario. They are sometimes known as "Ontarois"....
flag to be flown at Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square
Tom Davies Square is the city hall of Greater Sudbury, Ontario.Built in the 1970s and formerly known as Civic Square, the building was part of an urban renewal movement toward transforming the city's visual image by investing in more distinctive and modern architecture...
. The latter decision was controversial: some praised the mayor for taking decisive action on the matter, while others accused him of isolating other cultural groups in the community. Later in the year, Rodriguez successfully lobbied for the elimination of some local long-distance telephone charges. He signed on to the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
Workplace Safety & Insurance Board
The Workplace Safety & Insurance Board was established in 1914. It is a workers' compensation insurer for Ontario, Canada. Its headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario.-History:...
's Community Workplace Health and Safety Charter in 2007, and played a major role in helping Theatre Cambrian find a new location. The Sudbury Star described him as having had a good first year as mayor. He later introduced a fair wage policy, and converted many part-time municipal jobs into full-time positions.
Throughout 2007 and 2008, Rodriguez promoted two major legacy projects for Greater Sudbury: a 1,800-seat performing arts centre, and a large multi-use recreation complex. Member of Provincial Parliament Rick Bartolucci
Rick Bartolucci
Rick Bartolucci is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has represented Sudbury in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1995, and is a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty...
expressed skepticism about the viability of these initiatives, however, and council voted 7-6 against Rodriguez's funding formula in October 2008. Rodriguez acknowledged that the projects would need to be shelved for a while, but indicated that he planned to revisit them in the future.
In May 2009, Rodriguez announced the hiring of Greater Sudbury's first independent auditor. In the same month, he indicated that he would oppose any effort to dump nuclear waste in the Sudbury area. During a discussion on public-private partnership
Public-private partnership
Public–private partnership describes a government service or private business venture which is funded and operated through a partnership of government and one or more private sector companies...
s, Rodriguez said that he favoured continuing Greater Sudbury's policy of hiring contractors for construction and design, but having the municipality own and operate its public assets. In his 2009 State of the City address, he announced that Sudbury would spend $100 million in the next three years on road improvements.
As Mayor of Greater Sudbury, Rodriguez has lobbied for more of the city's wealth to be put toward fields such as research in mining and environmental sciences. He has said, "We have to seize the moment. We don't ever want to go back and be beholden to the big mining companies again." Following a global economic downturn in late 2008 and early 2009, he announced a series of initiatives to combat unemployment in the city. These included offering his support to a job sharing
Job sharing
Job sharing is an employment arrangement where typically two people are retained on a part-time or reduced-time basis to perform a job normally fulfilled by one person working full-time. Compensation is apportioned between the workers, thus leading to a net reduction in per-employee income...
program, wherein workers at risk of being laid off may be kept on the payroll and paid through Employment Insurance.
Provincial politics
In the buildup to 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...
, Rodriguez joined with four other Northern Ontario mayors to prepare a pre-election paper that addressed issues of concern to the region, such as infrastructure renewal and water safety. Like his predecessor, Rodriguez argued that he and his colleagues would have more influence by working in a collaborative manner. He later issued a "Report of the Advisory Panel on Municipal Mining Revenues" in 2008, calling on the province of Ontario to use revenue from the provincial mining tax for infrastructure projects in mining communities. During the election campaign itself, Rodriguez attracted controversy by attending the opening of Liberal candidate Ron Dupuis' campaign office in Nickel Belt
Nickel Belt (provincial electoral district)
Nickel Belt is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Ontario. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The district is located in Northern Ontario and includes much of the eastern and southern parts of the District of Sudbury, as well as most of Greater...
. Dupuis was the deputy mayor of the city, and Rodriguez's presence led to conflicting claims about whether he was formally endorsing his candidacy. He later clarified that he was not endorsing any candidate.
Controversies and disputes
Greater Sudbury City Council faced controversy in February 2008, when it was revealed that councillors purchased over 100 tickets to an Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
concert at the Sudbury Arena
Sudbury Arena
The Sudbury Community Arena is a multi-purpose arena in the downtown core of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. It was built in 1951.It has an ice size of 200' x 85', with a capacity of 4,600 seated, 5,100 standing and is wheelchair accessible....
before sales were opened to the general public. Rodriguez himself purchased 10 tickets. Over 71 of these tickets were returned after a public backlash. Rodriguez said that he followed an established city practice in making the tickets available, though he acknowledged that his decision to offer so many tickets was "rushed and not given sufficient consideration". He also said that he never expected the matter to provoke such opposition. The city council in Kitchener
Kitchener, Ontario
The City of Kitchener is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The city had a population of 204,668 in the Canada 2006 Census...
, Elton John's only other Canadian concert date during this tour, faced a similar controversy. The Greater Sudbury council later voted to give up its preferential access to arena events, with Rodriguez casting the deciding vote. In 2009, the Sudbury Star newspaper described the entire matter as a "silly controversy".
Rodriguez entered into a war of words with federal Industry Minister
Minister of Industry (Canada)
The Minister of Industry is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's economic development and corporate affairs department, Industry Canada. The Minister of Industry is also the minister responsible for Statistics Canada...
Tony Clement
Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario and member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
in July 2009, after the minister was interviewed by the Sudbury Star
Sudbury Star
The Sudbury Star is a Canadian daily regional newspaper, published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is run by the media conglomerate Sun Media, which is controlled by Quebecor....
newspaper regarding a strike at Vale Inco's operations in Sudbury. Clement characterized Vale's 2006 takeover of Inco as having saved the company from imminent bankruptcy, and the city of Sudbury from becoming a "valley of death". These remarks were widely criticized; former Inco CEO Scott Hand noted that at the time of the takeover, Inco was in fact a very stable and wealthy company which was the target of one of the most hotly-contested bidding wars in recent Canadian business history, and that the company had not made any announcement suggesting that any jobs in the Sudbury area were under threat. Rodriguez made similar points in an open letter to Clement, also noting that Sudbury's economy had diversified from nickel mining. He was quoted as saying, "The most charitable thing I can say is maybe the minister has been misinformed". Clement later backtracked from his original remarks, describing them as a "boneheaded" way of making the point he was trying to get across.
Plans
Rodriguez has said that he plans to seek re-election in 2010. However, he ended up losing the 2010 election
Greater Sudbury municipal election, 2010
The 2010 Greater Sudbury municipal election was held on October 25, 2010 to elect a mayor and 12 city councillors in Greater Sudbury, Ontario. In addition, school trustees were elected to the Rainbow District School Board, Sudbury Catholic District School Board, Conseil scolaire de district du...
to Marianne Matichuk
Marianne Matichuk
Marianne Matichuk is a Canadian politician, who was elected mayor of Greater Sudbury, Ontario in the 2010 municipal election.She is the city's first elected female mayor, although Grace Hartman was previously appointed mayor following the death of Max Silverman in 1966.-Campaign:An occupational...
.