Tony Valeri
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Tony Valeri (born September 8, 1957) is the Canadian Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.
Valeri represents the riding of Hamilton East--Stoney Creek. He is a graduate of Hamilton's McMaster University, and lived in Hamilton while he served as President of Canadian Financial Group Ltd. He first ran for office in the 1993 election, winning the Liberal Party nomination over former cabinet minister John Munro, and easily won in the Liberal sweep of Ontario.
Valeri served as a backbencher and member of a number of parliamentary committees before being appointed to the Cabinet on December 12, 2003 by incoming Prime Minister Paul Martin.
Valeri is known for his close ties to industry and business, and his appointment to the transport portfolio was viewed positively by this group.
In 2004, the decennial redistribution process took place and Valeri's old riding of Stoney Creek, which straddled the border between Hamilton and Grimsby, was split in two. A part of Valeri's Stoney Creek riding was merged with a part of Hamilton - East. A slight majority of the constituents of the new riding of Hamilton East - Stoney Creek were from Valeri's Stoney Creek riding. Although the other Hamilton-area MPs shifted to the eastward half of their ridings, in Valeri's case this would have meant shifting from a suburban Hamilton riding to a Niagara-based predominately rural riding. He therefore decided to run in the western half of his former riding, resulting in a passionate nomination battle with former cabinet heavyweight and party leadership candidate Sheila Copps.
Many accused Martin of orchestrating these events to try to expel the left-leaning Copps from the House of Commons. On March 6, 2004, Valeri won the nomination by 311 votes. Stelco's economic troubles and the large pension deficit galvanized support for the NDP candidate in Hamilton East - Stoney Creek. The conflict with Copps, public reaction to the first budget of the Ontario Liberals, as well as the government's sinking fortunes almost cost him his seat, but he was narrowly re-elected on June 28, 2004 and, on July 20. In 2004, he was appointed to the sensitive position of Government House Leader in Paul Martin's minority government.
| 27th Ministry - Government of Paul Martin | |||
| Cabinet Posts (2) | |||
| Minister of State styled as Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (2004-) | |||
| Preceded by: David Collenette | Minister of Transport (2003-2004) | Succeeded by: Jean Lapierre | |
| Special Parliamentary Responsibilities | |||
| Preceded by: Jacques Saada | Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (2004-) | Succeeded by: (incumbent) | |
| Preceded by: David Collenette | Minister of Transport 2003 - 2004 | Succeeded by: Jean Lapierre Template:End box |