- David Sweet
-
For other people named David Sweet, see David Sweet (disambiguation).
David S. Sweet
MPMember of the Canadian Parliament
for Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—WestdaleIncumbent Assumed office
2006Preceded by Russ Powers Personal details Born June 24, 1957
Kingston, OntarioPolitical party Conservative Spouse(s) Almut Sweet Residence Hamilton, Ontario Profession business consultant, real estate broker David S. Sweet (born June 24, 1957 in Kingston, Ontario) is a Canadian politician who began serving his first term of office in January 2006. He is a former CEO of Promise Keepers Canada.[1]
Contents
Political career
In 2004, he defeated sitting Liberal-turned-Conservative MP John Bryden for the Conservative Party nomination in the riding of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale. In the 2004 election, Sweet placed second to former Hamilton city councillor Russ Powers (Liberal). In the January 2006 election, he defeated Powers.
On June 22, 2006, Sweet obtained the unanimous consent of the House of Commons for a motion awarding honorary Canadian citizenship to the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso.[2] Tenzin Gyatso was the 3rd person to receive such an honor by the House of Commons after Nelson Mandela in 2001.
Sweet makes an annual Members Statement in the House of Commons each June to recognize Scleroderma Month in Canada, saying on June 1, 2006,[3]"If there is a note of passion in my voice, it is because my own family has had to deal with the devastating effects of scleroderma. My mother passed away from complications of this disease and cancer." The environment[4], Veterans Week[5] and seniors[6] have been among the other topics addressed by Sweet in the House of Commons.
On February 10, 2011, Sweet introduced a Private Member's Bill, Bill C-620, An Act to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (parole review and victim impact statement)[7] which was debated only once, on March 23, 2011[8], before the 40th Parliament was dissolved for the 2011 General Election.
Sweet is chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology, a role he has held since September 30, 2010. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the Canadian Parliamentary Committee to Combat Antisemitism Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA). He also served on the CPCCA's Inquiry Panel which released a public report on July 7, 2011. [4].
Sweet has served on three Parliamentary Committees: The Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and the Subcommittee on International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs. On February 17, 2009 he was elected Chair of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which he served on since he was elected in 2006. In response to his election as chair he said: “While it’s an honour to be asked by your colleagues to take on this responsibility, the real honour is in serving veterans from coast to coast – the men and women who so selflessly sacrificed for our country, or freedom and the rights and privileges we enjoy as Canadians today.”[9] Sweet also served as Vice-Chair of the Public Accounts Committee.[10]
On November 27, 2001, Sweet said in an interview with Christian Week about the success of Promise Keepers in bringing men back to the Church: “[M]en are natural influencers, whether we like it or not ... There’s a particular reason why Jesus called men only. It’s not that women aren’t co-participators. It’s because Jesus knew women would naturally follow. Men, on the other hand, had to be called.” The article refers to a statistic that "when a man comes to Christ ... in 74 per cent of the cases the rest of the family will come along as well," but the figure is only 17 per cent for women.[11]
Sweet voted to reopen the issue of same-sex marriage on December 16, 2006 in order to "restore the traditional definition of marriage".[12]
During his tenure, Mr. Sweet has presented a number of petitions to Parliament on varied topics. On May 14, 2009, Mr. Sweet presented two petitions to the House of Commons. "Mr. Speaker, I have two petitions I would like to table. The first on employment insurance. Mr. Speaker, the second petition is from 200 individuals asking the government to recognize its obligations under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and to particularly focus on the right to life. Since 1969 there has been no law to limit abortion in Canada. They are asking the government to enact legislation to the protect the life of the unborn."[13] On October 26, 2009, Mr. Sweet presented the House with a petition of 100 signatures, including constituents. "Mr. Speaker, I have a petition here signed by 100 signatories who want to draw the attention of the House to the fact that there has been no legislation regarding abortion and life for the last 40 years. They would like to draw the attention of the House to the fact that legislation is needed in order to protect life from the time of conception until natural death. It is my pleasure to present this to the House."[14]
Electoral record
Canadian federal election, 2008 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures Conservative David Sweet 26,297 46.5% +7.4% $69,185 Liberal Arlene MacFarlane-VanderBeek 15,322 27.1% -7.4% $42,231 New Democrat Gordon Guyatt 9,632 17.0% -4.3% $44,859 Green Peter Ormond 5,149 9.1% +4.7% $21,445 Marxist–Leninist Jamilé Ghaddar 148 0.3% +0.1% Total valid votes/Expense limit 56,548 100% $88,494 Total rejected ballots 170 Total number of votes 56,718 Canadian federal election, 2006 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Conservative David Sweet 24,530 39.1% +4.5% Liberal Russ Powers 21,656 34.5% -5.2% New Democrat Gordon Guyatt 13,376 21.3% +0.4% Green David Januczkowski 2,767 4.4% -0.4% Independent Ben Cowie 303 0.5% - Marxist–Leninist Jamilé Ghaddar 112 0.2% - Total number of valid votes 62,744 100% Rejected ballots 175 Total number of votes 62,919 Canadian federal election, 2004 Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Russ Powers 21,935 39.7% Conservative David Sweet 19,135 34.6% New Democrat Gordon Guyatt 11,557 20.9% Green David Januczkowski 2,636 4.8% Total number of valid votes 55,263 100% Rejected ballots 252 Total number of votes 55,515 Footnotes
- ^ "4,000 Promise Keepers vow to be better Christian men", Hamilton Spectator, 24 September 2001, A8.
- ^ Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons, 2006-06-22.
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2239731&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=39&Ses=1
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2286704&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=39&Ses=1, http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2644301&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=39&Ses=1, http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3005880&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=39&Ses=1
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=2502857&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=39&Ses=1
- ^ http://parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=41&Ses=1&DocId=5108140#T1410
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=4947748&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=40&Ses=3
- ^ http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=5063137&Language=E&Mode=2&Parl=40&Ses=3
- ^ "Sweet Elected Chair of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs". David Sweet, MP. April 8, 2009. http://www.davidsweet.ca/admin/news/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1239221410&archive=&template=Generic.
- ^ "39th Parliament, 2nd Session Committee Memberships". Parliament of Canada. http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeMembership.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=39&Ses=2.
- ^ "Men make pledge to let Jesus purify: Getting men in touch with God is what church needs". Christian Week. Accessed May 5, 2010. Archived from the original on 2003-05-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20030518020552/http://www.christianweek.org/Stories/vol15/no16/story4.html.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
External links
- David Sweet website
- Parliament Webpage
- http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&Parl=40&Ses=2&DocId=4171633
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