David McGuinty

David McGuinty BA, LLB, LLM, MP
Member of Parliament for Ottawa South
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004
Preceded by	John Manley
Personal details
Born	David Joseph McGuinty February 25, 1960 (1960-02-25) (age 51) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Brigitte Bélanger
Residence	Ottawa
Profession	Businessman, immigration officer, lawyer, professor
Website	Official Site

David Joseph McGuinty, MP (born February 25, 1960) is a Canadian lawyer politician from Ontario, Canada. He is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Ottawa South and sits in the Canadian House of Commons as the Liberal Party of Canada's Critic for Natural Resources. He was first elected in the 2004 federal election and was re-elected in 2006, 2008 and 2011.

McGuinty is the brother of Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty and is the son of former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dalton McGuinty Sr..

Early life

David McGuinty was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario in a family of twelve. Being the son of a Francophone mother and an Anglophone father, McGuinty is bilingual. He earned a Diploma in Agriculture from the Kemptville College of Agriculture, a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the University of Ottawa, specialized diplomas in Civil and Comparative Law at Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Ottawa, and finally a Master of Laws at the London School of Economics and Political Science.^[1]

An environmental lawyer by profession, he has long been closely involved in Liberal politics. He was chosen to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Prime Minister's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, a government think-tank concerned with sustainable development.^[1][2]

Political career

In the 2004 federal election he defeated Conservative candidate Alan Riddell by a 5,000 vote margin. Ottawa South was held previously by former Finance Minister John Manley.^[3] While not invited to join the Paul Martin Cabinet, McGuinty served on the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development.^[4] He also was chairman of the Liberal Party's National Capital Region Caucus.

In the 2006 election, McGuinty faced and defeated, Sponsorship Scandal whistleblower Allan Cutler of the Conservative Party of Canada. While his margin of victory shrank slightly, the total number of ballots cast in his name increased, reflecting increased voter turnout in Ottawa South and across Canada.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2008 election, McGuinty faced off against Conservative opponent Elie Salibi, New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Hijal De Sarkar, green candidate Qais Ghanem, Progressive Canadian candidate Al Gullon and Libertarian candidate Jean-Serge Brisson. Although at the national level the Liberals were performing poorly in the opinion polls for most of the campaign and ended up receiving their worst ever vote total and losing 26 seats, McGuinty was handily re-elected in Ottawa South and, in fact, increased his vote percentage from 44% to just under the 50% mark.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2011 election, McGuinty faced the same Conservative challenger in candidate Elie Salibi, who had run in 2008, and was also up against James McLaren a teacher, running for the NDP, and Mick Kitor, the Green candidate. Al Gullon of the Progressive Canadian Party and Mike Bleskie, of the recently formed Pirate Party, were also contenders in the riding. Towards the end of the 2011 campaign the NDP had received a large surge in support, and eventually overtook the Liberals, at the national level, in almost every public opinion poll that had been published.^[5] However this surge had not materialized in the province of Ontario and McGuinty was still widely expected to be re-elected. In the end Conservative support in the riding held steady at around 33%, the green vote fell by just under 4% to 3% in the riding, while the NDP vote jumped to 18%. McGuinty was easily re-elected, once again, with 44% of the vote, a drop of just over 5%.^[6] Nationally the Liberals suffered their worst ever showing at federal election and went back to Parliament with only 34 MPs in the House of Commons. Because of this defeat, and more importantly the resignation of Michael Ignatieff as Liberal Leader, McGuinty's name has been mentioned as a possible candidate for the Liberal leadership.^[7]

Personal life

McGuinty is the son of former Ontario MPP Dalton McGuinty Sr., and the brother of Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. He is married to Brigitte Bélanger and has four children.^[3]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "David McGuinty Biography". Liberal Party of Canada. http://davidmcguinty.liberal.ca/biography/. Retrieved 2011-06-03. 
2. ^ "Interactive Case Studeies in Sustainable Community Development". Community Research Connections. http://www.crcresearch.org/node/3218. Retrieved 2011-06-03. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "Ottawa South Riding Profile 2004". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.cbc.ca/canadavotes2004/riding/171/. Retrieved 2011-06-03. 
4. ^ "Parliamentary Profile". Parliament of Canada. http://www.parl.gc.ca/parlinfo/Files/Parliamentarian.aspx?Item=0992CA07-764F-4FA6-AA55-9A1F3F0A7327&Language=E&Section=FederalExperience. Retrieved 2011-06-03. 
5. ^ POLL TRACKER: Roundup of surveys
6. ^ Elections Canada
7. ^ Now Is David McGuinty's Time

External links

• David McGuinty's Liberal Party Website
• David McGuinty - Parliament of Canada biography
• David McGuinty's MP Website

Persondata
Name	Macguinty, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	February 25, 1960
Place of birth	Ottawa, Ontario
Date of death
Place of death