James Moore (Canadian politician)
| The Honourable James Moore PC, MP |
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|---|---|
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| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2004 |
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| Preceded by | new riding |
| Member of the Canadian Parliament for Port Moody—Coquitlam—Port Coquitlam |
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| In office 2000–2004 |
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| Preceded by | Lou Sekora |
| Succeeded by | riding abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 10, 1976 New Westminster, British Columbia |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Other political affiliations |
Canadian Alliance (2000-2003) |
| Spouse(s) | Courtney Payne |
| Residence | Coquitlam, British Columbia |
| Occupation | Broadcaster |
| Portfolio | Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages |
James Moore, PC, MP (born June 10, 1976) is the Canadian Member of Parliament for Port Moody—Westwood—Port Coquitlam. He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. Moore was the Secretary of State for Official Languages, Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics before the cabinet shuffle announced on October 30, 2008, when he was appointed Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages. He retained this portfolio when the cabinet was reorganised after the 2011 general election (won by the Conservatives with a working majority.)
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[edit] Broadcasting experience
Before election to Parliament, Moore as a student hosted a campus radio program in Prince George, British Columbia. In 1996, he worked at CKST AM1040 in Vancouver. In 1998, he returned to broadcasting by guest hosting at 550 CKPG in Prince George, B.C. and launching his own talk show entitled “’Behind the Headlines’ with James Moore.” [1] He was also the author of a website, "End the NDP", between 1996 to 1998. The website was a humorous representation of the New Democratic Party of British Columbia under Glen Clark.
[edit] Political career
He was elected to parliament in the 2000 federal election, beating former Coquitlam mayor and incumbent Liberal Lou Sekora, as a member of the Canadian Alliance Party. In 2003, the party merged with the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada to form the Conservative Party of Canada. In 2004, Moore was re-elected with 41% of the vote, down from 51% the previous election. He was re-elected by the same margin against another former Coquitlam mayor, Jon Kingsbury, in the 2006 election.
In parliament, Moore served in a variety of posts as a member of the official opposition, including transport critic, amateur sport critic, and public works critic. Some speculated he would be named to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet, but this turned out not to be the case.
On February 7, 2006, Moore was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister Public Works and Government Services. Principally, Moore was responsible for answering questions regarding his department during Question Period. He also served as Parliamentary Secretary to David Emerson, the then Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics.
Moore is known for having liberal views on social issues that sometimes put him in conflict with other members of his party. He was one of the few libertarians in the mostly socially conservative Canadian Alliance. In 2004, he voted in favour of same-sex marriage after conducting a riding-wide poll of constituents (54% supported the issue). The issue has proven controversial within his own riding, however. In 2006, an independent candidate (who was in fact a former member of the local Conservative riding association) ran against Moore on an explicitly anti-same sex marriage platform. However, he had an opponent who was even more libertarian run against him.
He is one of several members of the House of Commons to have started a blog, which he updated frequently during his bid for re-election in 2005. He shut it down shortly after, citing his newfound responsibilities as a Parliamentary Secretary as being incompatible with keeping a blog.
During a parliamentary session on December 5, 2007, Irene Mathyssen stood in the Chamber and accused Moore of looking at images of "scantily clad" women on his personal laptop computer. She openly questioned his integrity and said his actions "disrespected women". Mathyssen made the charge publicly before talking to Moore, and later when Mathyssen and Moore spoke in person about the incident, Moore explained that the woman in the image was of his girlfriend. Mathyssen has apologized for the incident, and was criticized in the media for it.[2]
[edit] Chuck Cadman bribery allegations
Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose James Moore to handle responses in the daily Question Period when opposition members alleged misconduct by senior Conservatives, Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan. Dona Cadman had said that, prior to the May 19, 2005 budget vote, her husband Chuck Cadman was offered a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government.[3]
Moore told a news conference June 4, 2008 that two top audio specialists found that the tape in which PM Stephen Harper confirms financial considerations had been offered to Chuck Cadman had been altered. But Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc, the critic for intergovernmental affairs, said on June 5, 2008 that the Tories have not been clear about what they claim was doctored on the tape. He said the Tories have also forgotten a huge part of the allegations -- the testimony of Cadman's widow, Dona Cadman. In her affidavit, Dona Cadman "repeats very clearly her recollection of her husband's words to the effect that two Conservative operatives... offered him a million dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote," said LeBlanc.[4]
Tom Zytaruk, the reporter who made the recording, said "I know I didn't doctor any tape. So in a sense all this stuff that [Conservative MP] James Moore is saying is meaningless. I know what happened."[5]
[edit] Portrait Gallery
One of Moore's first acts as the Minister of Canadian Heritage was to confirm a $45 million cut to the arts made prior to the 2008 election and cancelled plans for a National Portrait Gallery, in process for several years with proposals from Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary. Because these announcements were made late on a Friday afternoon, news outlets speculated they were timed to minimize criticism. All the same, the issue received much coverage in the media.
"In this time of global economic instability, it is important that the federal government continue to manage its own affairs prudently,"[6] Moore said, blaming the cancellation of the project on the world-wide banking crisis of 2008. He also said none of the submissions received was adequate.
[edit] Election results
| Canadian federal election, 2008 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Conservative | James Moore (incumbent) | 25,535 | 54.61% | +13.49% | $76,521.14 | |
| New Democratic Party | Zoë Royer | 10,418 | 22.28% | -0.78% | $14,957.53 | |
| Liberal | Ron McKinnon | 6,918 | 14.79% | -12.26% | $32,213.85 | |
| Green | Rod Brindamour | 3,568 | 7.63% | +4.29% | $2,240.25 | |
| Libertarian | Lewis Dahlby | 321 | 0.69% | +0.06% | ||
| Total valid votes | 46,760 | 100.00% | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 168 | |||||
| Turnout | 46,928 | 59.72% | -3.47% | |||
| Canadian federal election, 2006 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Conservative | James Moore (incumbent) | 19,961 | 41.12% | +0.18% | $73,294.85 | |
| Liberal | Jon Kingsbury | 13,134 | 27.05% | -0.25% | $60,974.96 | |
| New Democratic Party | Mary-Woo Sims | 11,196 | 23.06% | -3.31% | $25,808.51 | |
| Independent | Greg Watrich | 2,317 | 4.77% | $26,557.70 | ||
| Green | Scott Froom | 1,623 | 3.34% | -0.98% | $1,530.93 | |
| Libertarian | Lewis Dahlby | 309 | 0.63% | +0.03% | $508.06 | |
| Total valid votes | 48,540 | 100.00% | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 141 | |||||
| Turnout | 48,681 | 63.19% | +0.23% | |||
| Canadian federal election, 2004 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Conservative | James Moore (incumbent) | 18,664 | 40.94% | $65,906 | ||
| Liberal | Kwangyul Peck | 12,445 | 27.30% | $69,875 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Charley King | 12,023 | 26.37% | $54,851 | ||
| Green | Richard Voigt | 1,971 | 4.32% | $643 | ||
| Libertarian | Lewis Dahlby | 276 | 0.60% | |||
| Canadian Action | Pat Goff | 111 | 0.24% | $869 | ||
| Communist | George Gidora | 94 | 0.20% | $389 | ||
| Total valid votes | 45,584 | 100.00% | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 169 | 0.37% | ||||
| Turnout | 45,753 | 62.96% | ||||
| Canadian federal election, 2000 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |
| Canadian Alliance | James Moore | 28,631 | 49.68% | $59,661 | ||
| Liberal | Lou Sekora (incumbent) | 16,937 | 29.39% | $71,922 | ||
| New Democratic Party | Jamie Arden | 5,340 | 9.26% | $25,248 | ||
| Progressive Conservative | Joe Gluska | 4,506 | 7.82% | $4,011 | ||
| Green | Dave King | 839 | 1.45% | |||
| Marijuana | Paul Geddes | 818 | 1.41% | $647 | ||
| Canadian Action | Will Arlow | 452 | 0.78% | $2,886 | ||
| Communist | George Gidora | 98 | 0.17% | $189 | ||
| Total valid votes | 57,621 | 100.00% | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 187 | 0.32% | ||||
| Turnout | 57,808 | 63.37% | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ Biography, from www.jamesmoore.com
- ^ CTV.ca News Staff. "New Democrat will apologize for political blunder". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071205/photo_allegations_071205/20071205?hub=TopStories. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ Gloria Galloway and Brian Laghi. "Tories tried to sway vote of dying MP, widow alleges". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080227.wcadmann0227/BNStory/National/home. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
- ^ CTV.ca News Staff. "Tories using Cadman to distract from Bernier: Grits". CTV. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080604/cadman_follow_080605/20080605?hub=QPeriod. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
- ^ Mason, Gary. "Tories trying to bully an honest reporter over a 'split-second' tape glitch". The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080607.BCMASON07/TPStory/National/columnists. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Libin, Kevin. "Homeless art gallery dies ignobly". The National Post. http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=948770. Retrieved 2008-11-11.[dead link]
[edit] External links
- James Moore official site
- Profile at Parliament of Canada
- Parliamentarian profile at ParlInfo
- Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
- Voting history at How'd They Vote?
- James Moore at PoliTwitter
[edit] Table of offices held
| 28th Ministry – Cabinet of Stephen Harper | ||
| Cabinet Posts (1) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Josée Verner | Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages 2008- |
Incumbent |
| Sub-Cabinet Post | ||
| Predecessor | Title | Successor |
| position created in 2008 | Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade (2008/06/25 - 2008/10/29) |
position abolished in 2008 |
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