Mario Silva (politician)

This article is about the Canadian MP. For other people of that name, see Mário Silva (disambiguation).

Mario Silva
Member of Parliament
In office 28 June 2004 – 2 May 2011
Preceded by	Charles Caccia
Succeeded by	Andrew Cash
Constituency	Davenport
Personal details
Born	(1966-06-11) June 11, 1966 Azores, Portugal
Political party	Liberal
Residence	Toronto
Profession	Educator

Mario Silva, (born June 11, 1966) is a Canadian politician and a former Canadian Member of Parliament. Silva is a former a Toronto City Councillor (1994–2003) and acting mayor. He moved to federal politics, being elected for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2004 election in the Toronto riding of Davenport. He served as the Official Opposition Critic for Foreign Affairs (Americas) after having served as Critic for the Treasury Board and Liberal Critic for Labour Issues. In 2007, the President of the French Republic bestowed him the title of Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur).

Silva holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Toronto, a "Certificat de Langue Francaise" from Paris-Sorbonne University, and a Master's degree in International Human Rights Law from University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Silva is currently a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and is writing a thesis entitled "Restoration of Failed States: Addressing Competency Gaps." Many constituents criticized Silva for pursuing graduate degrees while being paid to represent them in Parliament.

Local politics

Born in the Azores, Portugal, he was first elected to city council in 1994 after defeating veteran councillor Tony O'Donohue by 15 votes. Silva received a high grade from the Toronto Environmental Alliance for his support of environmental initiatives, and has strong support from the Labour Movement. Silva is of Portuguese background and is popular in the local Portuguese community.

Federal politics

Silva's move to federal politics was not without controversy, however, as it saw him claim the Liberal nomination in Davenport instead of popular Liberal incumbent Charles Caccia. An ally of new Prime Minister Paul Martin, Silva was seen by the party as a preferable candidate to Caccia, the longest-serving Member of Parliament (MP). Caccia had supported Sheila Copps against Martin in the 2003 Liberal Party leadership election.

Silva signed up enough new members to likely defeat Caccia in a nomination battle; Caccia instead chose not to file to be the party's candidate, and after mulling running in the election against Silva as a Green candidate or as an Independent, announced his retirement from politics. Despite some ill-will in the riding towards the ousting of Caccia, Silva still won the traditionally Liberal seat by a convincing margin.

As a Member of Parliament Silva served on several committees including the Environment Committee and the Canadian Heritage Committee. In addition he has championed several human rights and environmental issues including being the first MP to back the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and an outspoken critic for the defence of undocumented workers.

Silva chaired the inquiry panel of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA), a multi-partisan group of MPs which has been conducting investigations into antisemitism in Canada. He is vice-chair of the CPCCA's steering committee, which organized an international conference on antisemitism in Ottawa in 2010.

Silva was the first Portuguese-Canadian Member of Parliament and only the second MP of Portuguese descent (the first being John Rodriguez, a former New Democratic Party MP for Nickel Belt, who is of Guyanese Portuguese descent).

Shortly after the election, Silva came out as gay in a Toronto Star profile.

Silva retained the seat in the 2006 election and was the only GTA Liberal MP to increase his voter margin but was defeated in the 2011 election, losing his seat to Andrew Cash.

Federal election results

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Canadian federal election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
Liberal	Mario Silva	20,172	51.9%			New Democratic Party	Gord Perks	12,681	32.6%			Conservative	Theresa Rodrigues	4,202	10.8%			Green	Mark O'Brien	1,440	3.7%			Communist	Miguel Figueroa	172	0.5%			Canadian Action	Wendy Forrest	122	0.4%			Marxist-Leninist	Sarah Thompson	103	0.3%
Total valid votes			38,892	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			240	0
Turnout			39,132 of 62,007	63.1%

Source: Elections Canada

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Canadian federal election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±	Expenditures
Liberal	Mario Silva	16,773	50.68%			New Democratic Party	Rui Pires	11,292	34.12%			Conservative	Theresa Rodrigues	3,077	9.29%			Green	Mark O'Brien	1,384	4.18%			Marijuana Party of Canada	Elmer Gale	251	0.75%			Communist	Johan Boyden	137	0.41%			Canadian Action	John Riddell	97	0.29%			Marxist-Leninist	Sarah Thompson	79	0.23%
Total valid votes			33,090	99.17%
Total rejected ballots			278	0.83%
Turnout			33,368 of 63,095	52.89%

Source: Elections Canada

External links

• Official website
• Biography at Liberal Party website
• Mario Silva (politician) – Parliament of Canada biography