Tony Ianno

File:Ianno.jpg

Hon. Tony Ianno

Tony Ianno, PC, B.Sc (born January 2, 1957) is a former Liberal Party of Canada MP, serving from 1993 to 2006.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Ianno graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Science degree. He and his wife, Christine Innes, have four children.

Ianno is a long-time political organizer and helped a number of Italian-Canadians win federal and provincial Liberal nominations in Toronto in the 1980s. He also was a key figure in organizing support among Toronto's large Italian-Canadian population for Jean Chretien during the 1990 Liberal leadership campaign[1].

He first ran for office in the 1988 election in the riding of Trinity-Spadina, but was defeated by incumbent Dan Heap. He was first elected to the House of Commons in the 1993 election which saw his Liberals sweep into power. Ianno was re-elected in 1997, 2000 and 2004, and was defeated in 2006.

Ianno held the diverse riding of Trinity—Spadina through several federal elections, facing strong competition from the New Democratic Party. He narrowly defeated Toronto city councillor Olivia Chow in the 1997 election and Michael Valpy in the 2000 election. In the 2004 election, Ianno again faced councillor Chow and won by a slim margin, as the Liberals were reduced to a minority government. He won consistently with the strong backing of the Italian, Portuguese and Chinese communities, with Toronto's Little Italy and China Town being in his Trinity-Spadina riding.

On July 20, 2004, he was appointed Minister of State (Families and Caregivers) in Paul Martin's cabinet following the Liberals' re-election. He held the post until February 6 2006 when the Conservatives took power following the Martin government's electoral defeat. During the 2006 election, Ianno faced off against Chow for the third time. She defeated him, winning 46% of the vote to Ianno's 40%.

Some attributed Ianno's loss to his perceived support for the Toronto Port Authority and the Toronto City Centre Airport. Although Ianno did not have a role in the Authority's creation, he nonetheless defended a controversial payout to the Authority as compensation for the cancellation of the Island Airport Bridge. Several gaffes by the Liberals did not help Ianno's campaign, notably when Mike Klander (the executive vice-president of the federal Liberals' Ontario wing) made posts on his blog comparing Chow to a Chow Chow dog and calling her husband an "asshole". [2]

Party Presidency Bid

After the election, the Globe and Mail reported on February 11, 2006 that Ianno has been "burning up the caucus phone lines" testing the waters for a possible bid in the upcoming Liberal leadership campaign to replace Martin.[3]

On April 8, Mr. Ianno told Canadian Press that he has decided to run for the party presidency. http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/04/08/libs-060408.html]

External links

• Federal Political Biography from the Library of Parliament

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Preceded by: Dan Heap, New Democratic Party

Members of Parliament from Trinity—Spadina

Succeeded by: Olivia Chow, New Democratic Party