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Jim Bradley (politician)

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James J. Bradley
Niagara Regional Chair
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 6, 2018
Preceded byAlan Caslin
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for St. Catharines
In office
June 9, 1977 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byRobert Mercer Johnston
Succeeded byJennie Stevens
Dean of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
In office
October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018
Serving with Norm Sterling (2003-2011)
Preceded bySean Conway
Succeeded byTed Arnott
Gilles Bisson
Jim Wilson
Personal details
Born (1945-02-19) February 19, 1945 (age 79)
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Political partyLiberal
OccupationTeacher

James J. Bradley (born February 19, 1945) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a long-serving Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, sitting as an MPP from 1977 until 2018. He represented the riding of St. Catharines and served in the provincial cabinets of David Peterson, Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. He was elected as a regional councillor in the St. Catharines municipal election of 2018. He is currently the Chair of the Regional Municipality of Niagara.

His 41-year term as an MPP is the second longest tenure in Ontario history, behind only Harry Nixon.

Background

Before entering politics, Bradley was a teacher with the Lincoln County Board of Education. He was elected as a city councillor to the St. Catharines City Council in 1970, but also remained in the classroom until 1977.

Politics

After failed bids in the elections of 1967[1] and 1971,[2] Bradley was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 election in the riding of St. Catharines,[3] and served as MPP for that riding until the 2018 election. He fended off strong challenges from the New Democratic Party in the 1990 election and the Progressive Conservative Party in 1995 election.[4][5] On all other occasions until 2018, he was re-elected easily.

Peterson government

When the Liberals came to power under David Peterson following the 1985 election, Bradley became Minister of the Environment and held that position until the Liberals were defeated in the 1990 election.[6] He is generally regarded as Ontario's most effective Environment Minister, although some believe that his ambitions for the portfolio were undermined by Peterson and Finance Minister Robert Nixon. As Environment Minister, Bradley expanded Blue Box Recycling, making it a province-wide initiative, as well as instituting tough new penalties for polluters, enforced by a strengthened investigation and enforcement branch.

Ontario provincial government of David Peterson
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor Office Successor
Susan Fish Minister of the Environment
1985–1990 		Ruth Grier

In opposition

Bradley was a vocal opponent of Peterson's plans to call an election in 1990, preferring that the party wait until 1992 before going to the polls. While the Liberals were defeated, Bradley was personally re-elected and had a prominent position in the Opposition benches.[4]

When Nixon, the interim leader of the Liberals, left Queen's Park to accept an appointment, he was replaced by Murray Elston. Elston resigned as interim leader to run in the 1992 leadership convention, and Bradley became interim leader of the party and interim Leader of the Opposition from November 1991 until the election of Lyn McLeod in February 1992. He remained an opposition stalwart until the Liberals won the 2003 election under Dalton McGuinty.

Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Preceded by Leader of the Opposition in the
Ontario Legislature
1991–1992 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party
1991–1992 		Succeeded by

McGuinty government

There was some speculation that Bradley would be re-appointed Minister of the Environment in McGuinty's government, but this did not occur. Instead, he was named Minister of Tourism and Recreation on October 23, 2003.[7] He was also given ministerial responsibility for Seniors on June 29, 2005.[8] On October 11, 2005, Bradley was also appointed to replace Dwight Duncan as Government House Leader, following Duncan's appointment as Minister of Finance.[9] Bradley is also the province's wine secretary, as well as the minister responsible for the Greenbelt.

On October 30, 2007, Bradley was sworn in as Minister of Transportation in McGuinty's new cabinet.[10] As Transportation Minister, Bradley supervised the introduction of an Ontario Enhanced driver's licenses to be used at Canada/US border crossings. He introduced legislation to merge GO Transit and Metrolinx. Enacted tougher penalties for drivers who have a BAC of .05 or higher. Mandated that all commercial trucks that operate in Ontario be equipped with speed limiters to ensure heavy trucks don't exceed 105 km/h. And in April 2009, it was announced that GO Transit would be expanded to the Niagara region, with bus service to Burlington in September and with weekend rail service to Toronto starting at the end of June.

On January 18, 2010, Bradley moved to the position of Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.[11] In August he was moved to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.[12]

On October 20, 2011, Bradley moved to become Minister of Environment once again in the wake of the 2011 election that saw the previous Minister of Environment, John Wilkinson, defeated.[13]

Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty
Cabinet posts (5)
Predecessor Office Successor
John Wilkinson Minister of the Environment
2011–2013 		McGuinty Government Ended
Rick Bartolucci Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services
2010–2011 		Madeleine Meilleur
John Gerretsen Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
2010 (January–August) 		Rick Bartolucci
Donna Cansfield Minister of Transportation
2007–2010 		Kathleen Wynne
Brian Coburn Minister of Tourism
2003–2007
Also Responsible for Seniors 		Peter Fonseca
Special Parliamentary Responsibilities
Predecessor Title Successor
Dwight Duncan Government House Leader
2005–2007 		Michael Bryant

Wynne government

Bradley continued as Environment Minister in Kathleen Wynne's first cabinet after she won the leadership of the Liberal Party.[14] Following the 2014 provincial election, the 69-year-old Bradley became a minister without portfolio with the title of Chair of Cabinet and was also appointed Deputy Government House Leader.[15] He left cabinet in June 2016 as part of a cabinet shuffle, and later served as Chief Government Whip and Deputy Government House Leader.[16]

In the 2018 election, Bradley lost his seat as the Liberal Party was defeated, losing official party status and suffering the greatest loss for any governing party in provincial history. He had served as St. Catharines MPP for 41 years.[17]

Ontario provincial government of Kathleen Wynne
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor Office Successor
John Gerretsen Chair of cabinet
2014–2016
Also Deputy Government House Leader 		Deb Matthews
Wynne Government Starts Minister of the Environment
2013–2014 		Glen Murray

Municipal politics

On July 27, 2018, the last day registration was open, Bradley registered to run for Niagara Regional Council.[18]

Bradley was elected on October 22, 2018, finishing first out of 23 candidates with 18,954 votes.

On December 6, 2018, Bradley was selected as the Niagara Regional Chair, being elected on the first ballot receiving 19 out of 31 votes against two other candidates.[19]

Electoral record

1977 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Jim Bradley 12,392 38.89
Progressive Conservative Eleanor Lancaster 11,669 36.62
New Democratic Fred Dickson 7,556 23.71
Communist Eric Blair 247 0.78
Total valid votes 31,864 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 213
Turnout 32,077 60.91
1981 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 16,509 51.85 +12.96
Progressive Conservative John Larocque 10,273 32.26 -4.36
New Democratic Don Loucks 4,927 15.47 -8.24
Communist Norman J. Newell 132 0.41 -0.37
Total valid votes 31,841 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 181
Turnout 32,022 57.20
1985 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 20,605 57.94 +6.09
Progressive Conservative Elaine Herzog 9,029 25.39 -6.87
New Democratic Michael Cormier 5,624 15.81 -0.34
Communist Eric Blair 305 0.86 +0.45
Total valid votes 35,563 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 201
Turnout 35,764 61.65
1987 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 17,584 63.30 +5.36
New Democratic Rob West 5,566 20.04 +4.23
Progressive Conservative Chuck Bradley 4,258 15.33 -10.06
Communist Eric Blair 369 1.33 +.29
Total valid votes 27,777 100.00
1990 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal (x)Jim Bradley 11,565 38.76 -24.54
New Democratic Dave Kappele 10,629 35.63 +15.59
Progressive Conservative Bruce Timms 3,926 13.16 -2.17
Confederation of Regions Eva Longhurst 2,384 7.99 +7.99
Family Coalition Bert Pynenburg 1,331 4.46 +4.46
Total valid votes 29,835 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 337
Turnout 30,172 66.77


1995 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jim Bradley 13,761 46.53 +7.77 $33,835.95
Progressive Conservative Archie Heide 11,486 38.84 +25.68 $36,875.32
New Democratic Jeff Burch 3,929 13.29 −22.34 $12,043.92
Family Coalition Jon Siemens 245 0.83 −3.63 $0.00
Natural Law Marcy Sheremetta 153 0.52   $0.00
Total valid votes 29,574 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 227 0.76
Turnout 29,801 64.58


1999 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jim Bradley 25,186 53.90 +7.37 $45,478.14
Progressive Conservative Tom Froese 17,994 38.51 −0.33 $68,831.44
New Democratic Gordon Coggins 2,902 6.21 −7.08 $8,286.11
Natural Law Helene Ann Darisse 272 0.58   $0.00
Green Douglas Woodard 215 0.46   $83.93
Independent (Marxist-Leninist) Ron Walker 154 0.33   $112.00
Total valid votes 46,723 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 336 0.71
Turnout 47,059 59.61
Note: percentage change in vote is calculated from 1995 results redistributed according to new riding boundaries.


2003 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jim Bradley 25,319 57.44 +3.54 $63,576.04
Progressive Conservative Mark Brickell 12,932 29.34 −9.17 $72,267.48
New Democratic John Bacher 3,944 8.95 +2.74 $8,542.84
Green Jim Fannon 1,167 2.65 +2.19 $2,858.89
Family Coalition Linda Klassen 714 1.62   $13.80
Total valid votes 44,076 100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 271 0.61
Turnout 44,347 56.43


2007 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jim Bradley 21,029 47.23 −10.21 $60,133.56
Progressive Conservative Bruce Timms 12,864 28.89 −0.45 $33.521.98
New Democratic Henry Bosch 7,069 15.88 +6.93 $11,300.79
Green Byrne Smith 3,152 7.08 +4.43 $2,172.38
Family Coalition Barra Gots 267 0.60 −1.02 $0.00
Communist Sam Hammond 139 0.31   $826.44
Total valid votes 44,520 100.0


2011 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jim Bradley 17,166 40.21 −7.02
Progressive Conservative Sandy Bellows 15,461 36.21 +7.32
New Democratic Irene Lowell 8,624 20.20 +4.32
Green Jennifer Mooradian 1,066 2.50 −4.58
Family Coalition Chris Clarke 191 0.45 −0.15
Communist Saleh Waziruddin 68 0.16 −0.15
Independent Jon Radick (Canadians' Choice) 62 0.15
Freedom Dave Unrau 57 0.13
Total valid votes 42,695 100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 188 0.44
Turnout 42,883 51.00
Eligible voters 84,078
Liberal hold Swing −7.17
Source(s)
Elections Ontario (2011). "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - St. Catherines" (PDF). Retrieved June 4, 2014.
2014 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Jim Bradley 19,070 41.00 +0.79
Progressive Conservative Mat Siscoe 13,814 29.70 -6.51
New Democratic Jennie Stevens 11,350 24.40 +4.20
Green Karen Fraser 1,792 3.85 +1.35
Libertarian Nicholas Dushko 223 0.48
Freedom Dave Unrau 170 0.37 +0.24
Communist Saleh Waziruddin 95 0.20 +0.04
Total valid votes 46,514 100.0  
Source(s)
"General Election Results by District, 076 St. Catharines". Elections Ontario. 2014. Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved June 24, 2014.


2018 Ontario general election: St. Catharines
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Democratic Jennie Stevens 18,911 36.61 +12.01
Progressive Conservative Sandie Bellows 17,353 33.60 +4.28
Liberal Jim Bradley 12,671 24.53 −16.67
Green Colin Ryrie 1,923 3.72 −0.11
None of the Above Jim Fannon 494 0.96 –
Libertarian Daniel Tisi 195 0.38 −
Communist Saleh Waziruddin 66 0.13 −
Cultural Action Duke Willis 37 0.07 –
Total valid votes 51,650 98.93
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 556 1.07
Turnout 52,206 58.06
Eligible voters 89,924
New Democratic gain from Liberal Swing +14.34
Source: Elections Ontario[20]
St. Catharines regional council election, 2018
Candidate Total votes % of total votes
Jim Bradley 18,954 14.10
George Darte 12,516 9.31
Sandie Bellows 11,117 8.27
Laura Ip 9,878 7.35
Brian Heit (X) 8,499 6.32
Tim Rigby (X) 8,435 6.27
Kelly Edgar (X) 7,233 5.38
Mike Britton 6,765 5.03
Bruce Timms (X) 5,859 4.36
Haley Bateman 5,546 4.13
Mark Elliott 5,519 4.10
Rob Depetris 4,784 3.56
Mo Al Jumaily 4,105 3.05
Debbie MacGregor (X) 3,844 2.86
Emily Beth Spanton 3,421 2.54
Frank Rupcic 3,360 2.50
Peter Gill 3,247 2.42
Mary Margaret Murphy 2,763 2.06
Len Stack 2,735 2.03
Alan Caslin (X) 1,928 1.43
Lou Felice 1,476 1.10
Paul Allan 1,438 1.07
Bob Szajkowski 1,024 0.76

Source:[21]

The 1999, 2003 and 2007 expenditure entries are taken from official candidate reports as listed by Elections Ontario. The figures cited are the Total Candidate's Campaign Expenses Subject to Limitation, and include transfers from constituency associations. The 1995 expenditures are taken from an official listing of election expenses published by Elections Ontario.

References

  1. ^ Canadian Press (October 18, 1967). "Tories win, but..." The Windsor Star. Windsor, Ontario. p. B2. Retrieved March 30, 2014.
  2. ^ "Riding-by-riding returns in provincial election". The Globe and Mail. October 23, 1971. p. 10.
  3. ^ "Ontario provincial election results riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 10, 1977. p. D9.
  4. ^ a b "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.
  5. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from the original on March 16, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  6. ^ "Liberals pledge reform as they take over in Ontario". The Gazette. Montreal, Que. June 27, 1985. p. B1.
  7. ^ "Premier Dalton McGuinty and his 22-member cabinet were sworn in Thursday". Canadian Press NewsWire. October 23, 2003. p. 1.
  8. ^ "Cabinet shuffle focuses on health care, education; McGuinty to head new Research and Innovation ministry". The Kitchener Record. June 30, 2005. p. A5.
  9. ^ "Premier McGuinty announces changes to cabinet". Canada NewsWire. October 11, 2005. p. 1.
  10. ^ Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
  11. ^ Kenyon, Wallace (January 19, 2010). "Sweeping changes hit Queen's Park; Liberal Cabinet". National Post. p. A8.
  12. ^ Aveling, Nick (August 18, 2010). "McGuinty moves 6, brings in 2 new faces in Ontario cabinet shuffle". Postmedia News.
  13. ^ "Ontario's new cabinet". Toronto Star. October 21, 2011. p. A18.
  14. ^ "Ontario's new cabinet". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener, Ont. February 12, 2013. p. A3.
  15. ^ Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
  16. ^ "Struggling Wynne shuffles cabinet, adds 7 new ministers". June 13, 2016.
  17. ^ "Jim Bradley voted out after 41 years as MPP in St. Catharines | CBC News".
  18. ^ "Ford creates 11th hour candidate scramble". July 27, 2018.
  19. ^ "Bradley aiming to restore trust in Region | StCatharinesStandard.ca". Archived from the original on December 7, 2018.
  20. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 9. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  21. ^ "Certificate of Election Results - Office of Regional Councillor" (PDF). City of St. Catharines. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
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