Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement is a Canadian former politician in the federal and Ontario governments. He was Member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka and a federal cabinet minister in the Conservative Party under prime minister Stephen Harper. Before entering federal politics, Clement served as an Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament for Brampton South then Brampton West—Mississauga and a cabinet minister in the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, including as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care under premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.
He was a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada after its formation from the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties in 2003. He lost to Stephen Harper. Clement won the seat of Parry Sound-Muskoka in the 2006 federal election, defeating incumbent Liberal cabinet minister Andy Mitchell. The Conservatives formed government in that election and Clement was appointed Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor. He also later served as President of the Treasury Board. Clement was re-elected despite the Conservative defeat in the 2015 election. On July 12, 2016, he announced his second bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party but withdrew on October 13, 2016.
From his initial election in 2006, Clement sat as a Conservative member until he resigned at the request of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer on November 7, 2018, due to a sexting scandal.
Early life and career
Clement was born Tony Peter Panayi in Manchester, England, the son of Carol Ann and Peter Panayi. His father was a Greek Cypriot and his mother was Jewish. He emigrated to Canada in childhood with his parents when he was four years old. His parents divorced and his mother married Ontario politician John Clement, with Tony adopting his stepfather's surname soon after.As a student at the University of Toronto, Clement was elected twice, both as an undergraduate and as a law student, to the university's Governing Council. He was also president of the campus Progressive Conservatives. He first attracted the attention of the media in 1986, when he created a new society to invite the South African ambassador to Canada, Glenn Babb, to speak after the International Law Society had withdrawn its invitation, deeming it too controversial because of the issue of apartheid. Clement argued in favour of inviting Babb on the grounds of free speech. An attempt by four law professors for a court injunction barring "any representative of the Republic of South Africa to expound, explain or otherwise to solicit public support for his Government's policy of apartheid" was rejected by the court.
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Clement completed degrees in political science in 1983 and law in 1986. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988.
Clement is married to Lynne Golding, a partner and Chair of the Health Law Practice at the international law firm, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin.
Clement became president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 1990 and was a close ally of then-party leader Mike Harris. He ran, unsuccessfully, for Metro Toronto Council in 1994, losing to future mayor David Miller in the ward of Parkdale-High Park. He served as Harris's assistant principal secretary from 1992 to 1995 and played a leading role in drafting policy directives for the Common Sense Revolution.
In November 2019, Clement started the "And Another Thing" podcast with Jodie Jenkins which features a weekly interview with a public figure, and the discussion between Clement and Jenkins.
In provincial politics
Clement was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the provincial election of 1995, defeating incumbent Liberal Bob Callahan by over 6,000 votes in the riding of Brampton South. After serving as a Parliamentary Assistant for two years, he was appointed Minister of Transportation on October 10, 1997. He also represented the Progressive Conservative government on a variety of televised discussion panels, gaining the reputation of a rising star in the party.Clement was returned in the provincial election of 1999 in the new riding of Brampton West—Mississauga, defeating Liberal candidate Vic Dhillon by over 8,000 votes. He was promoted to Minister of the Environment on June 17, 1999, and served in this capacity until May 3, 2000. In this role, he implemented the program known as Ontario's Drive Clean, which mandated periodic emissions tests on vehicles in southern Ontario.
Clement was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on October 25, 1999, and held this position until February 8, 2001.
On February 8, 2001, Clement was appointed Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. He initiated primary care reform, oversaw the implementation of Telehealth Ontario and expanded Ontario's hospitals system. Clement also entered into a public-private partnership for a hospital redevelopment in Brampton.
Clement ran for leadership in the 2002 Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership election and finished third on the first ballot. Clement then placed his support behind victorious candidate Ernie Eves on the second ballot. When Eves became Premier, he kept Clement in the Health portfolio.
Clement was especially prominent when Toronto suffered an outbreak of SARS in the summer of 2003, travelling to Geneva in a successful bid to urge the World Health Organization to lift a travel ban to Canada's largest city.
The Eves government was defeated in the 2003 provincial election, and Clement was defeated by Vic Dhillon by about 2,500 votes in a rematch of 1999. Clement afterwards worked as a counsel for Bennett Jones LLP. He also was a small business owner and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
Federal politics
Clement first became prominent in federal politics in 2000, sitting on the steering committee for the United Alternative. This initiative was meant to provide a framework for the Reform Party and Progressive Conservative Party to unite under a single banner. It did not accomplish this end, but nonetheless led to the formation of the Canadian Alliance later that year; Clement served as the Alliance's founding president.Soon after the 2003 provincial election, Clement declared himself a candidate for the leadership of the new Conservative Party of Canada. He placed third in the party's leadership vote, while Stephen Harper emerged as the winner.
He then sought election as the Conservative Party candidate in Brampton West in the 2004 federal election, but lost to Liberal incumbent Colleen Beaumier by about 3,500 votes.
For his second attempt to win a seat in the House of Commons of Canada, in the 2006 campaign, he switched to the Parry Sound-Muskoka riding. On election night, he was declared winner by 21 votes. Upon conclusion of the judicial recount, Clement was found to have defeated Mitchell by 28 votes: 18,513-18,485. On February 6, 2006, Clement was appointed as Minister of Health by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Clement pledged to extend an existing measure to require disclosure of meetings by only registered lobbyists with lower-level government officials who have decision-making power.
Minister of Health
Some of Clement's initiatives included announcing a national strategy on autism, working towards establishing Canada's first Patient Wait Times Guarantees, and investing in faster, more effective and safer health information systems across Canada for Canadians.One of Clement's first initiatives as Minister of Health was establishing the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, an independent not-for-profit organization committed to combating this disease and improve patient quality of life.
In 2006, Clement launched the Public Health Scholarship and Capacity Building Initiative — on-going scholarships supporting public health training and positions across Canada. Furthermore, in 2006, he announced the $1-billion compensation package for pre-1986/post-1990 forgotten victims of the tainted blood scandal, who were neglected in the 1998 settlement agreement.
Clement also played a key role in launching the Chemical Management Plan, which the Conservative government claimed "made Canada a world leader in chemical management". "We have established clear priorities and now we are taking action to protect the health of Canadians," said Clement. Further, the government claimed "Canada was the first nation in the world to take action to prohibit the importation, sale and advertising of baby bottles that contain BPA".
On September 29, 2007, the CBC reported Clement's new strategy to combat the growing drug abuse problem in Canada. "The party is over" for illicit drug users, he announced, with the new policy aiming towards widespread arrest of drug users, in contrast to the old strategy of targeting dealers. Over 130 physicians and scientists signed a petition condemning the Conservative government's "potentially deadly" misrepresentation of the positive evidence for harm reduction programs. Clement stated that governments in Canada have been sending the wrong message about drug use, and he wanted to clear up the mixed messages going out on illicit drugs.
Also in 2007, Clement launched the new Canada's Food Guide, the first update in 15 years incorporating the most up-to-date information based on current nutritional science and a new interactive web section.
Minister of Industry
On October 30, 2008, Clement was sworn into the office of Industry Minister. This included the appointment to the Office of the Registrar General of Canada.Shortly after becoming Industry Minister, Clement launched the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, a two-year $2-billion measure that supported infrastructure enhancement at post-secondary institutions across Canada.
In conjunction with the US and Ontario governments, Clement worked closely on the restructuring of GM and Chrysler. Following the successful restructuring, he stated that the companies "will now be in a position to operate a sustainable and viable business that Lost 86% production, innovation and jobs in Canada." Furthermore, he said, "This is news for 32,000 Canadian auto workers, the Canadian auto parts supply chain and for Canadian consumers. Moving forward, the Government of Canada will continue to work toward removing our country's auto industry, while exercising rigorous oversight of taxpayer money."
In the summer of 2010, Clement introduced changes to the 2011 Census. On this issue, he said, "The government will retain the mandatory short form that will collect basic demographic information. To meet the need for additional information, and to respect the privacy wishes of Canadians, the government has introduced the voluntary National Household Survey." The change sparked significant criticism, including the resignation of Statistics Canada's Chief Statistician. Other changes included the addition of questions about the languages spoken by Canadians.
On November 14, 2010, Australia's BHP Billiton withdrew its hostile $39-billion offer for Saskatchewan's Potash Corporation. At a news conference following the withdrawal, Clement explained that of the six Investment Canada Act guidelines that determine if an investment has a "net benefit", he said BHP's bid failed to meet three of them. Clement said the Government felt the takeover would not have a beneficial effect on Canada's competitiveness in world markets.
In January 2011, Clement spoke out against a ruling of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission which allowed usage-based billing for wholesale clients and smaller internet service providers. Citing concerns about how the change could adversely affect consumers, small businesses and entrepreneurs, he warned that if they did not revise the decision, the government would intervene. The CRTC initiated its own review of the ruling, and reversed its decision.
In the lead-up to the 2010 G8 summit, Clement was involved in directing $50 million of border security money for largely unrelated projects in his own riding, a practice commonly known as "pork barrelling". Auditor-General Sheila Fraser issued a report criticizing the Minister for breaking the rules and "complained that there was no paperwork to determine how the hundreds of proposals" for spending were narrowed to the 32 projects that were approved. Clement later admitted that this process was not subject to the oversight that it should have been.