Albina Guarnieri

Albina Guarnieri PC (born June 23, 1953) is a Canadian former politician. She was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2011 who represented the Greater Toronto Area ridings of Mississauga East and Mississauga East—Cooksville. She served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin as Minister of Veterans Affairs.

The Honourable

Albina Guarnieri

PC
Member of Parliament
In office
2004–2011
Preceded byNew riding
Succeeded byWladyslaw Lizon
ConstituencyMississauga East-Cooksville
In office
1988–2004
Preceded byBob Horner (in Mississauga North)
Succeeded byRiding abolished
ConstituencyMississauga East
Personal details
Born (1953-06-23) June 23, 1953
Faeto, Italy
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)John Campbell
ResidenceMississauga
ProfessionManagement consultant

Background

Guarnieri was educated at McGill University, where she graduated with a master's degree in English. As part of her thesis, she wrote a book called The cheese on the moon: a collection of short stories. After graduating she worked for the federal government as a spokesperson for Bob Kaplan[1] and also as a press liaison office for Stuart Smith, leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.[2] In 1981, she worked as an assistant to Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton but left after seven months "because of a disagreement".[3] In 1984 she worked for Lowther Consulting, a company owned by Jim Coutts who was a principal secretary for Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.[4] She and her husband live in Mississauga.

Politics

In 1988 Guarnieri was nominated in the new riding of Mississauga East after a fractious contest with another candidate, Armindo Silva. Silva contended that the vote, which Guarnieri won by a margin of 71, was marred by 'irregularities and improprieties'. He vowed to contest the result with the party's nomination board. The party hired police officers to control the crowd due to threats made against Guarnieri.[5] The nomination board upheld the vote despite "deeply disturbing" voting irregularities but this decision was overturned by the Ontario party's executive board.[6] A second, less contentious vote was held which Guarnieri won by a much wider margin.[7]

Guarnieri was elected as Member of Parliament in 1988 in a fairly close race with her Progressive Conservative opponent Laurie Pallett.[8] She won all her subsequent elections in Mississauga East and after 2004 in Mississauga East—Cooksville by wide margins. A longtime Martin loyalist, she was a relatively obscure backbencher during the Chrétien era. Martin named her Associate Minister of National Defence and Minister of State for Civil Preparedness in his first cabinet. She moved to Veterans Affairs on July 20, 2004.

She also served as Chair of the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Operations, and Co-Chair of the Standing Committee on Official languages. She also served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage.

In September 2010, Guarnieri announced that she would not seek re-election due to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.[9]

Cabinet posts
27th Ministry – Cabinet of Paul Martin
Cabinet posts (2)
Predecessor Office Successor
John McCallum Minister of Veterans Affairs
2004–2006		 Greg Thompson
Mary Collins
[note 1]		 Associate Minister of National Defence
2003–2004		 Mauril Bélanger
Sub-Cabinet Post
Predecessor Title Successor
Minister of State (Civil Preparedness)
(2003–2004)

References

Notes
  1. Collins previously filled this role from 1989 to 1993. The position remained vacant for 10 years.

Citations
  1. Mulgrew, Ian (1980-06-28). "McMurtry, Ottawa argue over delay". The Globe and Mail. p. 14.
  2. Baker, Alden (1980-03-31). "Eggleton to replace civic staff with employees on contracts". The Globe and Mail. p. 5.
  3. "Another adviser quits mayor's office". The Globe and Mail. 1981-11-06. p. 59.
  4. McQuaig, Linda (1984-04-06). "Coutts office quiet on eve of decision". The Globe and Mail. p. M1.
  5. "Anger, 'improprieties' mark nomination vote". The Globe and Mail. 1988-05-16. p. A4.
  6. Smith, Dan (1988-10-16). "Mississauga Liberals replaying their bitter nomination contest". Toronto Star. p. A11.
  7. Johnson, William (1988-10-18). "Machine politics takes a mauling". Ottawa Citizen. p. A8.
  8. "Decision '88: The vote". The Globe and Mail. November 22, 1988. pp. C4–C5.
  9. "House is back, civility is not". National Post Online. 2010-09-21. Archived from the original on 2010-09-24. Retrieved 2010-09-21.
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