Diane Finley

Diane Finley PC MP (born October 3, 1957) is a Canadian politician. From 2006 though 2015, she served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Her ministerial portfolios included Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. She is a member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Conservative Party. In August 2020, she announced that she will not be running in the next general election.[1]

The Honourable Diane Finley PC MP
Conservative Party-Caucus Liaison
In office September 25, 2017 – September 2, 2020
Leader	Andrew Scheer Erin O'Toole
Succeeded by	Tim Uppal
Official Opposition Critic for Innovation
In office April 8, 2016 – August 29, 2017
Leader	Rona Ambrose Andrew Scheer
Preceded by	Maxime Bernier
Succeeded by	Maxime Bernier
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
In office July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Rona Ambrose
Succeeded by	Judy Foote
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
In office October 30, 2008 – July 14, 2013
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Monte Solberg
Succeeded by	Jason Kenney
In office February 2, 2006 – January 3, 2007
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Belinda Stronach
Succeeded by	Monte Solberg
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
In office January 4, 2007 – October 29, 2008
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Monte Solberg
Succeeded by	Jason Kenney
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Haldimand—Norfolk
Incumbent
Assumed office June 28, 2004
Preceded by	Bob Speller
Personal details
Born	October 3, 1957 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Doug Finley ​ (died 2013)​
Residence	Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
Profession	Businesswoman, executive, management consultant, school administrator
Website	dianefinley.ca

Personal life

Diane Finley was raised in Port Dover and Charlotteville in Norfolk County, Ontario, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. After graduation, she became the administrator of Western's French Immersion School. She then worked in a series of private and public sector jobs, in a variety of fields. She was named "one of Canada's future leaders" by the Governor-General's Study Conference 2000. As a child, she participated in Girl Guides of Canada youth programs.[2]

Her husband was Doug Finley who was a Senator and former campaign manager and director of political operations for the Conservative Party of Canada.[3] The pair met while Diane was working as a summer hire at Rolls Royce where Doug was an executive.[4]

In 2006, Finley announced that she has Graves' disease, a non-life-threatening thyroid condition which causes increased sensitivity to bright lights and forces her to wear tinted glasses.[5]

Political career

Finley has promoted increased private-sector involvement in health services. She was the founder of Canada's largest publicly funded ambulance service company, Canadian Medical Response, and has been active in the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Long involved in politics of the Conservative Party and its predecessors, Finley first ran for public office herself in the 2004 federal election. She defeated Bob Speller, a Liberal cabinet minister, by 1,645 votes. After being re-elected in the 2006 election, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. An Order in Council transferred authority for Social Development Canada to her as well, and accordingly she served under the style Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. She was shuffled from the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada portfolio on January 4, 2007. The following year, Finley allegedly received threats from sex industry officials in relation to her support of Bill C-17, which sought to allow immigration officers to deny temporary visas to prospective strippers if they were suspected to be sex trafficking victims. Tim Lambrinos of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada (AEAC) said that "it's not plausible" that any of the AEAC strip clubs were responsible for the threats.[6]

On October 14, 2008, Finley won as the Conservative Party candidate for Haldimand—Norfolk in the 2008 election and re-elected May 2, 2011, in the 2011 election with 50.9% of the vote in her electoral riding. After her election victory she resumed her former post as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development in the Conservative minority government, a post she continues to hold after the following election.[7]

In March 2015, a parliamentary ethics report on an affair linked to disgraced prime ministerial aide Nigel Wright found that Finley had breached conflict of interest rules in her capacity as minister by diverting funding to a favoured project in Markham whose promoter had close ties to the Conservative Party.[8]

After winning her seat once more in the 2015 federal election, Finley announced that she would be running for the position of interim leader of the Conservative Party, after Stephen Harper's resignation from the post.[9] She was passed over for interim leader and subsequently placed in Rona Ambrose's shadow cabinet.

She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election.

On August 23, 2020, she announced that she would not seek re-election in the 44th Canadian federal election.

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Diane Finley	28,018	46.8	+2.7
	Liberal	Kim Huffman	14,704	24.5	-12.1
	New Democratic	Adrienne Roberts	9,192	15.3	+1.7
	Green	Brooke Martin	4,878	8.1	+4.8
	People's	Bob Forbes	1,234	2.1	-
	Veterans Coalition	Harold Stewart	1,083	1.8	-
	Christian Heritage	Lily Eggink	817	1.4	-0.2
Total valid votes/Expense limit			59,926	100.0
Total rejected ballots			436
Turnout			60,362	66.3
Eligible voters			91,086
	Conservative hold		Swing		+7.4
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

2015 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Diane Finley	24,714	44.1	-6.8	–
	Liberal	Joan Mouland	20,487	36.6	+11.7	–
	New Democratic	John Harris	7,625	13.6	-6.4	–
	Green	Wayne Ettinger	1,857	3.3	0	–
	Christian Heritage	David Bylsma	884	1.6	+0.7	–
	Independent	Dustin Wakeford	272	0.5	–	–
	Independent	Leslie Bory	151	0.3	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			55,990	100.0		$218,300.93
Total rejected ballots			312	0.55	+0.04
Turnout			56,302	68.44	+4.95
Eligible voters			82,261
	Conservative hold		Swing		-9.25
Source: Elections Canada[12][13]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Diane Finley	25,655	50.9	+10.1	–
	Liberal	Bob Speller	12,549	24.9	-7.5	–
	New Democratic	Ian Nichols	10,062	20.0	+9.5	–
	Green	Anne Faulkner	1,665	3.3	-0.9	–
	Christian Heritage	Steven Elgersma	435	0.9	-0.1	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			50,366	100.0	4.1
Total rejected ballots			256	0.51	–
Turnout			50,622	63.49
Eligible voters			79,729	–	–
	Conservative hold		Swing		+8.8

2008 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Diane Finley	19,657	40.83	-7.5	$67,583
	Liberal	Eric Hoskins	15,577	32.35	-1.9	$72,913
	New Democratic	Ian Nichols	5,549	11.53	-1.3	$5,509
	Independent	Gary McHale	4,821	10.01	–	$22,798
	Green	Stephana Johnston	2,041	4.24	+0.7	$2,581
	Christian Heritage	Steven Elgersma	501	1.04	0.0
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,146	100	$85,391
Majority			4,080	8.48
Total rejected ballots			248	0.51
Turnout			48,394
	Conservative hold		Swing		-5.6

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Diane Finley	25,885	48.33	+6.1
	Liberal	Bob Speller	18,363	34.29	-4.5
	New Democratic	Valya Roberts	6,858	12.80	-1.6
	Green	Carolyn Van Nort	1,894	3.54	+0.1
	Christian Heritage	Steven Elgersma	559	1.04	-0.2
Turnout			53,559
	Conservative hold		Swing		+5.3

2004 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Diane Finley	20,981	42.2	-6.2
	Liberal	Bob Speller	19,336	38.8	-7.2
	New Democratic	Carrie Sinkowski	7,143	14.4	+9.8
	Green	Colin Jones	1,703	3.4
	Christian Heritage	Steven Elgersma	617	1.2
Majority			1,645	3.3
Turnout			49,780	63.3
	Conservative gain from Liberal		Swing		+1.0

References

1. "Longtime Conservative MP Diane Finley says she's not running in the next election". Global News. Canadian Press. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
2. "Girl Guides hit the Hill - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2010-03-19. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
3. Linda Diebel (2008-09-06). "Harper's 'political pit bull'". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
4. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/senator-doug-finley-dies-from-cancer-at-age-66/article11877151/
5. Immigration file a revolving door Toronto Star 2007-01-05, Phinjo Gombu
6. "Immigration minister threatened over strippers legislation". Postmedia News. April 24, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
7. About Diane Finley Archived 2012-01-10 at the Wayback Machine, official page. Accessed 2012-01-19.
8. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/conservative-minister-finley-breached-conflict-of-interest-rules-watchdog-says/article23385863/
9. The Canadian Press (22 October 2015). "Diane Finley intends to run for interim Conservative leader". CTV News. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
10. "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
11. "Election Night Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
12. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Haldimand—Norfolk, 30 September 2015
13. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived August 15, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Official site
• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Diane Finley – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca
• Hansard: Diane Finley's announcement of her Graves' disease diagnosis