Jim Bradley (politician)

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.

James J. Bradley
Niagara Regional Chair
Incumbent
Assumed office December 6, 2018
Preceded by	Alan Caslin
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for St. Catharines
In office June 9, 1977 – June 7, 2018
Preceded by	Robert Mercer Johnston
Succeeded by	Jennie Stevens
Dean of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
In office October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018 Serving with Norm Sterling (2003-2011)
Preceded by	Sean Conway
Succeeded by	Ted Arnott Gilles Bisson Jim Wilson
Personal details
Born	February 19, 1945 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Liberal
Occupation	Teacher

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.

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.

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.

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]

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]

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	+12.16
	Progressive Conservative	Sandie Bellows	17,353	33.60	+3.88
	Liberal	Jim Bradley	12,671	24.53	−16.40
	Green	Colin Ryrie	1,923	3.72	−0.13
	None of the Above	Jim Fannon	494	0.96	–
	Libertarian	Daniel Tisi	195	0.38	−0.09
	Communist	Saleh Waziruddin	66	0.13	−0.18
	Cultural Action	Duke Willis	37	0.07	–
Total valid votes				100.0
Eligible voters			87,746
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+4.14
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. "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. https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2016/06/13/struggling-wynne-shuffles-cabinet-adds-7-new-ministers.html
17. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/jim-bradley-ontario-election-st-catharines-1.4697606
18. https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/8767233-ford-creates-11th-hour-candidate-scramble/
19. https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news-story/9070481-bradley-aiming-to-restore-trust-in-region/
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.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)