Larry Miller (Canadian politician)

Larry Miller (born 21 July 1956) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound from 2004 to 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party.

Larry Miller
Miller at the Olympic Torch ceremony in Owen Sound
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
In office June 28, 2004 – September 11, 2019
Preceded by	Ovid Jackson
Succeeded by	Alex Ruff
Chair of the Standing Committee on Agriculture
In office 3 February 2009 – 24 September 2012
Minister	Gerry Ritz
Preceded by	James Bezan
Succeeded by	Merv Tweed
Personal details
Born	21 July 1956 Wiarton, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Darlene Miller
Residence	Georgian Bluffs, Ontario
Profession	Beef farmer[1]

Early life and career

Miller was born in Wiarton, Ontario on 21 July 1956.[2] Before entering federal politics, Miller was a councillor in Keppel Township, Ontario from 1991 to 1993. He progressed to Deputy Reeve in 1994, and in 1996 became the Reeve of Keppel Township. He was briefly a councillor in Grey County between 2000 and 2001, and between 2000 and 2004 he was mayor of Georgian Bluffs.[2] He also owns a beef-farming operation.

Federal politics

Miller won the Conservative Party nomination for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound in 2004, and defeated three-term Liberal MP Ovid Jackson by almost 5,000 votes in that year's federal election.

With many historic Georgian Bay lighthouses in his riding, Miller sponsored the bill that became the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act in the Commons in January 2008.[3]

In the 2015 election, Miller was reelected by almost 5,000 votes.[4]

Miller did not seek re-election in the 2019 federal election and retired from politics.[5]

Bill C-19 controversy

On 7 February 2012, during a Parliamentary Debate about Bill C-19, Miller stirred controversy after comparing the long-gun registry to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Regime quoting former Liberal Minister Allan Rock: "I came to Ottawa last year with the firm belief that the only people in Canada who should have firearms are police officers and the military." Miller added afterwards: "Sound familiar? Adolf Hitler. 1939". Later on, he quoted former Liberal Senator Sharon Carstairs who'd said "the registering of hunting rifles is the first step in the social re-engineering of Canadians" which Miller added "that is what Adolf Hitler tried to do in the 1930s". Miller later retracted his statements.[6][7]

Citizenship ceremony controversy

On 16 March 2015, while appearing on a call-in show on CFOS Radio, Miller commented on the issue of Zunera Ishaq wishing to wear a niqab at her citizenship ceremony. Miller said, "if you don't like that or don't want to do that, stay the hell where you came from, is the way, and I think most Canadians feel the same... I'm so sick and tired of, of people wanting to come here because they know it's a good country and then they want to change things before they even really officially become a Canadian, so , I have no sympathy for her..."[8] The following day, Miller issued a statement apologizing for part of his comments, but maintained his opinion that one should uncover their face when taking the citizenship oath.[9]

Personal life

Miller is married with three children and three grandchildren.[1]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Larry Miller	26,297	46.68	-9.62	$121,344.93
	Liberal	Kimberley Love	21,879	38.84	+22.77	$77,135.87
	New Democratic	David McLaren	6,270	11.13	-6.51	$28,809.26
	Green	Chris Albinati	1,887	3.35	-6.64	$4,346.25
Total valid votes/Expense limit			56,333	100.00		$218,310.52
Total rejected ballots			212	0.37
Turnout			56,545	68.91
Eligible voters			82,056
	Conservative hold		Swing		-16.20
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Larry Miller	28,744	56.30	+8.64	–
	New Democratic	Karen Gventer	9,008	17.64	+8.01	–
	Liberal	Kimberley Love	8,203	16.07	+1.77	–
	Green	Emma Jane Hogbin	5,099	9.99	-17.18	–
Total valid votes			51,054	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			227	0.44	+0.02
Turnout			51,281	65.04	+3.68
Eligible voters			78,848	–	–

2008 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Larry Miller	22,975	47.66	-0.52	$83,330
	Green	Dick Hibma	13,095	27.17	+14.26	$63,875
	Liberal	Thomas Noble	6,892	14.30	-13.26	$39,399
	New Democratic	Jill McIllwraith	4,640	9.63	-1.71	$9,434
	Christian Heritage	Joel Kidd	599	1.24	*	$1,377
Total valid votes/Expense limit			48,201	100.00	$84,478
Total rejected ballots			204	0.42
Turnout			48,405	61.36	–

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Larry Miller	25,133	48.18	+3.2	$72,117
	Liberal	Verona Jackson	14,378	27.56	-8.2	$52,377
	Green	Shane Jolley	6,735	12.91	+8.7	$17,349
	New Democratic	Jill McIllwraith	5,918	11.34	-1.7	$11,210
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,164	100.00

2004 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Larry Miller	22,411	45.0	-6.0
	Liberal	Ovid Jackson	17,824	35.8	-8.4
	New Democratic	Sebastian Ostertag	6,516	13.1	+8.2
	Green	Alex Drossos	2,076	4.2
	Christian Heritage	Steven J. Taylor	982	2.0
Total valid votes			49,809	100.0

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

References

1. "About Larry". LarryMiller.ca. Archived from the original on 23 October 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
2. "Parliamentarian File: Larry Miller". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
3. Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society News and Events "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-04-23. Retrieved 2008-03-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
4. Maloney, Ryan (20 October 2015). "6 Controversial Tory Incumbents Who Lost (And 2 Who Didn't)". Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
6. Nonato, Sheila Dabu. "Conservatives limit debate on long-gun registry". Postmedia News. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
7. "Larry Miller, Conservative MP, Compares Liberal Support For Long-Gun Registry To Hitler's Policies". The Huffington Post. 7 February 2011.
8. http://owensoundhub.org/opinion/971-who-are-most-canadians.html
9. O'Malley, Kady (24 March 2015). "Larry Miller, Conservative MP, recants inflammatory niqab-ban comment". CBC News. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
10. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, 30 September 2015
11. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine

External links

• Larry Miller – Parliament of Canada biography
• Personal Website