Shafiq Qaadri

Shafiq Qaadri (born c. 1963) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 representing the riding of Etobicoke North.

Doctor

Shafiq Qaadri
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Etobicoke North
In office
October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byJohn Hastings
Succeeded byDoug Ford
Personal details
Born1963 (age 57–58)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyLiberal
ResidenceToronto
EducationUniversity of Toronto
ProfessionMedical doctor

Background

Qaadri was born in Chicago. His parents had immigrated from Pakistan. The family moved to Toronto in the 1970s.[1]

Qaadri graduated from Upper Canada College in 1982, and from the University of Toronto Medical School in 1988. During his academic career, he won several scholarships including an English-Speaking Union Essay Prize to Oxford University and a Medical Research Council Scholarship in Clinical Neurosurgery.

Before entering political life, Qaadri was commentator in the Canadian media for his discussions of medical issues (which he usually presented in a populist manner, intended for non-specialists). He has written numerous articles on medicine for journals such as The Medical Post[nb 1][2] Qaadri has been granted the position of Designated Medical Practitioner by the Canadian government.[3]

His book The Testosterone Factor: A Practical Guide to Improving Vitality and Virility, Naturally (ISBN 1569243786), on the subject of andropause (described as the male equivalent of menopause), was released in 2006.

He was the keynote speaker at the 40th annual convention of the Islamic Medical Association of North America in July 2007. He is also a speaker at numerous community groups in the Greater Toronto Area, teaching how about the prevention and heart disease to South Asian groups.[4]

Qaadri lives in Toronto with his wife and three children.

Politics

Qaadri ran in the 1999 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Etobicoke North. He lost to Progressive Conservative John Hastings by 1,446 votes in Etobicoke North.[5] Hastings announced his retirement in 2003, and Qaadri was able to win the riding by nearly 10,000 votes in the election that followed.[6] He was reelected in 2007, 2011 and 2014.[7][8] Qaadri is the first person of Pakistani origin to become a Member of Provincial Parliament in Ontario.[9][10]

On October 23, 2003, he was named Parliamentary Assistant (PA) to Marie Bountrogianni in her capacity as Minister of Children and Youth Services.[11] In 2007 he was named as PA to the Minister of Health Promotion and in 2011 as the PA to the Minister of Government Services.[12][13]

In 2004, while working on recruiting new civil servants, he was quoted as saying "there's just too many white people" in Ontario's government agencies.[14]

In May 2010, a rally against government cuts to pharmaceutical spending was held outside his governmental office. Protesters stated, "He is a doctor. We thought he should be saying something."[15]

In September 2013, Qaadri introduced Bill 96, The Radon Awareness and Prevention Act. The bill would increase public awareness of the dangers of radon gas and mandate monitoring in all provincial buildings in the province.[16]

As of July 2014, he serves as Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier of Ontario.

In May 2015, Qaadri tabled a petition that requested that the government withdraw its policy of only purchasing BlackBerry smartphones for MPPs and their staff. It requested that other devices such as iPhones and Android smartphones be allowed.[17] This was not the first petition on the topic by Qaadri, a similar petition with different language was tabled in April 2014.[18][19] John Chen, CEO of BlackBerry Ltd., released a statement demanding an apology because the language of the petition "reflects poorly on all of Canada".[20] Fellow MPP Daiene Vernile emphasized that Qaadri's petition is only his individual opinion and the Liberal government is "a strong supporter" of BlackBerry, and PC MPP Michael Harris said "if he wants the latest Apple apps he can do it on his own dime".[19] Qaadri issued an apology in a Twitter post the following week, saying "I want to offer my sincere apologies for any offence caused by the language in my petition on technology last week".[18]

On May 28, 2018, during the 2018 provincial election campaign, Shafiq attended a NDP rally in his riding hosted by leader Andrea Horwath, he was covered in the media for crashing and interrupting the event,[21] he later apologized for his actions being "rash and inexcusable".[22] He was subsequently defeated in the election by the Progressive Conservatve Party leader Doug Ford, coming third, behind Ford and the NDP candidate respectively.[23]

References

Notes
  1. As of 2014 Qaadri has written over 75 articles for the Medical Post.

Citations
  1. Benzie, Robert (July 5, 2007). "Ontario history in the making; All 3 major parties will field Muslim candidates in Etobicoke North in the Oct. 10 election". Toronto Star. p. A18.
  2. "CBCA Complete: Health & Medicine". Proquest. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  3. Canadian Medical Practitioners Archived December 2, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Accessed March 2, 2009.
  4. Ogilvie, Megan (March 15, 2008). "South Asians face higher heart risk, MD warns; South Asian people especially vulnerable to heart attack, stroke, physicians warn". The Toronto Star. p. 4.
  5. "Etobicoke North: Summary of valid votes cast for each candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999.
  6. "Etobicoke North: Summary of valid votes cast for each candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014.
  7. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 5 (xiv). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  8. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  9. "Ontario wraps up business mission to Pakistan". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. January 25, 2007. p. 1.
  10. "General Election by District: Etobicoke North". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014.
  11. "Minister Monte Kwinter and Etobicoke North MPP Shafiq Qaadri introduce Etobicoke North employers to Jamestown youth participating in the 'Youth at Risk' Jobs program". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. July 20, 2004. p. 1.
  12. "McGuinty Government Working To Reduce Injury In Ontario". Ottawa: Canada NewsWire. August 23, 2007. p. 1.
  13. "In Brief". South Asian Focus. Brampton, Ontario. December 13, 2011. p. 1.
  14. Blizzard, Christina (August 1, 2008). "Qaadri is Once Again on Hot Seat". Northern News.
  15. Shephard, Tamara (May 28, 2010). "Pharmacists confront MPP over drug reforms". Etobicoke Guardian. p. 1.
  16. "The Radiation Safety Institute of Canada Congratulates Ontario Legislature for Passing Bill 96, Radon Awareness and Prevention Act, 2013 to Committee". Marketwired. September 13, 2013.
  17. "Official Records for 4 May 2015". Debates (Hansard). Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  18. CBC News (May 11, 2015). "BlackBerry CEO John Chen slams MPP Shafiq Qaadri for 'insulting' words". CBC News.
  19. Latif, Anam (May 9, 2015). "BlackBerry use at Queen's Park defended". Waterloo Region Record. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  20. Chen, John. "Tarnishing an Unsound Argument". Inside BlackBerry. BlackBerry Ltd. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
  21. "Liberal candidate crashes NDP Leader Andrea Horwath campaign event in Etobicoke". Global News. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  22. "Shafiq Qaadri on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
  23. "Ontario election 2018: Etobicoke North riding". Global News. May 30, 2018. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
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