Garry Guzzo is a
politicianA politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. He was a
Progressive ConservativeThe Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
member of the
Legislative Assembly of OntarioThe Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
from 1995 to 2003.
Guzzo was educated at the
University of OttawaThe University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, from which he received a
Bachelor of CommerceA Bachelor of Commerce is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. The degree is also known as the Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, or BCA...
degree and a law degree. He practiced as a lawyer with the firm of Chiarelli and Guzzo from 1969 to 1976, was a provincial court judge from 1978 to 1989. He practiced for a short time as counsel with the firm Kelly, Howard, Santini and then operated a private practice in Ottawa until 1999. He also served as a director of the city's Riverside Hospital.
Guzzo was elected for a three-year term to
Ottawa City CouncilThe Ottawa City Council is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 23 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each of the councillors represent wards throughout the city. Council members are elected to four year terms with the...
as an alderman for Capital Ward in 1969. In the
provincial election of 1971The Ontario general election of 1971 was held on October 21, 1971, to elect the 117 members of the 29th Legislative Assembly of Ontario of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in
Ottawa CentreOttawa Centre is an urban provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1968...
, and came within 182 votes of defeating future
New Democratic PartyThe Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...
leader
Michael CassidyMichael Morris Cassidy is a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1984, and in the Canadian House of Commons from 1984 to 1988...
. From 1974 to 1976, he served as a Councillor in the regional municipality of Ottawa-Carleton.
Guzzo ran for the Ontario legislature a second time in the
provincial election of 1995The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
, and defeated
LiberalThe Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...
incumbent
Yvonne O'NeillYvonne O'Neill was a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995.-Early years and education:...
by about 1,500 votes in the riding of
Ottawa—RideauOttawa–Rideau was a short lived provincial electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario. It elected one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It was created in 1987 and was abolished in 1999 into Ottawa South, Nepean–Carleton, Ottawa West–Nepean and Ottawa Centre.The riding included all of...
. The Progressive Conservatives won a
majority governmentA majority government is when the governing party has an absolute majority of seats in the legislature or parliament in a parliamentary system. This is as opposed to a minority government, where even the largest party wins only a plurality of seats and thus must constantly bargain for support from...
in this election under
Mike HarrisMichael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
; despite being the only Tory Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) from Ottawa, however, Guzzo was not appointed to
cabinetA Cabinet is a body of high ranking government officials, typically representing the executive branch. It can also sometimes be referred to as the Council of Ministers, an Executive Council, or an Executive Committee.- Overview :...
.
In the
1999 provincial electionAn Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, Guzzo won re-election in the redistributed riding of
Ottawa West—NepeanOttawa West—Nepean is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997. Its population in 2001 was 112,509.-Geography:...
against Liberal
Rick ChiarelliRichard "Rick" Chiarelli is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is currently an Ottawa City Councillor, and the second cousin of former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli. He represents the College Ward covering part of Nepean and Ottawa's west end.-Early years:...
and New Democratic incumbent
Alex CullenAlexander Shaun Cullen is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a former Member of Provincial Parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and a former member of Ottawa City Council, representing the Bay Ward in Ottawa's west end.-Early life and city politics:Cullen was born February 18,...
. (The Harris government had previously reduced the number of ridings from 130 to 103, forcing several incumbents to face one another for re-election.) He was again left out of cabinet in the parliament which followed, and became best known for a
private member's billA member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
calling for an investigation into rumours of an organized pedophile ring in
Cornwall, OntarioCornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
.
In 2003, Guzzo criticized his own government for unveiling its budget at the headquarters of
Magna InternationalMagna International Inc. , is an automotive supplier headquartered in Aurora, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's largest automobile parts manufacturer, and one of the country's largest companies. It owns the Magna Steyr automobile production company of Austria....
, rather than in the legislature. Later in the year, he courted controversy by making favourable comments about former
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Senator
Joseph McCarthyJoseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, and criticizing "illegal refugees" for burdening the province's taxation system. These comments may have contributed to his defeat in the
provincial election of 2003The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
; Guzzo lost to former Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson by just under 3,000 votes.
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