Jim Karygiannis
Encyclopedia
James "Jim" Karygiannis, PC
, MP ' onMouseout='HidePop("60032")' href="/topics/Athens">Athens
, Greece
) is a Canadian
Liberal
politician
. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons
since 1988, and was the parliamentary secretary
to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal
. He was previously the parliamentary secretary
to the Minister of Transport
.
degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto
. He also holds a degree of Fellowship of Business Administration from the Canadian School of Management. He is married and is the father of five daughters.
for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
in the 1987 provincial election
. He lost to David Reville
of the Ontario New Democratic Party
by about 1,500 votes. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons the following year in the federal election
, defeating Progressive Conservative
incumbent W. Paul McCrossan by 858 votes in the newly-created riding of Scarborough—Agincourt
.
Karygiannis is one of the more socially conservative
members of the Liberal caucus, and is opposed to abortion
and same-sex marriage
. In June 2005, however, he strongly criticized other socially-conservative Liberals who had threatened to bring down the government on the marriage issue.
as the Liberals won a majority government, and has since been easily re-elected ever since. On October 14, 2008 he was re-elected for a seventh consecutive term with 57% of the popular vote in his riding.
Karygiannis was a prominent Toronto organizer for Jean Chrétien
in the Liberal Party's 1990 leadership contest, and was credited with delivering considerable support to Chrétien from the city's Greek community.
In April 2004, Karygiannis brought forward a private member's motion which recognized the death of 1.5 million Armenians
between 1915 and 1923 as a genocide
. The motion was approved by parliament 153 to 68, with support among Liberal backbench and opposition MPs, though Prime Minister Martin and his cabinet did not show up for the free vote and insisted that the motion is non-binding. Foreign Minister Bill Graham
has defended the government's position that the event constituted a "tragedy" rather than the purposeful extermination of minority Armenians. In response to Martin's assertion that foreign policy rests with the cabinet, Karygiannis said that a clear majority of Parliament saw it differently and urged Martin to live up to his promise to give MPs real clout. The Turkish government was strongly critical of the motion and argued that Canadian MPs were rewriting history
, while the Turkish Embassy suggested that relations between the two countries would be harmed as a result.
Karygiannis played a prominent role in organizing Toronto-area support for victims of the December 2004 earthquake in Southeast Asia. He called for cooperation between the city's Tamil and Sinhalese communities for the relief effort in Sri Lanka
, and personally travelled to Sri Lanka to witness the tsunami devastation firsthand. He was later criticized by fellow Member of Parliament
David Kilgour
for traveling to an area of Sri Lanka dominated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(Tamil Tigers), as the faction was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many countries. Karygiannis defended his decision, saying that his intent was to confirm that disaster aid was reaching the region. Despite Kilgour's concerns, Karygiannis's travels did not provoke a diplomatic incident with Sri Lanka.
In March 2005, Karygiannis travelled to Guyana
to witness the damage that recent floods had done in the country. He helped to secure CIDA aid for Guyana of over $2.7 million Canadian.
When Hurricane Katrina
devastated New Orleans in September 2005, Karygiannis was one of the first Canadian parliamentarians to organize a Canadian relief effort.
as its own. Karygiannis also opposed the government's decision and indicated that the Greek-Canadian community would mobilize against it.
In February 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
announced that he would review and possibly reduce or eliminate federal funding to the Canadian Arab Federation
(CAF) after its president criticized Kenney's pro-Israel position in the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict. Karygiannis subsequently asked the parliamentary ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson
, to investigate whether Kenney was abusing his position.
During his term of services in the 40th Parliament between November, 2008 and December, 2010, Karygiannis voted 171 times out of a possible 311 possible votes. The Globe and Mail ranked him third in the list of politicians that missed votes.
in the next Liberal leadership contest. In making his decision, he told an interviewer that it was time for Chrétien to retire "with dignity", rather than risk a potentially divisive leadership review. When Martin became Liberal party leader on December 12, 2003, he appointed Karygiannis as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport.
Karygiannis was the National Chairman for MP Joe Volpe
's campaign to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
, but he resigned on July 21, 2006 over disagreements with Volpe's pro-Israeli stance on the conflict in Lebanon.
On July 26, 2006, Karygiannis said that he was considering a run for the Liberal leadership himself because he felt the other candidates were "lacking" on the issue of foreign policy. At the leadership convention, he supported Bob Rae
, but then threw his support to Stéphane Dion
when Rae was eliminated from the ballot.
awarded him the decoration of the Officer's Gold Cross of the Order of Phoenix in recognition of his many public service contributions.
Queen's Privy Council for Canada
The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...
, MP ' onMouseout='HidePop("60032")' href="/topics/Athens">Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada 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...
Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He has served in the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
since 1988, and was the parliamentary secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development (Canada)
The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the federal department that oversees programs such as Employment Insurance and Canada Student Loans...
and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal
Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal (Canada)
The Minister for Democratic Reform or Minister of State is a Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet, associated with the Privy Council Office.The position was created by Prime Minister Paul Martin when he succeeded Jean...
. He was previously the parliamentary secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
to the Minister of Transport
Minister of Transport (Canada)
The Minister of Transport is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's transportation regulatory and development department, Transport Canada...
.
Personal life
Before entering politics, Karygiannis was a businessman and industrial engineer. He immigrated to Canada in 1966, and has a Bachelor of Applied ScienceBachelor of Applied Science
The Bachelor of Applied Science, often abbreviated as BAS, BSAS. BASc or BAppSc is an undergraduate degree awarded for a course of study that generally lasts three to four years in the United Kingdom and Australia, and four to six years in Canada, the Netherlands and the United States.-Usage:In...
degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
. He also holds a degree of Fellowship of Business Administration from the Canadian School of Management. He is married and is the father of five daughters.
Politics
Karygiannis has been involved with politics as a Liberal since the late 1980s, first in provincial politics and later as a federal MP. He ran as a candidate of the Ontario Liberal PartyOntario Liberal Party
The 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...
for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
in the 1987 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...
. He lost to David Reville
David Reville
David Reville is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1990, and was later an advisor to the government of Bob Rae. Reville is a member of the New Democratic Party....
of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Ontario New Democratic Party
The 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...
by about 1,500 votes. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons the following year in the federal election
Canadian federal election, 1988
The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....
, defeating Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
incumbent W. Paul McCrossan by 858 votes in the newly-created riding of Scarborough—Agincourt
Scarborough—Agincourt
Scarborough—Agincourt is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1988.It covers the northwest of the Scarborough part of Toronto...
.
Karygiannis is one of the more socially conservative
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
members of the Liberal caucus, and is opposed to abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
and same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
. In June 2005, however, he strongly criticized other socially-conservative Liberals who had threatened to bring down the government on the marriage issue.
In government
He won a landslide re-election in the 1993 federal electionCanadian federal election, 1993
The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...
as the Liberals won a majority government, and has since been easily re-elected ever since. On October 14, 2008 he was re-elected for a seventh consecutive term with 57% of the popular vote in his riding.
Karygiannis was a prominent Toronto organizer for Jean Chrétien
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
in the Liberal Party's 1990 leadership contest, and was credited with delivering considerable support to Chrétien from the city's Greek community.
In April 2004, Karygiannis brought forward a private member's motion which recognized the death of 1.5 million Armenians
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
between 1915 and 1923 as a genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
. The motion was approved by parliament 153 to 68, with support among Liberal backbench and opposition MPs, though Prime Minister Martin and his cabinet did not show up for the free vote and insisted that the motion is non-binding. Foreign Minister Bill Graham
Bill Graham
William Carvel "Bill" Graham, PC QC is a former Canadian politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of National Defence, and Leader of the Opposition and interim Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.-Personal life:...
has defended the government's position that the event constituted a "tragedy" rather than the purposeful extermination of minority Armenians. In response to Martin's assertion that foreign policy rests with the cabinet, Karygiannis said that a clear majority of Parliament saw it differently and urged Martin to live up to his promise to give MPs real clout. The Turkish government was strongly critical of the motion and argued that Canadian MPs were rewriting history
Denial of the Armenian Genocide
The denial of the Armenian Genocide is the assertion that the Armenian Genocide did not occur in the manner or to the extent described by scholarship...
, while the Turkish Embassy suggested that relations between the two countries would be harmed as a result.
Karygiannis played a prominent role in organizing Toronto-area support for victims of the December 2004 earthquake in Southeast Asia. He called for cooperation between the city's Tamil and Sinhalese communities for the relief effort in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
, and personally travelled to Sri Lanka to witness the tsunami devastation firsthand. He was later criticized by fellow Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
David Kilgour
David Kilgour
David Kilgour, PC is a former Canadian politician.Kilgour graduated from the University of Manitoba in economics in 1962 and the University of Toronto law school in 1966. From crown attorney in northern Alberta to Canadian Cabinet minister, Kilgour ended his 27 year tenure in the Canadian House of...
for traveling to an area of Sri Lanka dominated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(Tamil Tigers), as the faction was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by many countries. Karygiannis defended his decision, saying that his intent was to confirm that disaster aid was reaching the region. Despite Kilgour's concerns, Karygiannis's travels did not provoke a diplomatic incident with Sri Lanka.
In March 2005, Karygiannis travelled to Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
to witness the damage that recent floods had done in the country. He helped to secure CIDA aid for Guyana of over $2.7 million Canadian.
When Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
devastated New Orleans in September 2005, Karygiannis was one of the first Canadian parliamentarians to organize a Canadian relief effort.
In opposition
In September 2007, the Canadian government announced that it would recognize the country Macedonia as the "Republic of Macedonia" rather than by its previous designation as the "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia." This decision was criticized by the government of Greece, which claims the name MacedoniaMacedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
as its own. Karygiannis also opposed the government's decision and indicated that the Greek-Canadian community would mobilize against it.
In February 2009, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney
Jason Kenney
Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....
announced that he would review and possibly reduce or eliminate federal funding to the Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Arab Federation
The Canadian Arab Federation was formed in 1967 to represent the interests of Arab Canadians with respect to the formulation of public policy in Canada. It presently consists of over 40 member organizations....
(CAF) after its president criticized Kenney's pro-Israel position in the 2008-2009 Israel-Gaza conflict. Karygiannis subsequently asked the parliamentary ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson
Mary Dawson (Canadian civil servant)
Mary Elizabeth Dawson is the current Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada. She was appointed by the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper on July 9, 2007 as the Conflict of Interest Act came into force....
, to investigate whether Kenney was abusing his position.
During his term of services in the 40th Parliament between November, 2008 and December, 2010, Karygiannis voted 171 times out of a possible 311 possible votes. The Globe and Mail ranked him third in the list of politicians that missed votes.
Liberal party
Known as a Chrétien loyalist throughout the 1990s, Karygiannis announced in 2002 that he would support Paul MartinPaul Martin
Paul Edgar Philippe Martin, PC , also known as Paul Martin, Jr. is a Canadian politician who was the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, as well as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
in the next Liberal leadership contest. In making his decision, he told an interviewer that it was time for Chrétien to retire "with dignity", rather than risk a potentially divisive leadership review. When Martin became Liberal party leader on December 12, 2003, he appointed Karygiannis as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport.
Karygiannis was the National Chairman for MP Joe Volpe
Joe Volpe
Giuseppe Joseph "Joe" Volpe, PC, was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 until the 2011 federal election, being surpassed by the conservative member Joe Oliver Joe Oliver, and held two senior positions in Prime Minister Paul Martin's Cabinet...
's campaign to lead the Liberal Party of Canada
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
, but he resigned on July 21, 2006 over disagreements with Volpe's pro-Israeli stance on the conflict in Lebanon.
On July 26, 2006, Karygiannis said that he was considering a run for the Liberal leadership himself because he felt the other candidates were "lacking" on the issue of foreign policy. At the leadership convention, he supported Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
, but then threw his support to Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Dion
Stéphane Maurice Dion, PC, MP is a Canadian politician who has been the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Laurent–Cartierville in Montreal since 1996. He was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian House of Commons from 2006 to 2008...
when Rae was eliminated from the ballot.
Awards
In 1999, Greek president Costis StephanopoulosCostis Stephanopoulos
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos was the sixth President of the Third Hellenic Republic.Stephanopoulos was born in Patras. After attending the Saint Andrew school of Patras, he studied law at Athens University...
awarded him the decoration of the Officer's Gold Cross of the Order of Phoenix in recognition of his many public service contributions.