Annamarie Castrilli is a former
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...
, lawyer, educator and rights advocate in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada.
Background
Castrilli was educated at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
, receiving a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in 1969, a
Master of Arts
A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...
degree in 1970, and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
in 1977.
She subsequently attended
Osgoode Hall Law School
Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...
, receiving an
LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
in 1984.
She began her law career with the firm of Harries, Hauser, Loudon & Syron from 1985 to 1989 and was a Tax Partner with Bratty and Partners in 1990. From 1991 to 1995, she ran a private practice as a corporate lawyer.
Castrilli also served on the Governing Council of the University of Toronto from 1989 to 1995 (including two years as its chair), was a trustee with the
Sunnybrook Hospital from 1993 to 1995, and was a director of the
Royal Ontario Museum, also from 1993 to 1995.
She was a founding member of the Italian Canadian Women's Alliance in 1976, and of the Women's Intercultural Council in 1988.
Her other achievements include serving as National President of the National Congress of Italian Canadians; President of the Universal Youth Foundation; Member of the Canada 21 Council; Member of the Ontario Lieutenant Governor's Board of Review; a Director of the Legal Education Action Fund Foundation; member of Canadian Friends of Hebrew University; a Director of North York Branson Hospital; a Director of The John Cabot (1997) 500th Anniversary Corporation; a Director of the Integrated Growth Fund; Chair of the Canadian Centre for Italian Culture and Education; a Director and then Chair of the Association of Chairs of Colleges and Universities; Member of the Board of Presidents, Canadian Ethnocultural Council; founding member and then President of the Women's Intercultural Network; Vice-Magister,
Phi Delta Phi
Phi Delta Phi () is an international legal honor society and the oldest legal organization in continuous existence in the United States. Phi Delta Phi was originally a professional fraternity but became an honor society in 2012.
The fraternity ...
, Osgoode Inn; a Director of The Canadian Stage Company; Governor of the YMCA; founder and member of the Advisory Board of Amani Canada, an organization dedicated to supporting the work of Amani, which runs homes and schools for street children in Tanzania, Africa.
During her mandate as President of the National Congress of Italian Canadians she led the fight to have the Government of Canada acknowledge the injustice done to Italian Canadians during World War II. In 1990 at an evening organized by the National Congress of Italian Canadians, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney apologized for the internment of Italian Canadians during World War II and other acts of injustice directed at them.
Before entering politics, she had written a great deal on multiculturalism, women's issues, constitutional, civil and human rights.
She had also been involved in the constitutional debate in Canada. She was a member of the National Coalition on the Constitution; Member of the Council for Canadian Unity; a member of the Federal Task Force on Multiculturalism; a member of the Premier of Ontario's Advisory Group on the Constitution (Charlottetown Accord) and Vice-Chair of the Ontario Canada Committee (the “Yes Committee”) in the Charlottetown Referendum.
Politics
In the
provincial election of 1995, Castrilli was elected as a Liberal in the northwest
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
riding of
Downsview
Downsview is a neighbourhood in the north end of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located in the district of North York. The area takes its name from the Downs View farm established around 1842 near the present-day intersection of Keele Street and Wils ...
, defeating incumbent
New Democrat
New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...
Anthony Perruzza
Anthony Perruzza ( , ; born 1959 or 1960) is a Canadian politician who has served on Toronto City Council since 2006. He currently represents Ward 7 Humber River—Black Creek. Perruzza was a North York councillor from 1988 to 1990, and served i ...
. The general election was won by the Progressive Conservatives, and Castrilli became the Opposition Critic for Colleges and Universities, also serving as Opposition Critic for Women's Issues Critic to the
Attorney-General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
. She was subsequently appointed Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Development and a member of the Tripartite Legislative Committee of the Ontario Government on the Calgary Constitutional Accord, overseeing the Calgary Accord constitutional referendum in Ontario.
When
Lyn McLeod
Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader ...
resigned as Liberal leader in 1996, Castrilli initially entered the race to succeed her, ultimately giving her support to eventual winner
Dalton McGuinty
Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...
.
(See
Ontario Liberal Leadership Conventions
This is a list of results of leadership elections for the Ontario Liberal Party, a political party in Ontario, Canada.
Note: Before 1919, the leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party were chosen by its elected Members of the Legislative Assembly. Th ...
.)
Castrilli initially planned to run as a Liberal in the
1999 provincial election, but was defeated for the party's nomination in
York Centre
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...
by fellow caucus member
Monte Kwinter
Monte Kwinter (born March 22, 1931) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 until 2018. He represented the riding of York Centre for much of that period. Kwinter was a ...
.
The Progressive Conservative government had previously reduced the number of constituencies from 130 to 103, forcing several incumbent
Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) to compete against one another for renomination.
On the last sitting day of the legislature, Castrilli
crossed the floor to sit as a Progressive Conservative.
She won the PC nomination in the
Parkdale—High Park
Parkdale—High Park is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1979. It was created during the 1976 electoral boundaries redistribution from parts of Parkdale, Hig ...
constituency, and lost to Liberal MPP
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...
in the general election.
Kennedy and Castrilli were both candidates for the Liberal party leadership in 1996.
Later life
She was appointed by Premier Mike Harris as the director of "Partnership with Ontarians", an office created to promote the province for international business.
In the
federal election of 2004, Castrilli supported
Conservative Party candidate Michael Mostyn. Later in the year, she was co-chair of
Jim Flaherty
James Michael Flaherty (December 30, 1949 – April 10, 2014) was a Canadian politician who served as the federal minister of finance from 2006 to 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
First elected to the Legislative Assembly ...
's unsuccessful
bid to lead the provincial Tories.
She is also the founding partner of Castrilli Law, a director of SEADAC Strategic Consultants Inc., a director of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians and the Chair of the Educational Foundation of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castrilli, Anna-Marie
1949 births
Living people
Italian emigrants to Canada
Ontario Liberal Party MPPs
People from North York
Politicians from Toronto
Royal Ontario Museum
Women MPPs in Ontario