Bryon J. Wilfert (born July 14, 1952) is a former

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician. He was a Liberal member of the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Commo ...

from 1997 to 2011 who represented the GTA riding of Richmond Hill until his defeat during the 2011 federal election.

Background

Wilfert has

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 yea ...

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order f ...

, and

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. Tho ...

degrees from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, as well as a degree in public administration from St. Lawrence College in Kingston. In June 2011, he was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star, Japan's second highest honour, by

Emperor Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

Politics

Municipal politics

Wilfert was elected as a Richmond Hill councillor in 1985.

Federal politics

He was elected to the House of Commons in the 1997 federal election, scoring an easy victory in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater ...

riding of Oak Ridges. He was re-elected by an increased majority in the election of 2000, and won another easy victory in his new riding in the 2004 election. In the 2011 election, he was defeated by

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate

Costas Menegakis Costas Menegakis (born in Montreal, Quebec) is a businessman, an entrepreneur and a former Canadians, Canadian politician, who represented the federal Electoral district (Canada), electoral district of Richmond Hill (electoral district), Richmo ...

by 4,407 votes. Bryon Wilfert served as Parliamentary Secretary to the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

in 2002–03, and was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment after the 2004 election. During the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session and 3rd Session, Wilfert introduced two private members bills in 2009 and 2011, which both failed to pass beyond the first of seven stages known as "Introduction and First Reading". After the election in 2006, Wilfert was appointed as

official opposition Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...

critic of Foreign Affairs (Asia-Pacific). Wilfert was the Caucus Liaison in the successful 2006 Liberal leadership bid by Stéphane Dion and previously served as his parliamentary secretary during his tenure as Minister of the Environment.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilfert, Bryon 1952 births Canadian schoolteachers Liberal Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada People from Richmond Hill, Ontario Politicians from Toronto Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians