Carl DeFaria (born ) is a

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, a ...

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 Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1995 to 2003 and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

Background

DeFaria has 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 years ...

degree 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 ...

and a law degree from

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...

. He worked in criminal and constitutional law before entering political life. DeFaria was also an instructor of the Bar Admission Course for the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

. His wife, Riina DeFaria, has also campaigned for 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 Common ...

on two occasions.

Politics

He ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, as the Tory candidate in the working-class riding of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He finished a distant third, behind prominent

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 ...

Mike Farnan Michael Liam Farnan (born January 29, 1941) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae. Back ...

and a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate. DeFaria then ran for the federal Progressive Conservative Party in the federal election of 1993 in

Mississauga East Mississauga East was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2003, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 2007. It was located in the ...

, placing a distant third, this time behind

Albina Guarnieri Albina Guarnieri (born June 23, 1953) is a former Canadian politician. She was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2011 who represented the Greater Toronto Area ridings of Mississauga East and Mississauga East—Co ...

and a Reform Party candidate. He was elected in Mississauga East by more than 6,000 votes over his Liberal opponent in the provincial election of 1995, amid a Tory sweep of the

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

region. A moderate, DeFaria remained a backbencher during the Progressive Conservative government of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

. DeFaria was re-elected in the provincial election of 1999, defeating his Liberal opponent by more than 4,000 votes. He supported

to succeed Harris as party leader in 2002, and was named Minister of Citizenship with responsibility for Seniors on April 15, 2002. In late 2002, he was criticized by some for issuing a pamphlet of Christmas songs entitled "Sing Along With Carl". One of the works was a

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...

song from 1851, which referred to blacks as "darkies". DeFaria quickly apologized, claiming that he had not scrutinized the pamphlet carefully enough before its release. In the provincial election of 2003, he lost to Liberal candidate

Peter Fonseca : ''For other people with a similar name, see Pedro da Fonseca (disambiguation)'' Peter Fonseca (born October 5, 1966) is a Portuguese Canadians, Portuguese-born Canadian politician and former athlete. He is a Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal ...

(a well-known Olympic athlete) by about 3,000 votes, amid a general regional decline in Tory support.

Cabinet positions

Later life

He ran for the Mississauga South federal Conservative nomination in 2004, losing to Phil Green. In 2005, DeFaria was appointed director of the Serious Crimes Unit by Timorese President

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...

. His task was to windup war crimes probes before the UN pullout on May 20, 2005. He faced some criticism that the UN was leaving before the war crime trial process was finished. He said, "Obviously, we would like to have all of the people who have been indicted brought to justice. It will be up to the Timorese government. I'm sure if they decide to pursue it, they will have a lot of support from the international community." In the 2006 federal election, DeFaria ran for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

, finishing second to longtime Liberal incumbent

Electoral record (incomplete)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Defaria, Carl 1949 births Businesspeople from Ontario Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from Mississauga Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs University of Toronto alumni