David Joseph McGuinty (born February 25, 1960) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Ottawa South Ottawa South (french: Ottawa-Sud) is a federal electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is represented in the House of Commons of Canada by David McGuinty, brother of former Premier of Ontario and Ottawa South MPP Dalton McGuinty ...

since 2004. He currently chairs the

National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP; ; ) is a body composed of members of the House of Commons and Senate which reviews the activities of the Government of Canada's national security and intelligence agenc ...

, an executive agency allowing legislator oversight of the Canadian intelligence community. A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he has been reelected six times, most recently in the 2021 federal elections. McGuinty is the brother of former Ontario Premier

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 ...

(born 1955) and the son of former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Dalton McGuinty Sr. (1926–1990).

Early life

David McGuinty was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario in a family of twelve. His parents are politician and professor Dalton McGuinty, Sr. and full-time nurse Elizabeth McGuinty (née Pexton). Being the son of a Francophone mother and an

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

father, McGuinty is bilingual. He earned a Diploma in Agriculture from the Kemptville College of Agriculture, a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...

, specialized diplomas in Civil and Comparative Law at

Université de Sherbrooke The University of Sherbrooke (French: Université de Sherbrooke) (UdS) is a large public French-language university in Quebec, Canada with campuses located in Sherbrooke and Longueuil, a suburb of Montreal approximately west of Sherbrooke. It i ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, a Bachelor of Laws at the University of Ottawa, and finally a Master of Laws at the

London School of Economics and Political Science The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. An environmental lawyer by profession, he has long been closely involved in Liberal politics. He was chosen to serve as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Prime Minister's National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy, a government

think-tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental ...

concerned with sustainable development.

Personal life

McGuinty is the son of former Ontario MPP Dalton McGuinty Sr., and the brother of former Ontario Premier

. He is married to Brigitte Bélanger and has four children.

Political career

Elections

In government (2004-2006)

While not invited to join

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

, McGuinty served on the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Environment and Sustainable Development. He also served as chairman of the Liberal Party's National Capital Region Caucus.

In opposition (2006-2015)

On May 30, 2006, interim Liberal leader Bill Graham appointed McGuinty as the Official Opposition critic for Transport. In the 2006 Liberal leadership contest, McGuinty endorsed the candidacy of

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...

. With the election of Stephane Dion as leader of the Liberal Party McGuinty became the critic for Environment in January 2007. With the appointment of

as leader of the party, McGuinty was named Environment and Energy critic when Ignatieff announced his shadow cabinet on January 22, 2009. In September 2010, McGuinty was promoted to the role of

Opposition House Leader The Opposition House Leader (french: Leader à la Chambre de l'opposition, link=no), officially known as Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons of Canada, is a member of the Official Opposition, not to be confused with the ...

. Following the resignation of Michael Ignatieff, Interim leader Bob Rae named McGuinty as the Liberal Party's Critic for Natural Resources in June 2011, a demotion from his previous position as Opposition House Leader.

Leadership aspirations

As the younger brother of former Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, David McGuinty has been rumoured to be a potential leadership candidate at some point. In 2008, following the failed leadership of Stephane Dion and his pending resignation, McGuinty was considered a potential candidate to succeed him but announced in November 2008, that he would not seek the leader and instead endorsed

, Dion later appointed him as the critic for International Trade. In 2011, when Ignatieff led the Liberal Party to their worst result in its history, McGuinty's name was again mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed Ignatieff. At the Liberal Party's biennial convention in January 2012, McGuinty announced he was considering a bid for the leadership of the party and that he would make his decision over the coming months. However, on November 15, 2012, McGuinty confirmed he would not be seeking the Liberal leadership.

International work

In 2012 McGuinty was elected to head the Canadian chapter of an international alliance of lawmakers, Globe International, that presses governments to address global environment and economy challenges. He received all-party support to become the president of Globe Canada on June 12. In 2012 McGuinty was invited by the National Democratic Institute to join their Pre-Election Assessment Mission to Ukraine.

Controversy

Anti-Alberta comments

On November 20, 2012, following a meeting of the Natural Resources Committee, McGuinty stated, among other things, that Conservative MPs were "shilling" for the oil and gas industry, did not belong in the national legislature, and should "go back to Alberta." The Conservative response was critical, as exemplified by Prime Minister Stephen Harper who said: "I find it shameful, I guess not surprising, but shameful, that 30 years after the

National Energy Program The National Energy Program (french: Programme énergétique national, NEP) was an energy policy of the Canadian federal government from 1980 to 1985. Created under the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau by Energy Minister Marc ...

, these anti-Alberta attitudes are so close to the surface in the Liberal party." Interim leader Bob Rae apologized on behalf of the Liberal Party and said McGuinty was away on family business for the following week. The following day McGuinty resigned as Natural Resources critic. He apologized saying, "As member of Parliament for Ottawa South, I would like to unreservedly and unequivocally apologize for comments which I made with respect to parliamentary colleagues from the province of Alberta. My words in no way reflect the views of my party or leader, and I offer my apology to them as well as my colleagues from Alberta. I hold all parliamentarians in high esteem, and I regret my choice of words, as I can understand the offence they have caused."

Attendance record

In early 2014, McGuinty was accused of being a "part-time" Member of Parliament by the Conservative Riding Association, who were subsequently unable to explain how they calculated McGuinty's time in the House of Commons, given that the House does not keep attendance records.

Electoral record

, - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Difference , align="right", 4,124 , align="right", 6.71 , align="right", -2.29 , - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Rejected Ballots , align="right", 298 , align="right", 0.5 , align="right", -0.1 , - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Turnout , align="right", 61,808 , align="right", 71.71 , align="right", +2.00 , - bgcolor="white" , - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Difference , align="right", 5,334 , align="right", 8.95 , align="right", -17.9 , - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Rejected Ballots , align="right", 361 , align="right", 0.61 , align="right", +0.2 , - bgcolor="white" , align="right" colspan=3, Turnout , align="right", 59,591 , align="right", 69.67 , align="right", +7.7 , - bgcolor="white"

References

External links

David McGuinty's MP Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:McGuinty, David 1960 births Alumni of the London School of Economics Businesspeople from Ottawa Canadian people of Irish descent Lawyers in Ontario 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 Politicians from Ottawa Université de Sherbrooke alumni University of Ottawa alumni University of Ottawa Faculty of Law alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians