Garry Guzzo (born November 18, 1941) is a former politician in Ontario, 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. He represented the ridings of

Ottawa–Rideau Ottawa–Rideau was a short lived provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ottawa, Ontario. It elected one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It was created in 1987 and was abolished in 1999 into Ottawa South (pro ...

and

Ottawa West—Nepean Ottawa West—Nepean (french: Ottawa-Ouest—Nepean) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district includes the neighbourhoods of Shirleys ...

Background

Guzzo was educated at the University of Ottawa. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a law degree. He practiced as a lawyer with the firm of Chiarelli and Guzzo from 1969 to 1976, was a provincial court judge from 1978 to 1989. He practiced for a short time as counsel with the firm Kelly, Howard, Santini and then operated a private practice in Ottawa until 1999. He also served as a director of the city's Riverside Hospital.

Politics

Guzzo was elected for a three-year term to

Ottawa City Council The Ottawa City Council (french: Conseil municipal d'Ottawa) is the governing body of the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is composed of 24 city councillors and the mayor. The mayor is elected at large, while each councillor represents war ...

as an alderman for

Capital Ward Capital Ward or Ward 17 (French: ''Quartier Capitale'') is a city ward located in the centre of Ottawa, Ontario. Situated just south of downtown Ottawa, the ward includes the communities of Old Ottawa East, Old Ottawa South, the Glebe, Heron Park, ...

in 1969. In the provincial election of 1971, he ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Ottawa Centre, and came within 182 votes of defeating future

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

leader Michael Cassidy. From 1974 to 1976, he served as a Councillor in the regional municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. Guzzo ran for the Ontario legislature a second time in the provincial election of 1995, and defeated Liberal incumbent

Yvonne O'Neill Yvonne O'Neill (June 9, 1936 – September 6, 2010) was a politician from Ontario, Canada. She was a Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995. She represented the riding of Ottawa–Rideau. ...

by about 1,500 votes in the riding of Ottawa—Rideau. The Progressive Conservatives won a

majority government A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties that hold an absolute majority of seats in a legislature. This is as opposed to a minority government, where the largest party in a legislature only has a plurality of seats. ...

in this election under Mike Harris; despite being the only Tory

Member of Provincial Parliament Member of Provincial Parliament is the title given to provincial legislators in two legislatures: * Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada) * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape) In the Western Cape province of South Africa, Member of P ...

(MPP) from Ottawa, however, Guzzo was not appointed to

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 ...

. In the 1999 provincial election, Guzzo won re-election in the redistributed riding of

against Liberal

Rick Chiarelli Richard "Rick" Chiarelli (born c. 1964) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was an Ottawa City Councillor, and the second cousin of former Ottawa mayor and 2022 mayoral candidate Bob Chiarelli. He represented the College Ward covering part ...

and New Democratic incumbent

Alex Cullen Alexander Shaun Cullen is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a former Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and a former member of Ottawa City Council, representing the Bay Ward in Ottawa's west end ...

. (The Harris government had previously reduced the number of ridings from 130 to 103, forcing several incumbents to face one another for re-election.) He was again left out of cabinet in the parliament which followed, and became best known for a

private member's bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

calling for an investigation into rumours of an organized pedophile ring in Cornwall, Ontario."Lawyer and Former Judge Garry Guzzo."
Cornwall -The Inquiry. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2013. In 2003, Guzzo criticized his own government for unveiling its budget at the headquarters of Magna International, rather than in the legislature. Later in the year, he courted controversy by making favourable comments about former United States Senator

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visi ...

, and criticizing "illegal refugees" for burdening the province's taxation system. These comments may have contributed to his defeat in the provincial election of 2003; Guzzo lost to former Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson by just under 3,000 votes.

Electoral record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guzzo, Garry 1941 births Canadian people of Italian descent Living people Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Ottawa city councillors Ottawa controllers University of Ottawa alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians