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Paul A. Calandra (born May 13, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as a minister in the Ontario provincial cabinet since 2019. Calandra has been the
government house leader The leader of the government in the House of Commons (), more commonly known as the government house leader, is the Cabinet minister responsible for planning and managing the government's legislative program in the House of Commons of Canada. De ...
for the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since 2019, minister of legislative affairs since 2021 and minister of long-term care since 2022. Calandra represents
Markham—Stouffville Markham—Stouffville is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It encompasses a portion of Ontario previously included in the electoral districts of Markham—Unionville and Oak Ridges—Markham.; ; see also Statistics CanadaNational ...
in 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 ...
. He previously sat in the federal
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
from 2008 to 2015 for the
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 ...
, serving as a parliamentary secretary to
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
from 2013 to 2015. In the 2015 federal election, he was a candidate in the Markham—Stouffville riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012, and was defeated by
Jane Philpott Jane Philpott (née Little; born November 23, 1960) is a physician, academic administrator, and former Canadian politician who represented the riding of Markham—Stouffville in the House of Commons. Philpott was first elected in the 2015 fed ...
.


Education

Calandra studied history with a minor in political science at
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...
. His claim on his campaign website in 2007 to have "complet(ed) full-time university studies" was controversial since, at that time he had not graduated. In an interview with WhiStle Radio on September 29, 2015, he stated that he left school in the early '90s before completing his degree and had later obtained the remaining credits required to graduate by correspondence course. He obtained bachelor's degree from Carleton in November 2008.


Early career

Prior to entering politics, Calandra worked in the insurance business from 1995 to 2003. He then served as
chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
to
Steve Gilchrist Steve Gilchrist (born July 7, 1954) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet ...
, who was the PC
MPP MPP or M.P.P. may refer to: * Marginal physical product * Master of Public Policy, an academic degree * Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), Canada * Member of Provincial Parliament (Western Cape), South Africa * ''Merriweather Post Pavilio ...
for
Scarborough East Scarborough East was a Canadian electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 2003. It initially consisted the eastern part of the Borough of Scarborough, although its boundaries were adjusted several times. It ...
in the
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 ...
government."Paul Calandra will be federal Conservative candidate in Oak Ridges - Markham"
. ''King Township Sentinel'', March 14, 2007.


Family dispute

In 2005, Calandra was involved in a family dispute. In the early 2000s, he had
power of attorney A power of attorney (POA) or letter of attorney is a written authorization to represent or act on another's behalf in private affairs (which may be financial or regarding health and welfare), business, or some other legal matter. The person auth ...
to manage his mother's affairs. In a lawsuit filed by his sisters, it was claimed the power of attorney had been revoked by his mother months before her death in August 2005, but Calandra had invoked it for personal gain. Calandra's sisters alleged that he had charged $8,000 to his mother's credit card without her knowledge. They further alleged that, when confronted about the charges by his sister Concetta, Calandra suggested that he should kill Concetta. In his statement of defence, Calandra said that the charges had been authorized. The sisters also alleged that Calandra took $25,000 from his mother to pay taxes, but instead wrote the cheque to himself and left the taxes unpaid. Calandra claimed in his statement of defense that the money was given to him by his mother "freely, without pretext, and of her own volition." A document filed on September 8, 2008, the first full day of the 2008 federal election campaign, said that the parties had settled the case out of court.


Politics

Calandra ran as the
Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
candidate in the 2000 federal election in the riding of
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 ancho ...
riding of
Scarborough East Scarborough East was a Canadian electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 2003. It initially consisted the eastern part of the Borough of Scarborough, although its boundaries were adjusted several times. It ...
. He was defeated by
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 ...
incumbent John McKay by 16,460 votes. He ran eight years later in the 2008 federal election as the Conservative candidate in the York Region riding of
Oak Ridges—Markham Oak Ridges—Markham was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 169,645., with 136,755 electors, the highest of any riding in Canad ...
. He defeated Liberal incumbent
Lui Temelkovski Lubomir "Lui" Temelkovski ( mk, Љубомир Темелковски, translit=Ljubomir Temelkovski) (born October 4, 1954) is a former Canadian federal politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament from 2004 to 2008 who represented the ri ...
by 545 votes. He was re-elected in
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
defeating Temelkovski again, this time by 20,680 votes. Following his election in 2008, in Calandra's first term he sat on the Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics Committee, Citizenship and Immigration Committee, and the Government Operations and Estimates Committee. During this term he also introduced two
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 ...
s. On June 19, 2009, he introduced ‘An Act to Change the Name of the Electoral District of Oak Ridges—Markham, and on March 11, 2011, he introduced ‘An Act Respecting the Establishment of a National Strategy for the Purchase and Sale of Second-Hand Precious Metal Articles'. Neither of these bills proceeded past first reading.


Parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages

He was re-elected in the 2011 election and was subsequently appointed parliamentary secretary to the
minister of Canadian heritage The minister of Canadian heritage (french: ministre du patrimoine canadien) is the minister of the Crown who heads Canadian Heritage, the department of the Government of Canada responsible for culture, media, sports, and the arts. History The po ...
and
official languages An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...
where he sat on the Standing Committee for Canadian Heritage and formerly the Standing Committee on Bill C-11. In 2012 Calandra was forced to repay $5,000 that his riding association had received in donations at a fundraiser held at the home of Kirupalini Kirupakaran, at which he had been present. Kirupakaran was the sister of the CEO of WorldBand Media Inc., which was one of the firms lobbying the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
(CRTC) for the 88.1 FM frequency allocation in the Toronto area. She had pledged to the CRTC that she would invest up to $2,000,000 in WorldBand Media should it win the competition. The CRTC at the time was under the
Department of Canadian Heritage The Department of Canadian Heritage, or simply Canadian Heritage (french: Patrimoine canadien), is the department of the Government of Canada that has roles and responsibilities related to initiatives that promote and support "Canadian identity ...
thereby giving rise to allegations of a conflict of interest. Following questions from ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
'', and despite initially denying any donations had been received from anyone associated with the bid, Calandra eventually repaid donations made by five people listed with the CRTC as proposed WorldBand investors. In the same year a controversial $500 donation was made to Calandra's riding association by Stanislaus Antony at another fundraising event. Antony was leading a competing bid for 88.1 FM with the CRTC for a station to be called STAN FM. Immediately prior to ''The Globe and Mail'''s publication of the article questioning the WorldBand donations Calandra confirmed that his riding association was reviewing the Antony contribution. The donation was not returned.


Parliamentary secretary to the prime minister

In September 2013 Paul Calandra was appointed parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and
minister of intergovernmental affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations wi ...
. As parliamentary secretary Calandra often fielded questions on behalf of Prime Minister Harper during the Senate Scandal (2013). This brought Calandra under a great deal of scrutiny for his perceived non-answers, deflections, and attacks, and prompted widespread backlash in the form of media articles, social media postings, vandalization of his Wikipedia page, and being covered on the ''
Rick Mercer Report ''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by ...
''. On September 23, 2014, Calandra's repeated refusal to acknowledge questions about Canada's involvement in Iraq led the
Opposition leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
,
Thomas Mulcair Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...
to question the integrity of the
speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...
,
Andrew Scheer Andrew James Scheer (born May 20, 1979) is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament (MP) for Regina—Qu'Appelle since 2004. Scheer served as the 35th speaker of the House of Commons from 2011 to 2015, and was the lead ...
, who did not intervene. Instead of giving an answer on Iraq, Calandra insisted on reiterating Canada's commitment to Israel, prompting
Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned-and ...
to describe the exchange as "unreal", and ''The Globe and Mail'' publishing an editorial stating "to call Mr. Calandra a clown is to do a disservice to the ancient profession of painted-face buffoonery". On September 26, 2014, Calandra gave a tearful speech in Parliament in order to "unconditionally, unreservedly apologize to the House".


2015 general election

Following an interview on CBC's ''
Power & Politics ''Power & Politics'' is a Canadian television news program focused on national politics, which airs live daily on CBC News Network from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time weekdays and as a syndicated podcast. The program normally originates from the ...
'' about the
Mike Duffy Michael Dennis Duffy (born May 27, 1946) is a former Canadian senator and former Canadian television journalist. Prior to his appointment to the upper house in 2008, he was the Ottawa editor for CTV News Channel. In turning 75 on May 27, 202 ...
trial,
Peter Mansbridge Peter Mansbridge (born July 6, 1948) is a British-born Canadian retired news anchor. From 1988 to 2017, he was chief correspondent for CBC News and anchor of '' The National,'' CBC Television's flagship nightly newscast. He was also host of CB ...
referred to Calandra's responses as being "The Full Calandra", as he felt that he was answering different questions from those posed. This led to a
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
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of the same name Following this, the comedian
Mark Critch Mark Critch (born May 14, 1974) is a Canadian comedian, actor, and writer. He is best known for his work on the comedy series ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'', initially as a writer and then as a regular cast member beginning in 2003. Career Crit ...
tweeted Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that Calandra was "a slippery tool". Subsequently, Calandra blocked Critch from accessing his posts on Twitter. Critch then offered to donate money to charity for any user who tweeted similar messages to Calandra. Other people blocked by Calandra on Twitter included parliamentary press gallery reporters Alex Boutilier, Lee Berthiaume, along with TheTyee.ca reporter Jeremy Nuttall and Jim Mason, the editor (@stouffeditor) of the Stouffville Sun-Tribune, the local newspaper in Calandra's riding, who had been blocked in 2014. Calandra later said that blocking of Mason had been accidental and subsequently unblocked him. The habit of Conservative party members blocking those who disagreed with them on social media became referred to as #conblocked. Calandra entered the debate on the future of the
Pickering Airport The Pickering Airport Lands were expropriated in 1972 by the Government of Canada with the intention of building a second international airport to serve the city of Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surrounding region known as the Golden H ...
lands that had previously been
expropriated Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
by the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
. He expressed support for a Buttonville sized airport on the lands in contrast to the position taken by all his opponents. He was defeated by
Jane Philpott Jane Philpott (née Little; born November 23, 1960) is a physician, academic administrator, and former Canadian politician who represented the riding of Markham—Stouffville in the House of Commons. Philpott was first elected in the 2015 fed ...
in the
Markham—Stouffville Markham—Stouffville is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada. It encompasses a portion of Ontario previously included in the electoral districts of Markham—Unionville and Oak Ridges—Markham.; ; see also Statistics CanadaNational ...
riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012. In a CBC interview he blamed his loss on the Conservative Party's focus on identity issues, specifically the
Niqāb A niqāb or niqaab (; ar, نِقاب ', "aceveil"), also called a ruband, ( fa, روبند) is a garment, usually black, that covers the face, worn by some Muslim women as a part of an interpretation of '' hijab'' (i.e. "modest dress"). Musli ...
issue Issue or issues may refer to: Publishing * ''Issue'' (company), a mobile publishing company * ''Issue'' (magazine), a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine * Issue (postal service), a stamp or a series of stamps released to the public * '' ...
, the stripping of citizenship from dual nationals and the launching of a barbaric cultural practices hot line, claiming that voters were "confused" about the application of Bill C-24.


Entry into provincial politics

In September 2016 Calandra announced that he would be seeking the Ontario PC nomination for the provincial riding of Markham-Stouffville. On November 11, it was announced that Calandra won the nomination and would represent the PCs in the 2018 provincial election. Calandra had claimed to be a "big fan" and "good friend" of erstwhile PC leader Patrick Brown, since 2008 but, following Brown's sudden resignation on January 25, 2018 due to allegations of sexual misconduct, Calandra threw his support behind
Caroline Mulroney Caroline Anne Mulroney Lapham (born June 11, 1974) is a Canadian businesswoman, lawyer and politician who currently serves as the Ontario Transportation Minister, Ontario Minister of Transportation and Ministry of Francophone Affairs, Minister ...
in the subsequent leadership contest despite Brown's re-entry into the race. Three weeks later, however, when it appeared that Mulroney's bid was struggling, he switched allegiances once again to back
Christine Elliott Christine Janice Elliott (born April 13, 1955) is a retired Canadian politician in Ontario who served as the 11th deputy premier of Ontario and the Ontario minister of health from 2018 to 2022. Elliott was elected to represent the riding of New ...
. In the 2018 Ontario election, Calandra won the riding of Markham-Stouffville, defeating Liberal incumbent
Helena Jaczek Krystina Helena Jaczek is a Canadian physician and Liberal politician, currently serving as the Member of Parliament for Markham—Stouffville in the House of Commons of Canada and as the Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Receiv ...
. On June 29, 2018, Calandra was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy, northern development and mines (energy). He was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election with 48.42% of the vote.


Provincial cabinet

Calandra was appointed to the provincial cabinet of Premier
Doug Ford Douglas Robert Ford Jr. (born November 20, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman who has served as the 26th and current premier of Ontario since June 2018 and leader of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since March 2018. He ...
in 2019 as government house leader and
minister without portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...
. He was later promoted to a full minister in 2021, becoming the first minister of legislative affairs. In 2022, Calandra assumed the role of minister of long-term care, following the resignation of Rod Philips.


Electoral record


Cabinet Positions


References


Notes


Citations


External links


Paul Calandra
Constituency Office Website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calandra, Paul 1970 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Canadian politicians of Italian descent Carleton University alumni Conservative Party of Canada MPs Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Markham, Ontario People from Whitchurch-Stouffville Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs