Roger John Gallaway, (born May 23, 1948 in
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes w ...
,
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 C ...
) is a
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 ...
educator and retired
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 ...
. He was a member of the
House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2006, representing the riding of
Sarnia—Lambton
Sarnia—Lambton (formerly known as Sarnia) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968.
It is located in the area of the city of Sarnia, in the southwest corner of ...
for the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
.
He earned 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 year ...
degree from the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...
and an
LL.B
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
from the
University of Windsor
, mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge
, established =
, academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada
, former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963)
, type = Public universi ...
. He practiced law before entering political life, and was involved in a variety of community organizations in the Sarnia area. In 1991, he was elected
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of
Point Edward. Gallaway graduated from
Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School.
Political career
Two years into his tenure as mayor of the small town of Point Edward, Ontario, Gallaway took a shot at federal politics. He was first elected to parliament in the
1993 federal election, defeating
Progressive Conservative incumbent
Ken James by over 10,000 votes. He was re-elected by similarly large pluralities in the elections of
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
, and defeated
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
candidate
Marcel Beaubien by over 5,000 votes in the
2004 election. He was defeated by Conservative
Patricia Davidson by over 4,000 votes in the
2006 election. Soon afterwards, Gallaway blamed the Liberals' ouster from Canadian government on the leadership of
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 ...
, and was the first from within the party to call for Martin's resignation as party leader.
He ran for
Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada in 1997, and was eliminated on the second ballot.
Gallaway was occasionally labeled a
maverick
Maverick, Maveric or Maverik may refer to:
History
* Maverick (animal), an unbranded range animal, derived from U.S. cattleman Samuel Maverick
Aviation
* AEA Maverick, an Australian single-seat sportsplane design
* General Aviation Design Burea ...
MP in the Liberal Party, particularly in later years, and was a vocal opponent of the
federal gun registry for many years, and unsuccessfully attempted to cut off funding for the program in late 2004. Gallaway has also called for government funding to be withdrawn from the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
, and opposed
negative option billing Negative option billing is a business practice in which customers are given goods or services that were not previously ordered, and must either continue to pay for the service or specifically decline it in advance of billing.
This is, for example, ...
by cable companies in the late 1990s.
He also holds
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
views on some issues, although he has not emphasized these as strongly as others within the party, such as
Tom Wappel
Thomas William Wappel (born February 9, 1950) is a Canadians, Canadian politician. He was a Liberal Party of Canada, Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons from 1988 to 2008, representing the Toronto riding of Scarb ...
and
Rose-Marie Ur
Rose-Marie Margaret Ur (born July 28, 1946 in Glencoe, Ontario) is a Canadian politician. She was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 until 2005 and, in her final term in office, represented the riding of Middlesex—Kent— ...
. Gallaway was an opponent of
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
and voted against the ''
Civil Marriage Act'', which legalized it, in 2005.
He is a personal friend and was a frequent political ally of
Senator Anne Cools
Anne Clare Cools (born August 12, 1943) is a Canadian retired senator and the longest serving member of the Senate of Canada. As a social worker, Cools was a pioneer in the protection of women from domestic violence, running one of the first dome ...
, and has worked with her to propose reforms to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
laws which would have ensured greater custody rights for fathers. In furtherance of these concerns, Gallaway served as co-chair of the Special Joint Committee on Custody and Access, which recommended
shared parenting as the norm in its report, ''
For the Sake of the Children'', issued in 1998.
From December 2003 to July 2004, Gallaway served as
parliamentary secretary to the
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
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. ...
, with special emphasis on democratic reform..
Gallaway is also a musician. He formed the band "True Grit" with several Liberal MPs, including
Joe Fontana
Joseph Frank Fontana (born January 13, 1950) is an Italian-born Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1987 to 2006, and mayor of London, Ontario from 2010 until his 2014 convictions for fraud and ...
and future prime minister Jean Chrétien (who played trombone). Gallaway has also appeared in performances with Sarnia/Port Huron's International Symphony, and was the narrator of a "Child's Introduction to the
Symphony".
Gallaway supported
Bob Rae's unsuccessful bid to become leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in the
2006 Liberal leadership election.
Recent career
Since leaving politics, Gallaway has served as an instructor in international business law at
Lambton College
Lambton College is a publicly funded college in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. It has approximately 3,500 full-time students, 6,500 part-time students and 3,500 international students worldwide. Lambton College also has campuses in Mississauga and Toro ...
. He has also thrown his hat in the ring for the
2010 Point Edward municipal elections, trying to become mayor of the tiny town once again. He faced stiff competition in the race against the incumbent mayor, Dick Kirkland, and veteran councillor, Janice Robson, and he ultimately lost to Kirkland
Electoral record
Point Edward municipal election results (Mayor), 2010
Source
Sarnia Lambton Votes
/small>
Sarnia—Lambton
Source
Elections Canada
/small>
Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.
Source
Elections Canada
/small>
Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.
Source
Elections Canada
/small>
Source
Elections Canada
/small>
Source
Elections Canada
/small>
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallaway, Roger
1948 births
Lawyers in Ontario
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Living people
Mayors of places in Ontario
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada
People from Sarnia
University of Western Ontario alumni
University of Windsor Faculty of Law alumni
21st-century Canadian politicians