Patrick Wayne O'Brien (born January 13, 1948 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

) is a former member of 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 ...

. Elected as 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 ...

, he ended his career in 2005 as the independent

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 of ...

(MP) for

London—Fanshawe London—Fanshawe is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district consists of the southeast part of the City of Lon ...

. O'Brien graduated with an honours

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 ...

in history from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1971, and earned his

Master of Education The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

from UWO in 1981. He has served as a high school history teacher and was a member of

London City Council London City Council is the governing body of the city of London, Ontario, Canada. Composition London is divided into 14 wards, with residents in each ward electing one councillor. The mayor is elected citywide, who along with the councillors for ...

from 1982 to 1993. He was also a

school trustee A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional ar ...

from 1980 to 1982. He was elected to Parliament as a candidate of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

in the 1993 election, and was re-elected in the

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 t ...

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 ...

, and 2004 elections. From 2000 to 2003, he was Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Trade. Before leaving the party, O'Brien was often considered as representing the right-wing of the Liberal party. He was one of the fiercest opponents of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

in the Liberal caucus, along with

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 ...

. He has frequently chastised

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 ...

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 ...

for not allowing a free vote among his Cabinet on Bill C-38, which is the act to legalize same-sex marriage in Canada. He has repeatedly called for the

notwithstanding clause Section 33 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is part of the Constitution of Canada. It is commonly known as the notwithstanding clause (french: clause dérogatoire, links=no or ), sometimes referred to as the override power, and ...

to be used to override the ''

Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

'', which courts have repeatedly ruled requires the government to recognize same-sex marriages. He is also strongly against

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. On June 6, 2005, O'Brien left the Liberal Party to sit as an independent, citing his opposition to same-sex marriage, and his discomfort with the revelations coming out of the

Gomery Commission The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. ...

on the

sponsorship scandal The sponsorship scandal, AdScam or Sponsorgate, was a scandal in Canada that came as a result of a federal government " sponsorship program" in the province of Quebec involving the Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. ...

. On June 14, O'Brien issued an ultimatum to the government, indicating that he and an anonymous Liberal MP would vote against the government in a series of confidence votes that evening unless the same-sex marriage bill is delayed until the fall session of Parliament. However, the Liberals went on to survive the confidence votes and eventually got the same-sex marriage bill passed in the summer session of parliament. In the fall of 2005, O'Brien announced that he and a former Conservative MP were founding an advocacy group to try to reverse the legalization of same-sex marriage. O'Brien has stated that up to 90% of his constituents were opposed to same-sex marriage, and in the 2004 election, he defeated

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 culturall ...

candidate

Irene Mathyssen Irene R. Mathyssen (born August 16, 1951) is a Canadian politician and was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 2006 until 2019. She was previously a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario ...

by over 3,000 votes, a supporter of same sex marriage. In the 2006 election, although he did not run, he endorsed a Conservative who opposed same-sex marriage; but this time, Mathyssen won the riding. Since leaving Parliament, he has remained active in conservative Canadian politics, appearing at the

REAL Women of Canada REAL Women of Canada () is a socially conservative advocacy group in Canada. The organization was founded in 1983. REAL stands for "Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life". The group believes that the nuclear family is the most important unit in C ...

convention in 2010.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Pat 1948 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons Liberal Party of Canada MPs Canadian people of Irish descent University of Western Ontario alumni London, Ontario city councillors Canadian anti-abortion activists 21st-century Canadian politicians Conservatism in Canada