Jim Bradley

Hon. James J. Bradley
Member of Provincial Parliament for St. Catharines
Incumbent
Assumed office  June 9, 1977
Preceded by	Robert Mercer Johnston
Minister of Transportation
Incumbent
Assumed office  October 30, 2007
Preceded by	Donna Cansfield
Born	February 19, 1945 (1945-02-19) (age 64) Sudbury, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Occupation	Teacher

James J. (Jim) Bradley (born February 19, 1945 in Sudbury, Ontario) is a long-time Ontario Liberal Party politician and Member of Provincial Parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Before entering politics, Bradley was a teacher with the Lincoln County Board of Education. He was elected to St. Catharines city council in 1970, but also remained in the classroom until 1977.

Political career

After failed bids in the elections of 1967 and 1971, Bradley was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1977 election in the riding of St. Catharines, and has served as MPP for that riding since that time. He fended off strong challenges from the New Democratic Party in the 1990 election and the Progressive Conservative Party in 1995 election. On all other occasions since 1977, he has been re-elected without difficulty.

When the Liberals came to power under David Peterson following the 1985 election, Bradley became Minister of the Environment and held that position until the Liberals were defeated in the 1990 election. He is generally regarded as Ontario's most effective Environment Minister, although some believe that his ambitions for the portfolio were undermined by Peterson and Finance Minister Robert Nixon. As Environment Minister, Bradley expanded Blue Box Recycling, making it a provincewide initiative, as well as instituting tough new penalties for polluters, enforced by a strengthened investigation and enforcement branch.

Bradley was a vocal opponent of Peterson's plans to call an election in 1990, preferring that the party wait until 1992 before going to the polls. While the Liberals were defeated, Bradley was personally re-elected and had a prominent position in the Opposition benches.

When Nixon, the interim leader of the Liberals, left Queen's Park to accept an appointment, he was replaced by Murray Elston. Elston resigned as interim leader to run in the 1992 leadership convention, and Bradley became interim leader of the party and interim Leader of the Opposition from November 1991 until the election of Lyn McLeod in February 1992. He remained an opposition stalwart until the Liberals won the 2003 election under Dalton McGuinty.

There was some speculation that Bradley would be re-appointed Minister of the Environment in McGuinty's government, but this did not occur. Instead, he was named Minister of Tourism and Recreation on October 23, 2003. He was also given ministerial responsibility for Seniors on June 29, 2005. On October 11, 2005, Bradley was also appointed to replace Dwight Duncan as Government House Leader, following Duncan's appointment as Minister of Finance. Bradley is also the province's wine secretary, as well as the minister responsible for the Greenbelt.

On October 30, 2007, Bradley was sworn in as Minister of Transportation in McGuinty's new cabinet. As Transportation Minister, Bradley has overseen the introduction of an Ontario Enhanced driver's licenses to be used at Canada/US border crossings. Introduced legislation to merge Go Transit and Metrolinx. Enacted tougher penalties for drivers who have a BAC of .05 or higher. Mandated that all commercial trucks that operate in Ontario be equipped with speed limiters to ensure heavy trucks don't exceed 105 km/h. And in April 2009, it was announced that GO Transit would be expanded to the Niagara region, with bus service to Burlington in September and with weekend rail service to Toronto starting at the end of June.

Electoral record

The 1999, 2003 and 2007 expenditure entries are taken from official candidate reports as listed by Elections Ontario. The figures cited are the Total Candidate's Campaign Expenses Subject to Limitation, and include transfers from constituency associations. The 1995 expenditures are taken from an official listing of election expenses published by Elections Ontario.

External links

• Jim Bradley profile at Legislative Assembly of Ontario
• Jim Bradley Liberal party of Ontario biography

v • d • e Leaders of the Ontario Liberal Party Brown · McKellar · Blake · Mowat · Hardy · Ross · Graham · MacKay · Rowell · Proudfoot · Dewart · Hay · Sinclair · Hepburn · Conant · H. Nixon · Hepburn · Oliver · Thomson · Oliver · Wintermeyer · Thompson · R. Nixon · Smith · Peterson · R. Nixon · Elston · Bradley · McLeod · McGuinty