| The Honourable Lawrence Cannon PC, MP |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 2006 federal election |
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| Preceded by | David Smith |
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| Born | December 6, 1947 Quebec City, Quebec |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Christine Donoghue |
| Residence | Gatineau, Quebec |
| Profession | Businessman, communications consultant, political assistant |
| Portfolio | Minister of Foreign Affairs |
Lawrence Cannon, PC, MP (born December 6, 1947 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian politician from Quebec and Prime Minister Stephen Harper's former Quebec lieutenant. On October 30, 2008 he was sworn in as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
History
Genealogy
Cannon is the son of government lawyer Louis Cannon and Quebec television broadcast pioneer Rosemary "Posie" Power, and the grandson of Lucien Cannon and Charles Gavan Power. He is also the grand-nephew of Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon, a long-time Liberal politician and Supreme Court judge. He is of Irish and French Canadian descent.
The extended Cannon family has had strong regional and national political influence in Canada for over a century and is considered to be influential as one of Canada's hereditary ruling class families, members having served in positions as lawyers, judges, Supreme Court judges, senators, ministers of defence, solicitors general, and members of parliament. They have had large influence in the national resource industries, as "barons" in the lumber industry particularly, as well as in broadcasting.
The most famous member of the family was Cannon's maternal grandfather, Charles "Chubby" Power, a confidante and Minister of National Defence for Air to Governor General John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mackenzie King.
Early life
Cannon's father was francophone while his mother was anglophone. He was educated at French speaking public junior and high schools near Quebec City and is bilingual.
He graduated in political science from the Université de Montréal in 1971; and then worked for Liberal Premier Robert Bourassa as correspondence secretary, leaving in 1976 for higher academic studies. Cannon received an MBA from Université Laval in 1979. He worked then in private sector as a financial analyst for Société de développement industriel until 1981; and then as head of Les Radiateurs Roy ltée from September 1981, to December 1985.
Cannon has been a long-time member of the Knights of Columbus.[1]
Provincial political career
Cannon then was elected in 1985 as a member of the Quebec Liberal Party to the National Assembly of Quebec for the provincial riding of La Peltrie; and then served as Parliamentary Secretary: notably to the Minister of Foreign Trade and Technological Development,and then Tourism. From October 1990 to January 1994 he was minister for communications, and implemented the 911 emergency system as well as the Privacy Act within Quebec. He was also active with the federal Liberals supporting Sheila Copps (who as well later became Deputy Prime Minister of Canada) in her attempt to win the federal 1990 Liberal leadership convention won instead by Jean Chrétien.
Private sector work
Cannon worked in private industry as vice-president of Unitel; now AT&T Canada Corp. during the AT&T takeover of the Canadian firm; and in other concerns between 1994 and 2001 primarily in the field of information technologies. Cannon then remarried; and took an interest in Quebec local politics building a new constituency.
Constituency building in local politics
Cannon was elected as councillor for the city of Gatineau in 2001, representing Hull's Val-Tétreau District, under mayor Yves Ducharme. He served as president of the Société de Transport de l'Outaouais from January 2002 to November 2005, while at the same time he was appointed president of the Association du transport urbain du Québec. He had an especial sympathy for solving transport problems in Gatineau by road building rather than public transit approaches. During his mandate, the STO developed a BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) project called "Rapibus", which is still pending. His association and ownership of Groupe Cannon and Associates, a consulting company in telecommunications, has received little attention, and this ownership is expected to be put in a blind trust as is usual in federal politics.
Foreign policy initiatives
Cannon travelled extensively in Europe and the Americas both in and out of public life. In 2001, Cannon was appointed to the Board of the World Commerce Institute, and then as President and General Manager of AmeriContact for the Quebec City Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.
Present activities
Although Cannon and his family have historically supported the federal Liberals, he switched to the Conservative Party of Canada in the early 21st century. On September 16, 2005, he was named deputy chief of staff and deputy executive director of the Conservative Party. He was also named as Quebec lieutenant to party leader Stephen Harper.
He successfully ran as Conservative candidate in the riding of Pontiac in the 2006 federal election, beating incumbent Liberal M.P. David Smith. Winning with 33.68% of the vote, Cannon gained a support from traditional Liberal voters. The Liberals had held the riding and its predecessors for all but nine years since 1935, and the Conservative candidate had finished a distant third in 2004 with 22.15% of the vote.
On February 6, 2006, he was sworn in as Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities. This portfolio includes Transport Canada, Infrastructure Canada, the Canadian Transportation Agency, the Transportation Appeal Tribunal of Canada and 16 Crown corporations.[2]
Many pundits had predicted that Cannon would also be named Deputy Prime Minister of Canada, but Harper chose not to retain that office. However, Cannon is first on the list of ministers designated to fill in for Harper if he is unable to perform his duties, making him Deputy Prime Minister in practice if not in name. This was further emphasized when Cannon seconded the pro forma bill to start the first session of the 39th Canadian Parliament; the bill is introduced before the House takes the Speech from the Throne under consideration so as to maintain the right of the House to consider matters other than those directed to it by the crown. This bill is normally proposed by the Prime Minister and seconded by either the Deputy Prime Minister or the Government House Leader.[3]
Following the 2008 federal election, Cannon was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Cannon is one of the higher-ranking Red Tories in the Harper cabinet.
Controversial remarks
Cannon and his campaign have been noted for gaffes and poor responses to off the cuff questions regarding policy.[4]
On September 18, 2008, during the 40th Canadian federal election, Cannon was campaigning in Maniwaki, Quebec, when a group of protesters from the divided native community of Barriere Lake showed up to outline their demands. After Cannon left, "If you behave and you're sober and there's no problems and if you don't do a sit down and whatever, I don't care," said Cannon's assistant Darlene Lannigan to protestor Norman Matchewan. She then added: "One of them showed up the other day and was drinking."[5]
In April 2009, Cannon falsely suggested that Omar Khadr had built explosives to attack Canadian soldiers.[4]
Federal Court finding that Cannon breached Charter Rights of a Canadian Citizen
In Abdelrazik v. Canada (Foreign Affairs), 2009 FC 580 (CanLII), Justice Zinn of the Federal Court of Canada found at para 153 of the judgment that Lawrence Cannon and Canada violated Abousfian Abdelrazik's constitutionally guaranteed right to return to Canada from the Sudan by failing to issue an emergency passport. In so ruling the Court states at para 152:[6]
In my view, where a citizen is outside Canada, the Government of Canada has a positive obligation to issue an emergency passport to that citizen to permit him or her to enter Canada; otherwise, the right guaranteed by the Government of Canada in subsection 6(1) of the Charter is illusory. Where the Government refuses to issue that emergency passport, it is a prima facie breach of the citizen’s Charter rights unless the Government justifies its refusal pursuant to section 1 of the Charter.
The Court found that on April 3, 2009 Lawrence Cannon refused an emergency passport to Mr. Abdelrazik without observing any of the guidelines established by his own department. Justice Zinn also found that "Had it been necessary to determine whether the breach was done in bad faith, I would have had no hesitation making that finding on the basis of the record before me." [6]
Allegations of Misfeasance in Public Office and other Wrongdoing
On September 21, 2009, Abousfian Abdelrazik sued[7] Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon for $27-million alleging misfeaseance in public office, intentional infliction of mental suffering, and violation of Abdelrazik's constitutional rights under ss 6, 7 & 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[8] A finding that Abdelrazik's mobility rights under s. 6 of the Charter were breached by Lawrence Cannon and Canada had been previously made by the Federal Court of Canada in Abdelrazik v. Canada (Foreign Affairs), 2009 FC 580 (CanLII).
It is alleged that the incarceration of Abdelrazik was done at the prompting, request or suggestion of Canada and as a result of incarceration, the plaintiff was beaten (during one period approximately 3-5 times per month), tortured, contracted malaria and typhoid, suffered from depression and later lived a "hand to mouth" existence. It is alleged that Cannon was aware of Abdelrazik's constitutional right to return to Canada and to be granted and emergency passport to allow him to do so and yet deliberately and flagrantly denied the issuance of a passport to Abdelrazik in violation of his s. 6 rights.
See also
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ [3]
- ^ a b Woods, Allan. Toronto Star, Key Minister goes MIA as anger grows, August 14, 2009
- ^ "Tories apologize for 'sober' remark to aboriginal protester". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2008.
- ^ a b [4]Abdelrazik v. Canada (Foreign Affairs), 2009 FC 580 (CanLII)
- ^ [5] Statement of Claim of Bdelrazik
- ^ [6]Paul Koring, "Abdelrazik sues Ottawa for $27-million," The Globe and Mail Thursday, Sep. 24, 2009 12:00AM EDT.
- "Lawrence CANNON". http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fra/Membres/notices/c/CANNL.htm. Retrieved December 18, 2005.
External links
- Official website of Lawrence Cannon
- History of the Cannon Family 1900->date
- Archives liées à ce parlementaire Lawrence Cannon en francais
- Unitel and AT&T in 1996
- Parliament Webpage
- [7]
| 28th Ministry - Government of Stephen Harper | ||
| Cabinet Posts (2) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| David Emerson | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2008-present |
Incumbent |
| Jean Lapierre | Minister of Transport 2006-2008 styled as Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities |
John Baird |
| Parliament of Canada | ||
| Preceded by David Smith |
Member of Parliament for Pontiac 2006- |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| National Assembly of Quebec | ||
| Preceded by Pauline Marois (PQ) |
MNA La Peltrie 1985-1994 |
Succeeded by Michel Côté (PQ) |
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