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Diane Finley

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The Honourable
Diane Finley
PC
Finley in May 2017
Conservative Party Caucus Liaison
In office
September 25, 2017 – September 2, 2020
LeaderAndrew Scheer
Erin O'Toole
Succeeded byTim Uppal
Official Opposition Critic for Innovation
In office
April 8, 2016 – August 29, 2017
LeaderRona Ambrose
Andrew Scheer
Preceded byMaxime Bernier
Succeeded byMaxime Bernier
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
In office
July 15, 2013 – November 4, 2015
Prime MinisterStephen Harper
Preceded byRona Ambrose
Succeeded byJudy Foote
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development[a]
In office
October 30, 2008 – July 14, 2013
Prime MinisterStephen Harper
Preceded byMonte Solberg
Succeeded byJason Kenney
In office
February 2, 2006 – January 3, 2007
Prime MinisterStephen Harper
Preceded byBelinda Stronach
Succeeded byMonte Solberg
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
In office
January 4, 2007 – October 29, 2008
Prime MinisterStephen Harper
Preceded byMonte Solberg
Succeeded byJason Kenney
Member of Parliament
for Haldimand—Norfolk
In office
June 28, 2004 – May 20, 2021
Preceded byBob Speller
Succeeded byLeslyn Lewis
Personal details
Born (1957-10-03) October 3, 1957 (age 67)
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
(died 2013)​
Residence(s)Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
ProfessionBusinesswoman, corporate executive, management consultant, school administrator
Websitedianefinley.ca

Diane Finley PC (born October 3, 1957) is a Canadian former politician. From 2006 through 2015, she served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Her ministerial portfolios included Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, Minister of Public Works and Government Services, Minister Responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, and Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. She was a member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Conservative Party from 2004 to 2021. In August 2020, she announced that she would not be running in the 2021 Canadian federal election.[1] She announced her resignation on May 11, 2021, which took effect on May 20, 2021.

Personal life

Diane Finley was raised in Port Dover and Charlotteville in Norfolk County, Ontario, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Western Ontario. After graduation, she became the administrator of Western's French Immersion School. She then worked in a series of private and public sector jobs, in a variety of fields. She was named "one of Canada's future leaders" by the Governor-General's Study Conference 2000. As a child, she participated in Girl Guides of Canada youth programs.[2]

Her husband was Doug Finley, a Senator from Ontario and former campaign manager and director of political operations for the Conservative Party of Canada.[3] The pair met while Diane was working as a summer hire at Rolls Royce where Doug was an executive.[4]

In 2006, Finley announced that she has Graves' disease, a non-life-threatening thyroid condition which causes increased sensitivity to bright lights and forces her to wear tinted glasses.[5]

Political career

Finley has promoted increased private-sector involvement in health services. She was the founder of Canada's largest publicly funded ambulance service company, Canadian Medical Response, and has been active in the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships.

Long involved in politics of the Conservative Party and its predecessors, Finley first ran for public office herself in the 2004 federal election. She defeated Bob Speller, a Liberal cabinet minister, by 1,645 votes. After being re-elected in the 2006 election, she was appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development. An Order in Council transferred authority for Social Development Canada to her as well, and accordingly, she served under the style Minister of Human Resources and Social Development. She was shuffled from the Human Resources and Skills Development Canada to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada portfolio on January 4, 2007. The following year, Finley allegedly received threats from sex industry officials in relation to her support of Bill C-17, which sought to allow immigration officers to deny temporary visas to prospective strippers if they were suspected to be sex trafficking victims. Tim Lambrinos of the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada (AEAC) said that "it's not plausible" that any of the AEAC strip clubs were responsible for the threats.[6]

On October 14, 2008, Finley won as the Conservative Party candidate for Haldimand—Norfolk in the 2008 election and re-elected May 2, 2011, in the 2011 election with 50.9% of the vote in her electoral riding. After her election victory she resumed her former post as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development in the Conservative minority government, a post she continues to hold after the following election.[7]

In March 2015, a parliamentary ethics report on an affair linked to disgraced prime ministerial aide Nigel Wright found that Finley had breached conflict of interest rules in her capacity as minister by diverting funding to a favoured project in Markham whose promoter had close ties to the Conservative Party.[8]

After winning her seat once more in the 2015 federal election, Finley announced that she would be running for the position of interim leader of the Conservative Party, after Stephen Harper's resignation from the post.[9] She was passed over for interim leader and subsequently placed in Rona Ambrose's shadow cabinet. She was re-elected in the 2019 federal election. On August 23, 2020, she announced that she would not seek re-election in the 2021 Canadian federal election. She resigned from the House of Commons on May 11, 2021, effective immediately.[10] Leslyn Lewis will be the Conservative candidate in the 2021 Canadian federal election replacing the by-election.[11]

Electoral record

2019 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Diane Finley 28,018 46.75 +2.7 $71,248.92
Liberal Kim Huffman 14,704 24.54 -12.1 $47,529.88
New Democratic Adrienne Roberts 9,192 15.34 +1.7 $2,660.65
Green Brooke Martin 4,878 8.14 +4.8 none listed
People's Bob Forbes 1,234 2.06 - $2,959.97
Veterans Coalition Harold Stewart 1,083 1.81 - none listed
Christian Heritage Lily Eggink 817 1.36 -0.2 none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit 59,926 99.28
Total rejected ballots 436 0.72
Turnout 60,362 65.93
Eligible voters 91,557
Conservative hold Swing +7.4
Source: Elections Canada[12][13]
2015 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Diane Finley 24,714 44.14 -6.80 $127,788.19
Liberal Joan Mouland 20,487 36.59 +11.67 $72,346.01
New Democratic John Harris 7,625 13.62 -6.36 $3,656.59
Green Wayne Ettinger 1,857 3.32 +0.01 $12,277.23
Christian Heritage David Bylsma 884 1.58 +0.72 $7,252.58
Independent Dustin Wakeford 272 0.49 – $12,267.19
Independent Leslie Bory 151 0.27 – $1,616.53
Total valid votes/expense limit 55,990 100.00   $219,180.63
Total rejected ballots 312 0.55
Turnout 56,302 68.14
Eligible voters 82,621
Conservative hold Swing -9.24
Source: Elections Canada[14][15]
2011 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Diane Finley 25,655 50.94 +10.11 –
Liberal Bob Speller 12,549 24.92 -7.43 –
New Democratic Ian Nichols 10,062 19.98 +8.45 –
Green Anne Faulkner 1,665 3.31 -0.93 –
Christian Heritage Steven Elgersma 435 0.86 -0.18 –
Total valid votes/expense limit 50,366 100.0 4.1
Total rejected ballots 256 0.51 –
Turnout 50,622 63.49
Eligible voters 79,729 – –

Source: [1]

2008 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Diane Finley 19,657 40.83 -7.5 $67,583
Liberal Eric Hoskins 15,577 32.35 -1.9 $72,913
New Democratic Ian Nichols 5,549 11.53 -1.3 $5,509
Independent Gary McHale 4,821 10.01 – $22,798
Green Stephana Johnston 2,041 4.24 +0.7 $2,581
Christian Heritage Steven Elgersma 501 1.04 0.0
Total valid votes/expense limit 48,146 100 $85,391
Majority 4,080 8.48
Total rejected ballots 248 0.51
Turnout 48,394
2006 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Diane Finley 25,885 48.33 +6.1
Liberal Bob Speller 18,363 34.29 -4.5
New Democratic Valya Roberts 6,858 12.80 -1.6
Green Carolyn Van Nort 1,894 3.54 +0.1
Christian Heritage Steven Elgersma 559 1.04 -0.2
Turnout 53,559
Conservative hold Swing +5.3
2004 Canadian federal election: Haldimand—Norfolk
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Diane Finley 20,981 42.2 -6.2
Liberal Bob Speller 19,336 38.8 -7.2
New Democratic Carrie Sinkowski 7,143 14.4 +9.8
Green Colin Jones 1,703 3.4
Christian Heritage Steven Elgersma 617 1.2
Majority 1,645 3.3
Turnout 49,780 63.3
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing +1.0

References

  1. ^ "Longtime Conservative MP Diane Finley says she's not running in the next election". Global News. Canadian Press. Retrieved August 23, 2020.
  2. ^ "Girl Guides hit the Hill – Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. March 19, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  3. ^ Linda Diebel (September 6, 2008). "Harper's 'political pit bull'". Toronto Star. Retrieved September 9, 2008.
  4. ^ "Senator Doug Finley dies from cancer at age 66".
  5. ^ Immigration file a revolving door Toronto Star 2007-01-05, Phinjo Gombu
  6. ^ "Immigration minister threatened over strippers legislation". Postmedia News. April 24, 2008. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  7. ^ About Diane Finley Archived January 10, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, official page. Accessed January 19, 2012.
  8. ^ "Ethics report finds Tory minister Diane Finley broke conflict-of-interest rules".
  9. ^ The Canadian Press (October 22, 2015). "Diane Finley intends to run for interim Conservative leader". CTV News. Retrieved October 22, 2015.
  10. ^ The Canadian Press (May 11, 2021). "Veteran Conservative MP Diane Finley resigns seat in House of Commons". Toronto Star. Retrieved May 11, 2021.
  11. ^ "MP Diane Finley resigns from House of Commons". simcoereformer. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  12. ^ "List of confirmed candidates". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
  13. ^ "Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 22, 2021.
  14. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Haldimand—Norfolk, 30 September 2015
  15. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
  1. ^ Office became known as "Minister of Human Resources and Social Development" from 2006 to 2007.
28th Ministry – Cabinet of Stephen Harper
Cabinet posts (4)
Predecessor Office Successor
Rona Ambrose Minister of Public Works and Government Services
2013–2015 		Judy Foote
Monte Solberg Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
2008–2013 		Jason Kenney
Monte Solberg Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
2007–2008 		Jason Kenney
Belinda Stronach Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development
2006–2007
styled as Minister of Human Resources and Social Development 		Monte Solberg
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