Peter Van Loan
Peter Van Loan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament for York—Simcoe | |
| Assumed office 2004 federal election | |
| Preceded by | new riding |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 18, 1963 Niagara Falls, Ontario |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence(s) | Sutton, Ontario |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Cabinet | Minister of International Trade |
Peter Van Loan, PC, MP (born April 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician. He is the member of Parliament for the electoral district of York—Simcoe, and he is the Minister of International Trade.
Biography
Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Van Loan is of Estonian heritage. His mother and grandparents fled Estonia during World War II and began a new life in Canada.
Van Loan was educated at the University of Toronto and York University and holds a bachelor’s degree, a Masters in International Relations and an additional Masters degree in geography. Van Loan graduated from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1989.
Prior to his election to public office, Van Loan was a partner and Chair of the Planning and Development Law Group at the law firm of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Toronto, Ontario. Van Loan was also an Adjunct Professor of Planning at the University of Toronto. He eventually served as president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario during Mike Harris' term of office and then the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for a brief period. He resigned from the latter post in 2000 after a series of disagreements with its leader, Joe Clark.
Van Loan was a key figure in the unsuccessful attempt to convince Premier of New Brunswick Bernard Lord to run for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservatives in late 2002. He was a key organizer in the "Yes" Campaign, led by Tory Leader Peter MacKay, to ratify the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance into the Conservative Party of Canada. Van Loan then again attempted to recruit Lord to run for the leadership of the new party, and again was unsuccessful.
In an article from January 24, 2008, Van Loan was classified as one of "Harper's 12", the twelve most influential people in Ottawa, by Maclean's Magazine. Other cabinet ministers included were Jim Prentice, John Baird, and Jim Flaherty.
On October 30, 2008 Jay Hill replaced Van Loan as Government House Leader and Steven John Fletcher took over the Minister for Democratic Reform post. Van Loan became the Minister for Public Safety, as Stockwell Day became the Minister of International Trade. On these changes Don Martin wrote: "The House of Commons might become a slightly friendlier place now that Peter Van Loan has lost the job of Question Period cheap shot specialist to become Public Safety Minister, a good move that seems to back Harper’s pledge to play nice with others during the upcoming session." [1]
On June 30, 2009 Van Loan was interviewed by Search Engine's Jesse Brown about privacy expectations in Canada: [1]
On January 19, 2010, Prime Minister Steven Harper designated Van Loan as the next Minister of International Trade. It has been suggested that Harper removed the MP from his post as Public Safety Minister because of dissatisfaction with his leadership in regards to the correctional system.[2]
Answer Man
Peter Van Loan earned the nickname of Answer Man after it was found he was four times more likely to answer a question than any other Conservative MP.[3] A review of his answers however has led others to comment that his responses to questions both in the house of commons and outside contain little information regarding the topic of inquiry.[4][5] Van Loan is known to at times respond to a question with an answer who's purpose appears to be avoiding the issue.[6][7][8]
References
- ^ Martin, Don (October 30, 2008). "Harper keeps everyone occupied with supersized cabinet". National Post.
- ^ Noé, Markus (January 19, 2010). "Peter Van Loan out as Minister of Public Safety". Cornwall Free News.
- ^ http://election.globaltv.com/leaders/petervanloan.aspx
- ^ http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/mark_bonokoski/2009/03/10/8690371-sun.html
- ^ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/681677
- ^ http://www.macleans.ca/canada/features/article.jsp?content=20070605_175537_5676
- ^ Lawrence Martin, Harperland, The Penguin Group, p132
- ^ http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/05/31/peter-van-loan-adopts-don-t-ask-don-t-tell-policy.aspx
External links
- Peter Van Loan on how Ottawa can help businesses abroad
- Van Loan 'erred' in prison transfer requests
- Come to Canada!: Van Loan
- Parliament Webpage
- Trade
- Position Changed to Secretary of State for Sport
- 1963 births
- University of Toronto alumni
- Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada
- Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Ontario
- Conservative Party of Canada MPs
- Lawyers in Ontario
- York University alumni
- People from Niagara Falls, Ontario
- People from York Region
- Canadian people of Estonian descent
- Living people
- Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 2nd Class