David Smith (Canadian senator)

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The Honourable
David P. Smith
Senator for Cobourg, Ontario
Assumed office
June 25, 2002
Appointed by Jean Chrétien
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Don Valley East
In office
1980–1984
Preceded by Sam Wakim
Succeeded by Bill Attewell
Personal details
Born (1941-05-16) May 16, 1941 (age 82)
Toronto, Ontario
Political party Liberal
Spouse(s) Heather Forster Smith
Cabinet Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) (August 12, 1983 - September 16, 1984)

David Paul Smith, PC, QC (born May 16, 1941) is a Canadian lawyer, politician and Senator.

Smith was an alderman on Toronto City Council in the 1970s. He served a period as deputy mayor and president of city council. He ran for Mayor of Toronto in 1978, but was defeated by John Sewell in a three-way split. Smith became a backroom lobbyist for developers and was instrumental in helping Art Eggleton defeat Sewell in 1980.

After his defeat in municipal politics, Smith ran for and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1980 election as the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Don Valley East in a suburb of Toronto.

In 1982, he became Deputy Government House Leader, and joined the Canadian Cabinet in 1983 as Minister of State for Small Businesses and Tourism. Smith was appointed to the same position when John Turner became Prime Minister of Canada in 1984. Smith was defeated in the subsequent 1984 election.

Smith returned to the legal profession and serves as Chairman Emeritus of Dentons LLP, one of Canada's, and the now the largest law firm in the world.[1] In the 1990s, he worked as a senior backroom adviser to Liberal leader Jean Chrétien, playing a leading role in the party's election campaigns. A Chrétien loyalist, Smith was appointed to the Senate in 2002, and was outspoken in his support for Chrétien against attempts by Paul Martin to force the Prime Minister to retire. Since Martin became Liberal leader, Smith has urged party unity.

He was a key backer of former Liberal leadership candidate Michael Ignatieff. Subsequently, he was appointed by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to serve as party's National Campaign Co-Chair with Mark Marissen and Nancy Girard.

On January 29, 2014, Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau announced all Liberal Senators, including Smith, were removed from the Liberal caucus, and would continue sitting as Independents.[2] According to Senate Opposition leader James Cowan, the Senators will still refer to themselves as Liberals even if they are no longer members of the parliamentary Liberal caucus.[3]

Smith also serves on the cabinet of the capital campaign of Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Biography from Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP law firm. (undated)
  2. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-removes-senators-from-liberal-caucus-1.2515273
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lloyd Mackey, Tyndale Launches Capital Campaign, Canadian Christianity.com, June 5, 2008.

External links

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