Paul Calandra

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The Honourable
Paul Calandra
MPP
Ontario Government House Leader
Assumed office
June 20, 2019
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byTodd Smith
Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Assumed office
September 5, 2023
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded bySteve Clark
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Markham—Stouffville
Assumed office
June 7, 2018
Preceded byHelena Jaczek[a]
Ontario Minister of Long-Term Care
In office
January 14, 2022 – September 4, 2023
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byRod Phillips
Succeeded byStan Cho
Ontario Minister of Legislative Affairs
Assumed office
October 19, 2021
PremierDoug Ford
Preceded byPosition created
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (Energy)
In office
June 29, 2018 – June 20, 2019
Preceded byHan Dong
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of Parliament
for Oak Ridges—Markham
In office
October 14, 2008 – August 4, 2015
Preceded byLui Temelkovski
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Canada for Intergovernmental Affairs
In office
September 19, 2013 – November 3, 2015
Preceded byDean Del Mastro
Succeeded byAdam Vaughan
Personal details
Born (1970-05-13) May 13, 1970 (age 53)
Markham, Ontario, Canada
Political partyProgressive Conservative
Other political
affiliations		Conservative
Canadian Alliance
Residence(s)Stouffville, Ontario, Canada

Paul A. Calandra (born May 13, 1970) is a Canadian politician who has served as a minister in the Ontario provincial cabinet since 2019. Calandra has been the government house leader for the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party since 2019, minister of legislative affairs since 2021, and minister of municipal affairs and housing since 2023. He previously served as the minister of long-term care from 2022 to 2023. Calandra represents Markham—Stouffville in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

He previously sat in the federal House of Commons from 2008 to 2015 for the Conservative Party, serving as a parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper from 2013 to 2015. In the 2015 federal election, he was a candidate in the Markham—Stouffville riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012, and was defeated by Jane Philpott.

Education[edit]

Calandra studied history with a minor in political science at Carleton University.[1] His claim on his campaign website in 2007 to have "complet(ed) full-time university studies" was controversial[2] since, at that time he had not graduated.[3] In an interview with WhiStle Radio on September 29, 2015, he stated that he left school in the early '90s before completing his degree and had later obtained the remaining credits required to graduate by correspondence course.[4] He obtained bachelor's degree from Carleton in November 2008.[1]

Early career[edit]

Prior to entering politics, Calandra worked in the insurance business from 1995 to 2003[citation needed]. He then served as chief of staff to Steve Gilchrist, who was the PC MPP for Scarborough East in the Mike Harris government.[5]

Family dispute[edit]

In 2005, Calandra was involved in a family dispute. In the early 2000s, he had power of attorney to manage his mother's affairs. In a lawsuit filed by his sisters, it was claimed the power of attorney had been revoked by his mother months before her death in August 2005, but Calandra had invoked it for personal gain.[3] Calandra's sisters alleged that he had charged $8,000 to his mother's credit card without her knowledge. In his statement of defence, Calandra said that the charges had been authorized.[6] The sisters also alleged that Calandra took $25,000 from his mother to pay taxes, but instead wrote the cheque to himself and left the taxes unpaid. Calandra claimed in his statement of defence that the money was given to him by his mother "freely, without pretext, and of her own volition." A document filed on September 8, 2008, the first full day of the 2008 federal election campaign, said that the parties had settled the case out of court.[6]

Politics[edit]

Calandra ran as the Canadian Alliance candidate in the 2000 federal election in the riding of Toronto riding of Scarborough East. He was defeated by Liberal incumbent John McKay by 16,460 votes.[7] He ran eight years later in the 2008 federal election as the Conservative candidate in the York Region riding of Oak Ridges—Markham. He defeated Liberal incumbent Lui Temelkovski by 545 votes.[8] He was re-elected in 2011 defeating Temelkovski again, this time by 20,680 votes.[9]

Following his election in 2008, in Calandra's first term he sat on the Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics Committee, Citizenship and Immigration Committee, and the Government Operations and Estimates Committee.

During this term he also introduced two private member's bills. On June 19, 2009, he introduced ‘An Act to Change the Name of the Electoral District of Oak Ridges—Markham,[10] and on March 11, 2011, he introduced ‘An Act Respecting the Establishment of a National Strategy for the Purchase and Sale of Second-Hand Precious Metal Articles'.[11] Neither of these bills proceeded past first reading.[12]

Parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages[edit]

He was re-elected in the 2011 election and was subsequently appointed parliamentary secretary to the minister of Canadian heritage and official languages where he sat on the Standing Committee for Canadian Heritage and formerly the Standing Committee on Bill C-11. In 2012 Calandra was forced to repay $5,000 that his riding association had received in donations at a fundraiser held at the home of Kirupalini Kirupakaran, at which he had been present. Kirupakaran was the sister of the CEO of WorldBand Media Inc., which was one of the firms lobbying the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) for the 88.1 FM frequency allocation in the Toronto area. She had pledged to the CRTC that she would invest up to $2,000,000 in WorldBand Media should it win the competition. The CRTC at the time was under the Department of Canadian Heritage thereby giving rise to allegations of a conflict of interest. Following questions from The Globe and Mail, and despite initially denying any donations had been received from anyone associated with the bid, Calandra eventually repaid donations made by five people listed with the CRTC as proposed WorldBand investors.[13]

In the same year a controversial $500 donation was made to Calandra's riding association by Stanislaus Antony at another fundraising event. Antony was leading a competing bid for 88.1 FM with the CRTC for a station to be called STAN FM. Immediately prior to The Globe and Mail's publication of the article questioning the WorldBand donations Calandra confirmed that his riding association was reviewing the Antony contribution.[14] The donation was not returned.[15]

Parliamentary secretary to the prime minister[edit]

In September 2013 Paul Calandra was appointed parliamentary secretary to the prime minister and minister of intergovernmental affairs.

As parliamentary secretary Calandra often fielded questions on behalf of Prime Minister Harper during the Senate Scandal (2013). This brought Calandra under a great deal of scrutiny for his perceived non-answers, deflections, and attacks, and prompted widespread backlash in the form of media articles,[16] social media postings, vandalization of his Wikipedia page,[17] and being covered on the Rick Mercer Report.[18] On September 23, 2014, Calandra's repeated refusal to acknowledge questions about Canada's involvement in Iraq led the Opposition leader, Thomas Mulcair to question the integrity of the speaker of the House, Andrew Scheer, who did not intervene. Instead of giving an answer on Iraq, Calandra insisted on reiterating Canada's commitment to Israel, prompting Global News to describe the exchange as "unreal", and The Globe and Mail publishing an editorial stating "to call Mr. Calandra a clown is to do a disservice to the ancient profession of painted-face buffoonery".[19] On September 26, 2014, Calandra gave a tearful speech in Parliament in order to "unconditionally, unreservedly apologize to the House".[20]

2015 general election[edit]

Following an interview on CBC's Power & Politics about the Mike Duffy trial, Peter Mansbridge referred to Calandra's responses as being "The Full Calandra", as he felt that he was answering different questions from those posed. This led to a Twitter hashtag of the same name[21][22] Following this, the comedian Mark Critch tweeted that Calandra was "a slippery tool". Subsequently, Calandra blocked Critch from accessing his posts on Twitter. Critch then offered to donate money to charity for any user who tweeted similar messages to Calandra.[23][24] Other people blocked by Calandra on Twitter included parliamentary press gallery reporters Alex Boutilier, Lee Berthiaume, along with TheTyee.ca reporter Jeremy Nuttall and Jim Mason, the editor (@stouffeditor) of the Stouffville Sun-Tribune, the local newspaper in Calandra's riding, who had been blocked in 2014. Calandra later said that blocking of Mason had been accidental and subsequently unblocked him.[25] The habit of Conservative party members blocking those who disagreed with them on social media became referred to as #conblocked.[26][27]

Calandra entered the debate on the future of the Pickering Airport lands that had previously been expropriated by the Government of Canada. He expressed support for a Buttonville sized airport on the lands in contrast to the position taken by all his opponents.[28]

He was defeated by Jane Philpott in the Markham—Stouffville riding, created as a result of the federal electoral redistribution of 2012.[29] In a CBC interview he blamed his loss on the Conservative Party's focus on identity issues, specifically the Niqāb issue, the stripping of citizenship from dual nationals and the launching of a barbaric cultural practices hot line, claiming that voters were "confused" about the application of Bill C-24.[30]

Entry into provincial politics[edit]

In September 2016 Calandra announced that he would be seeking the Ontario PC nomination for the provincial riding of Markham-Stouffville.[31] On November 11, it was announced that Calandra won the nomination and would represent the PCs in the 2018 provincial election.[32]

Calandra had claimed to be a "big fan"[33] and "good friend"[31] of erstwhile PC leader Patrick Brown, since 2008 but, following Brown's sudden resignation on January 25, 2018 due to allegations of sexual misconduct, Calandra threw his support behind Caroline Mulroney in the subsequent leadership contest[34][35] despite Brown's re-entry into the race.[36] Three weeks later, however, when it appeared that Mulroney's bid was struggling,[37] he switched allegiances once again to back Christine Elliott.[38]

In the 2018 Ontario election, Calandra won the riding of Markham-Stouffville, defeating Liberal incumbent Helena Jaczek. On June 29, 2018, Calandra was appointed as the parliamentary assistant to the minister of energy, northern development and mines (energy).[39] He was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election with 48.42% of the vote.[40]

Provincial cabinet[edit]

Calandra was appointed to the provincial cabinet of Premier Doug Ford in 2019 as government house leader and minister without portfolio. He was later promoted to a full minister in 2021, becoming the first minister of legislative affairs.[41] In 2022, Calandra assumed the role of minister of long-term care, following the resignation of Rod Philips.[42] In September 2023, he was named minister of municipal affairs and housing following the resignation of Steve Clark.[43]

Electoral record[edit]

2022 Ontario general election: Markham—Stouffville
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Paul Calandra 21,176 48.43 +0.31
Liberal Kelly Dunn 15,512 35.48 +9.46
New Democratic Kingsley Kwok 4,137 9.46 −10.96
Green Myles O'Brien 1,723 3.94 −0.06
New Blue Jennifer Gowland 658 1.50  
Ontario Party Michele Petit 517 1.18  
Total valid votes 43,723 100.0  
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots 229
Turnout 43,952 44.51
Eligible voters 96,810
Progressive Conservative hold Swing −4.58
Source(s)
  • "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 18 May 2023.
  • "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 21 May 2023.
2018 Ontario general election: Markham—Stouffville
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Paul Calandra 25,912 48.12
Liberal Helena Jaczek 14,007 26.01
New Democratic Kingsley Kwok 10,997 20.42
Green Jose Etcheverry 2,153 4.00
Libertarian Paul Balfour 660 1.23
Moderate Yuri Duboisky 117 0.22
Total valid votes 53,846 100.0  
Source: Elections Ontario[44]
2015 Canadian federal election: Markham-Stouffville
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Jane Philpott 29,416 49.21 +20.26 $112,011.35
Conservative Paul Calandra 25,565 42.77 -7.72 $164,609.85
New Democratic Gregory Hines 3,647 6.10 -10.88 $7,176.28
Green Myles O'Brien 1,145 1.92 -0.81 $1,395.62
Total valid votes/Expense limit 59,773 100.00   $225,802.37
Total rejected ballots 189 0.32
Turnout 59,962 68.56
Eligible voters 87,460
Liberal notional gain from Conservative Swing +13.99
Source: Elections Canada[45][46]
2011 Canadian federal election: Oak Ridges—Markham
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative Paul Calandra 46,241 51.12 +8.88 $133,192
Liberal Lui Temelkovski 25,561 28.26 -13.26 $108,951
New Democratic Janice Hagan 15,229 16.84 +7.45 $4,650
Green Trifon Haitas 2,349 2.60 -4.23 $0.00
Progressive Canadian John Sicilano 1,080 1.19 – $564
Total valid votes/Expense limit 90,460 100.00 – $134,351
Total rejected ballots 430 0.47 –
Turnout 90,890 59.96 +4.30
Eligible voters 151,584 – –
Conservative hold Swing +11.07%
2008 Canadian federal election: Oak Ridges—Markham
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Paul Calandra 32,028 42.2% + 3.7%
Liberal Lui Temelkovski 31,483 41.5% - 5.5%
New Democratic Andy Arifin 7,126 9.4% - 0.5%
Green Richard Taylor 5,184 6.8% + 2.2%
Total valid votes 75,821 – +1.80%
Turnout – 61.26%


2000 Canadian federal election: Scarborough East
Party Candidate Votes % Expenditures
Liberal John McKay 24,019 59.82 $37,639
Alliance Paul Calandra 7,559 18.83 $32,135
Progressive Conservative Paul McCrossan 6,284 15.65 $26,016
New Democratic Denise Lake 1,884 4.69 $4,973
Canadian Action Dave Glover 292 0.73 none listed
Marxist–Leninist France Tremblay 113 0.28 $8
Total valid votes 40,151 100.00
Total rejected ballots 155
Turnout 40,306 55.91
Electors on the lists 72,092
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

References[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Oak Ridges-Markham

Citations[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Full text of "133rd Convocation, Nov 8 2008"". Internet Archive (Carleton University). Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  2. ^ "None too bright". Accidental Deliberations. 25 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Lives of candidates must be open book". Newmarket Era. 13 June 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2015 – via YorkRegion.com.
  4. ^ "Stouffville Morning Show" (Interview). 29 September 2015. {{cite interview}}: Unknown parameter |agency= ignored (help)
  5. ^ "Paul Calandra will be federal Conservative candidate in Oak Ridges - Markham" Archived 2008-10-12 at the Wayback Machine. King Township Sentinel, March 14, 2007.
  6. ^ a b McGregor, Glen (9 January 2014). "Paul Calandra court documents point to family dispute over money, assets". Ottawa Citizen.
  7. ^ "Election Results". Star - Phoenix. Saskatoon, SK. 28 November 2000. p. A8.
  8. ^ "Greater Toronto Area Results". The Toronto Star. 15 October 2008. p. U2.
  9. ^ "Riding results from across Canada". Edmonton Journal. 3 May 2011. p. A6.
  10. ^ "MP wants riding name to better reflect towns". Georgina Advocate, June 22, 2009.
  11. ^ "An Act respecting the establishment of a National Strategy for the Purchase and Sale of Second-hand Precious Metal Articles". Government of Canada Publications. July 2002. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  12. ^ "LEGISinfo". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  13. ^ "Competing bidders for radio spot donated money to Tory MP". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  14. ^ "Man vying for broadcast licence urged to donate to Tory fundraiser". Retrieved 20 December 2020.
  15. ^ "Contributions - Details". Elections Canada. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  16. ^ "Paul Calandra's non-answer period week in videos". CBC.ca. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Bizarre Conservative MP Paul Calandra's Wikipedia Page Vandalized". THE CANADIAN PROGRESSIVE. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Rick Mercer Report: Paul Calandra's Fragrance Would Be Called 'Obfuscation'". Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Unreal exchange in House of Commons over Canada's involvement in Iraq". Global News. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  20. ^ O'Malley, Kady. "Paul Calandra apologizes for non-answers as sources pin blame on PMO". CBC. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  21. ^ "#fullcalandra". Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  22. ^ "The Full Calandra". Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  23. ^ "Mark Critch Pledges $1 For Every Tweet Calling Paul Calandra A Tool". 14 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  24. ^ "Mark Critch launches 'u are a tool' campaign against Paul Calandra". Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  25. ^ Bolan, Sandra (14 August 2015). "'Blocked' CBC comedian launches Twitter campaign at Stouffville MP". Stouffville Sun-Tribune. Retrieved 15 August 2015 – via YorkRegion.com.
  26. ^ "CPC accused of banning conservative C-51 protesters from social media". iPolitics. 24 June 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  27. ^ "#conblocked". Retrieved 1 October 2015.
  28. ^ Finney, Laura (24 September 2015). "Pickering airport won't fly with Liberals, NDP: Markham-Stouffville election meeting". Stouffville Sun-Tribune. Retrieved 4 October 2015 – via YorkRegion.com.
  29. ^ Maloney, Ryan (20 October 2015). "6 Controversial Tory Incumbents Who Lost (And 2 Who Didn't)". Huffington Post Canada. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  30. ^ "Paul Calandra says it was a 'mistake' to focus on niqab, barbaric practices". CBC. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  31. ^ a b Raza, Ali (29 September 2016). "Former MP Paul Calandra seeks Ontario PC nomination for Markham-Stouffville". Stouffville Sun-Tribune. Retrieved 29 September 2016 – via YorkRegion.com.
  32. ^ Raza, Ali (11 November 2016). "Calandra is Markham-Stouffville's Ontario PC nominee for next election". Stouffville Sun-Tribune. Retrieved 12 November 2016 – via YorkRegion.com.
  33. ^ "Patrick Brown: Once-obscure MP rises from the ranks with Ontario PC leadership bid". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  34. ^ "Rickford endorses Mulroney to lead Ontario PCs". TBNewsWatch. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  35. ^ "MULRONEY LAUNCHES HER CAMPAIGN IN FRONT OF A FRIENDLY CROWD". QPBriefing. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  36. ^ Gignac, Julien (18 February 2018). "Patrick Brown buoyed by supporters as he launches comeback bid". Toronto Star. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  37. ^ "Signs suggest Caroline Mulroney leadership bid is struggling". CBC. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  38. ^ Martin, Simon (26 February 2018). "Calandra switches allegiance from Mulroney to Elliott in PC leadership race". Markham Economist & Sun. Retrieved 28 February 2018 – via YorkRegion.com.
  39. ^ "Premier Ford Announces Parliamentary Assistant Assignments as Part of Ontario's Government for the People". news.ontario.ca. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  40. ^ Ontario, Elections. "Markham—Stouffville". www.elections.on.ca. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  41. ^ Ferguson, Rob (20 October 2021). "Doug Ford under fire for new minister's pay hike". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Ajax MPP Rod Phillips says he will not seek re-election; Calandra to replace him as LTC minister". CP24. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  43. ^ "Ontario Premier Doug Ford shuffles cabinet after housing minister resigns". CBC. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  44. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 5. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  45. ^ Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Markham—Stouffville, 30 September 2015; Elections Canada, Electoral Districts
  46. ^ Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates Archived March 4, 2016, at the Wayback Machine

External links[edit]

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