Yasir Naqvi

Yasir Abbas Naqvi (Urdu: یاسر عباس نقوی‎) (born 25 January 1973) is a former Pakistani-Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2018 who represented the riding of Ottawa Centre. He was President of the Ontario Liberal Party and served in several cabinet positions in the government of Kathleen Wynne, including as Attorney General.[1]

Yasir Naqvi
Member of Provincial Parliament for Ottawa Centre
In office 10 October 2007 – 6 June 2018
Preceded by	Richard Patten
Succeeded by	Joel Harden
39th Attorney General of Ontario
In office 13 June 2016 – 29 June 2018
Premier	Kathleen Wynne
Preceded by	Madeleine Meilleur
Succeeded by	Caroline Mulroney
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Personal details
Born	25 January 1973 Karachi, Pakistan
Nationality	Canadian
Political party	Liberal
Children	2
Residence	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Lawyer

Background

Naqvi was born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan and immigrated to Canada with his family in 1988 at the age of 15.[2][3] Naqvi settled in the Niagara Falls, Ontario-area and attended McMaster University and the University of Ottawa Law School. He was called to the Bar in Ontario in 2001 and began practising in international trade law at Lang Michener LLP, eventually becoming a partner.[3] He left Lang Michener in 2007 to join the Centre for Trade Policy and Law at Carleton University. He was President of the Liberal Party of Ontario.[4]

The Ottawa Citizen named Naqvi as one of its "People to Watch in 2010", with a profile in the 9 January 2010 Saturday Observer headlined "Yasir Naqvi, he's a firecracker".[5] Ottawa Life magazine also included him in its Tenth Annual "Top 50 People in the Capital" list for 2010.[2] In a September 2011 column, Adam Radwanski of The Globe and Mail called Naqvi "possibly the hardest-working constituency MPP in the province."[6]

Prior to entering politics he volunteered with a number of community associations including the Centretown Community Health Centre and the Ottawa Food Bank.[2]

Politics

Naqvi ran in the 2007 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Ottawa Centre. He defeated NDP candidate Will Murray by 2,094 votes.[7] He was re-elected in 2011 and 2014.[8][9]

He was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Rick Bartolucci, the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, in the cabinet announcement of 30 October 2007.[10] On 3 October 2008, he was named Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Revenue Dwight Duncan. On 24 June 2009 a cabinet shuffle moved John Wilkinson into the role of Minister of Revenue and Naqvi was kept on as his Parliamentary Assistant. On 2 September 2010 Naqvi was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky.[11]

Naqvi introduced six Private Member's Bills - the "Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act",[12] the "City of Ottawa Amendment Act", the "Escaping Domestic Violence Act", the "College and University Student Associations Act, the "Enhancing Red Light Camera System Enforcement Act", and the "Protection of Public Participation Act". Parts of the City of Ottawa Amendment Act were passed as part of the 2010 budget and parts of the Escaping Domestic Violence Act were passed in March 2016 as part of the Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act. On 17 September 2009, Naqvi introduced a co-sponsored notion with NDP member France Gélinas declaring the third week of February "Kindness Week", inspired by a successful Kindness Week initiative underway in Ottawa.[13] Naqvi also co-sponsored Toby's Act with NDP MPP France Gelinas and PC MPP Christine Elliott which added gender identity and gender expression to the Ontario Human Rights Code.

In March 2013, an article appeared in the Toronto Sun which claimed that Naqvi had endorsed an Islamist book on men physically punishing their wives.[14] The following day in the National Post, Naqvi denied having endorsed the book. The Post reported that "Naqvi acknowledged that he wrote a letter of support for the book two years ago, but says he didn't read it…. The minister says he also didn't authorize the use of his name or comments in the "reviews" section of the book."[15]

In February 2013, when Kathleen Wynne took over as Premier, she appointed Naqvi to her first cabinet as Minister of Labour.[16] After the June 2014 election, Naqvi was moved to the position of Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services and Government House Leader.[17] On 13 June 2016 he assumed the role of Attorney General following a cabinet shuffle.[18]

Naqvi unsuccessfully sought a fourth mandate in the June 2018 Ontario general election.[19] He came in second behind New Democrat Joel Harden.[20]

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	Joel Harden	29,675	46.08	+25.69
	Liberal	Yasir Naqvi	21,111	32.78	-18.89
	Progressive Conservative	Colleen McCleery	10,327	16.03	-2.08
	Green	Cherie Wong	2,266	3.52	-4.22
	None of the Above	Marc Adornato	437	0.68
	Libertarian	Bruce A. Faulkner	385	0.60	-0.96
	Communist	Stuart Ryan	110	0.17	-0.35
	Canadians' Choice	James Sears	92	0.14
Total valid votes			64,403	100.0
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+22.29
Source: Elections Ontario[21]

2014 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Yasir Naqvi	27,689	52.02	+4.86
	New Democratic	Jennifer McKenzie	10,894	20.47	−8.74
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Dekker	9,678	18.18	−0.21
	Green	Kevin O'Donnell	4,163	7.82	+3.42
	Libertarian	Bruce A. Faulkner	525	0.99	+1.08
	Communist	Larry L. Wasslen	283	0.53	+0.21
Total valid votes			53,232	100.0	+5.74
	Liberal hold		Swing		+6.80
Source(s) "Election Night Results – General Election Results by District – 062, Ottawa Centre – Unofficial". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 13 June 2014.

2011 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yasir Naqvi	23,646	46.81	+11.90	$ 102,168.00
	New Democratic	Anil Naidoo	14,715	29.13	−1.77	83,779.02
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Dekker	9,257	18.33	−1.59	27,933.58
	Green	Kevin O'Donnell	2,184	4.32	−8.03	5,902.64
	Independent	Kristina Chapman	309	0.61		3,418.00
	Libertarian	Michal Zeithammel	240	0.48		0.00
	Communist	Stuart Ryan	160	0.32	−0.07	394.11
Total valid votes / Expense Limit			50,511	100.00	−3.41	$ 112,575.19
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			290	0.57	−0.13
Turnout			50,801	53.74	−4.51
Eligible voters			94,533		+4.57
	Liberal hold		Swing		+6.34
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( Excel Spreadsheet). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014.

Election signs for the major party Ottawa Centre candidates during the 2007 election.

2007 Ontario general election: Ottawa Centre
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Yasir Naqvi	18,255	34.91	−10.19	$ 74,103.43
	New Democratic	Will Murray	16,161	30.90	+7.92	76,746.81
	Progressive Conservative	Trina Morissette	10,416	19.92	−2.77	41,039.06
	Green	Greg Laxton	6,458	12.35	+4.62	9,967.33
	Family Coalition	Danny Moran	516	0.99		627.00
	Independent	Richard Eveleigh	283	0.54		70.00
	Communist	Stuart Ryan	204	0.39	−0.23	928.61
Total valid votes/Expense Limit			52,293	100.0	+5.79	$ 97,635.24
Total rejected ballots			366	0.70	−0.02
Turnout			52,659	58.25	+2.62
Eligible voters			90,403		+1.00
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "Statistical Summary – General Elections 2007" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 28 May 2014. "2007 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved 28 May 2014.

References

1. "Yasir Naqvi | Legislative Assembly of Ontario". www.ola.org. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
2. Lochhead, Kimberly; Hartley, Jen; Cornforth, Rob. "Tenth Annual TOP 50 People in the Capital". Ottawa Life. Archived from the original on 17 September 2010.
3. Coyle, Jim (30 October 2009). "Life in politics a 'badge of honour'". Toronto Star.
4. "Executive Council". Ontario Liberal Party. Retrieved 12 February 2013.
5. "Yasir Naqvi — 'He's a firecracker". Ottawa Citizen. 9 January 2010.
6. "The race that could make Ottawans forget federal politics for a while". The Globe and Mail. 8 September 2011.
7. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 10 October 2007. p. 10 (xix). Retrieved 2 March 2014.
8. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 6 October 2011. p. 12. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
9. "General Election by District: Ottawa Centre". Elections Ontario. 12 June 2014.
10. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (31 October 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
11. "Parliamentary Assistants Ready For New Portfolios". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. 2 September 2010.
12. "Ottawa MPP to introduce own SCAN legislation". Ottawa Citizen. 2 June 2008.
13. "Choose to be Kind!". United Way of Ottawa. 8 January 2013.
14. "Book on Islam condoning hitting wives features letter from Ontario labour minister". Toronto Sun. 11 March 2013.
15. "Ontario labour minister says he didn't read book on Islam condoning spousal abuse before writing letter of support". National Post. 12 March 2013.
16. "Ontario's new cabinet". Waterloo Region Record. Kitchener, Ont. 12 February 2013. p. A3.
17. Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (24 June 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
18. "Yasir Naqvi appointed Ontario's AG as Kathleen Wynne shuffles cabinet". CBC News. 13 June 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
19. Dickson, Janice (28 May 2018). "Door-knocking with Naqvi: once a safe Liberal seat, now rife with uncertainty". CTV News. BellMedia. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
20. Britneff, Beatrice. "Ottawa voters turf Naqvi, Chiarelli in Ontario election". Global News. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
21. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 6. Retrieved 20 January 2019.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history