Maurizio Bevilacqua PC (Italian: [mauˈrittsjo ˌbeviˈlakkwa]; born June 1, 1960) is a Canadian politician who served as the 4th mayor of Vaughan from 2010 to 2022. He was a Liberal member of Parliament (MP) from 1988 to 2010 and was one of eleven candidates for the 2006 leadership contest, but dropped out of the race on August 14, 2006. He has been described in the media as a "right-of-centre, business friendly Liberal".[1]
Maurizio Bevilacqua | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4th Mayor of Vaughan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office December 1, 2010 – November 15, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Deputy |
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| Preceded by | Linda Jackson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Steven Del Duca | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 1, 1960 Sulmona, Province of L'Aquila, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Independent | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other political affiliations | Liberal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Profession | Consultant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
He resigned his seat in the House of Commons of Canada[2] and announced on September 3, 2010, that he would be a candidate for mayor of Vaughan.[3] On October 25 he was elected mayor.
Early life
editBorn in Sulmona, Italy, he arrived in Canada in 1970 at the age of 10.[4] As a youth, he attended Emery Collegiate and received a Bachelor of Arts from York University. He has two children, Jean-Paul and Victoria.
Politics
editHe first got involved in party politics by working as a staffer for Sergio Marchi,[5] and would later participate in student politics at York University.
Initially elected in the 1988 election, he defeated the Progressive Conservative candidate by only 77 votes. Due to the closeness of the race, the results were voided by the courts, and a by-election was called for 1990.[6]
Bevilacqua won the 1990 by-election in York North by over 7,000 votes, despite a strong effort by the New Democratic Party.
Bevilacqua represented the districts of York North (1988–1997), Vaughan—King—Aurora (1997–2004) and Vaughan (2004–2010). He is a former secretary of state (Science, Research and Development) and (International Financial Institutions). He is also a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of Labour (Human Resources Development) and to the Minister of Employment and Immigration (Human Resources Development). He was formerly a consultant.
He was the longtime chair of the Commons finance committee. While a fiscal conservative, Bevilacqua has supported same-sex marriage.[1]
2006 Liberal leadership bid
editOn April 19, 2006, he declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party, joining Martha Hall Findlay, Michael Ignatieff, and Stéphane Dion as official entrants into the leadership race. His supporters included MPs Gerry Byrne and Roy Cullen, former Cabinet minister Roy MacLaren and former party pollster Michael Marzolini. Bevilacqua also attracted the support of former Chrétien organizers Tennio Evangelista, Jeff Angel and Jeff Smith.[1] His campaign for the Liberal Party leadership was not successful and he dropped out of the race on August 14, 2006 to support fellow Liberal Party leadership candidate Bob Rae.[7]
Mayor of Vaughan (2010 - 2022)
editBevilacqua officially announced in early September 2010 that he was running in the 2010 Vaughan municipal election for the position of mayor. The announcement came shortly after his resignation as Member of Parliament for Vaughan.[3]
He defeated controversial incumbent Linda Jackson, the former mayor who was still facing charges from election finance irregularities stemming from her 2006 mayoral victory.[8]
Bevilacqua was re-elected mayor of Vaughan in 2014 and again in 2018, both times with greater than seventy percent of the vote.[9][10]
On June 1, 2022 Bevilacqua announced he would not be seeking re-election in the 2022 election[11] and subsequently endorsed Steven Del Duca to succeed him.
Electoral record
editFederal
edit| 1988 Canadian federal election: York North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | ||||||
| Liberal | Maurizio Bevilacqua | 37,513 | ||||||
| Progressive Conservative | Micheal O'Brien | 37,436 | ||||||
| New Democratic | Evelyn Buck | 11,583 | ||||||
| Libertarian | Chris Edwards | 1,293 | ||||||
| Canadian federal by-election, August 13, 1990: York North Bevilacqua's 1988 election declared void and invalid on July 6, 1990 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Maurizio Bevilacqua | 21,332 | 49.90% | |||||
| New Democratic | Peter Devita | 14,321 | 33.50% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Micheal O'Brien | 4,618 | 10.80% | |||||
| Christian Heritage | William Ubbens | 1,399 | 3.27% | |||||
| Libertarian | Roma Kelembet | 424 | 0.99% | |||||
| Independent | David M. Shelley | 239 | 0.56% | |||||
| Independent | Adelchi Di Palma | 163 | 0.38% | |||||
| Independent | Paul Wizman | 156 | 0.36% | |||||
| Independent | John Turmel | 97 | 0.23% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 42,749 | 100.0 | ||||||
| 1993 Canadian federal election: York North | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Maurizio Bevilacqua | 71,223 | 63.22 | |||||
| Reform | Heather Sinclair | 20,135 | 17.87 | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Dario D'Angela | 15,451 | 13.71 | |||||
| New Democratic | Peter M.A. Devita | 2,996 | 2.66 | |||||
| National | Ben Kestein | 1,271 | 1.13 | |||||
| Libertarian | Robert Ede | 913 | 0.81 | |||||
| Natural Law | Wayne Foster | 676 | 0.60 | |||||
| Difference | 51,088 | 45.35 | ||||||
| Turnout | 112,665 | |||||||
Municipal
editSource for results:[12]
| Mayoral candidate[13] | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Maurizio Bevilacqua (X) | 37,072 | 70.70 |
| Frank Miele | 13,690 | 26.11 |
| Savino Quatela | 1,671 | 3.19 |
Source:[14]
| Mayoral candidate [15] | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Maurizio Bevilacqua (X) | 43,894 | 78.41 |
| Daniel De Vito | 6,792 | 12.13 |
| Paul Donofrio | 4,440 | 7.93 |
| Savino Quatela | 852 | 1.52 |
| Mayoral Candidate [16] | Vote | % |
|---|---|---|
| Maurizio Bevilacqua | 45,054 | 64.1 |
| Linda D. Jackson (X) | 10,169 | 14.5 |
| Mario Racco | 10,134 | 14.4 |
| Paul Donofrio | 1,553 | 2.2 |
| Tony Lorini | 1,301 | 1.9 |
| David Natale | 931 | 1.3 |
| Tony Lombardi | 839 | 1.2 |
| Savino Quatela | 252 | 0.4 |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Centrist Bevilacqua to seek Liberal leadership". CTV Saskatchewan. 18 April 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
- ^ San Grewal. Bevilacqua resigns as MP, clears way for run at Vaughan’s top job Archived 2018-06-29 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star. August 25, 2010. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
- ^ a b "Bevilacqua confirms Vaughan mayoral run" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, CBC News, September 3, 2010. Retrieved 2014-06-4.
- ^ "Mayor's Profile". Archived from the original on 2015-03-23. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
- ^ Bevilacqua considers leadership bid[permanent dead link]
- ^ History of Federal Ridings since 1867
- ^ Bevilacqua pulls out of Liberal leadership race . CBC News. August 14, 2006.
- ^ "Bevilacqua wins in Vaughan landslide". National Post. October 25, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ "2014 General Election Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
- ^ "2018 General Election Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
- ^ "Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua announces he will not seek re-election". Toronto Star. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
- ^ "Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ "Certified Candidates". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
- ^ "2018 Ontario Municipal Elections Ontario Votes - City of Vaughan". Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "List of Nominated Candidates for the 2014 Municipal Elections" (PDF). City of Vaughan. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
- ^ "Vaughan Votes". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-01.