Rick Bartolucci

Rick Bartolucci
MPP for Sudbury
Incumbent
Assumed office  June 26, 1995
Preceded by	Sharon Murdock
Minister of Northern Development and Mines
In office October 23, 2003 – October 29, 2007
Preceded by	Jim Wilson
Succeeded by	Michael Gravelle
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
Incumbent
Assumed office  October 30, 2007
Preceded by	Monte Kwinter
Born	1943 Sudbury, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Occupation	teacher
Religion	Roman Catholic

Rick Bartolucci (born October 10, 1943) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has represented Sudbury in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1995, and is a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty. Bartolucci is a member of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Early life and career

Bartolucci was born in Sudbury, received degrees from Laurentian University and North Bay Teacher's College, and worked as a teacher and school principal for thirty years before becoming an MPP. Bartolucci was a Sudbury alderman and regional councillor from 1979 to 1982 and again from 1985 to 1991, and served as the city's deputy mayor for a time.^[1]

Member of Provincial Parliament

Opposition member

Bartolucci was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election, defeating New Democratic Party incumbent Sharon Murdock. The Progressive Conservative Party of Mike Harris won a majority government in this election, and Bartolucci entered the legislature as a member of the Official Opposition. He was appointed as his party's critic for Northern Development and Culture and Communications, and helped organize a December 1995 meeting at Queen's Park where artists and cultural workers criticized the Harris government's spending cuts in the arts sector.^[2] He later criticized the Harris government's decision to close two of Sudbury's three hospitals, arguing that it would compromise patient care in the region.^[3]

Bartolucci was one of the three MPPs prevented from attending the Harris government's first Speech from the Throne in 1995, when police officers called by the government to guard against protesters refused them entry into the legislature. The other MPPs were veteran opposition member Sean Conway and cabinet minister Cam Jackson. Many opposition members described the police presence as excessive.^[4] A similar incident took place in March 1996, when riot police who were called to the legislature by the Harris government burst into Bartolucci's office without any warning or explanation, just prior to a melee with protesting public service workers. The police actions were widely criticized on this occasion as well.^[5]

Bartolucci was a co-manager of Dwight Duncan's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996,^[6] and moved to the camp of Gerard Kennedy when Duncan was eliminated on the third ballot of the party's leadership convention.^[7] Kennedy was defeated on the final ballot by Dalton McGuinty.

In early 1997, Bartolucci introduced a Private Member's Bill to limit class sizes in Ontario's public and separate schools.^[8] The government dropped this bill from the legislative agenda in January 1998.^[9] Bartolucci later introduced a bill giving police the power to apprehend any person under eighteen who was involved in prostitution, and take that person to a safe house.^[10] The government introduced legislation modeled on Bartolucci's proposal in 2000,^[11] and passed it into law in June 2002. Fourteen months later, Bartolucci complained that the law had not yet been enacted.^[12]

Bartolucci was re-elected by an increased margin in the 1999 provincial election, as the Progressive Conservatives won a second majority government. He was appointed to the Liberal Party's election committee after the campaign,^[13] and later served as Chief Opposition Whip.^[14] In 2000, he criticized the provincial government for requiring cancer patients in Northern Ontario to pay for most of their transportation costs to and from treatment in other areas, while patients referred from Toronto to Sudbury were given free transportation and lodging.^[15]

Bartolucci often called for Highway 69 to be widened between Sudbury and Parry Sound, citing a growing number of fatal accidents in the area.^[16] He also chaired the JoeMac committee late in his second term as an opposition member. This group undertook a national campaign to have the killers of Sudbury police officer Joe MacDonald moved to a maximum security prison, and generally opposed what it described as lenient treatment for federal offenders.^[17] Bartolucci was endorsed by the Sudbury Police Association in the 2003 provincial election.^[18]

Cabinet minister

Minister of Northern Development and Mines

Bartolucci was re-elected by a landslide in the 2003 election, as the Liberals won a majority government across the province. On October 23, 2003, he was appointed as Minister of Northern Development and Mines in the newly-formed government of Dalton McGuinty.

Initiatives

In March 2004, Bartolucci announced that he would end the previous government's efforts to privatize the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, and would restructure it instead.^[19] He also called for the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund to re-focus its attention on job creation, with support from the private sector.^[20]

Bartolucci introduced the McGuinty government's Northern Prosperity Plan in December 2004, the highlights of which included a revamped Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, a GO North program to attract investors to the region, and a pilot Northern Ontario Grow Bonds Program.^[21] In July 2005, he announced the Northern Ontario Youth Internship and Co-op program designed to give young workers an incentive to stay in northern Ontario.^[22] Bartolucci announced a twelve-year project for the expansion of Highway 69 in June 2005,^[23] and brought forward a new provincial mining strategy in March 2006.^[24]

In January 2006, Bartolucci announced that the McGuinty government would investigate the possibility of an all-season road to the coast of James Bay. This decision was welcomed by some First Nations leaders, who had long experienced difficult access to and from the area.^[25]

Bartolucci presided over the opening of Ontario's first diamond mine in June 2006, and spoke of "limitless" potential for growth in the field.^[26] The McGuinty government later proposed a new tax on diamond mining, which was opposed by such industry groups as DeBeers Canada. Bartolucci subsequently introduced modifications to the tax, including deductions for new mining construction and spending made under agreements with aboriginal communities.^[27]

Mining and First Nations communities

In August 2006, Justice Patrick Smith of the Ontario Superior Court issued a ruling against the mining exploration company Platinex Inc. in its ongoing battle with the remote Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug aboriginal community. Platinex was ordered not to work at the site for five months, and was ordered to participate in a consultation process involving the province. Bartolucci welcomed this decision as an "important step forward", but argued that it would not "impact the legitimacy of other mining claims in Ontario". Others questioned this interpretation.^[28] In January 2007, the McGuinty government applied for intervenor status to participate in injunction proceedings.^[29]

In mid-2007, the Ardoch Algonquin and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nations began a protest against proposed uranium mining in the Sharbot Lake area, supported by several members of the local non-aboriginal community. The protesters noted that they had not been consulted by the province before the company Frontenac Ventures began prospecting in the area. A spokesperson for Bartolucci's office confirmed that the province had a legal obligation to consult with First Nations communities before allowing exploration, and said that the province was attempting to "establish better processes" in dealing with such matters.^[30]

Other

In early 2004, Bartolucci re-designated the Muskoka District as a part of southern rather than northern Ontario. The area had previously been a part of southern Ontario until 2000, when the Harris government chose to include it as part of the north. Bartolucci had criticized this decision at the time, arguing that it would allow wealthy cottage communities to access funds earmarked for northern development.^[31] Bartolucci declined to intervene when Inco announced the closure of its Copper Cliff copper refinery in May 2005, saying that he would not compel a company to keep open a financially troubled entity. The United Steelworkers of America protested this decision.^[32]

Bartolucci rang the ceremonial opening bell at the American Stock Exchange in New York City on April 19, 2005, when he was in New York City to promote Northern Ontario mining. A press release indicated that he was the first Canadian cabinet minister to be given this honour.^[33] He later criticized the federal government of Stephen Harper in April 2006, arguing that its proposed settlement of a softwood lumber dispute with the United States would amount to "selling out Ontario".^[34]

Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services

Bartolucci was re-elected without difficulty in the 2007 provincial election. On October 30, 2007, he was appointed as Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Federal relations

In November 2007, Bartolucci called on the federal government of Stephen Harper to honour an election commitment to hire 2,500 new front-line police officers across Canada. He further argued that se should be divided among the provinces by population, an arrangement that would give Ontario 1,000 new officers.^[35] Bartolucci later accused the Harper government of short-changing the province, saying that its formula would likely result in Ontario getting only 500 officers.^[36]

Bartolucci and Attorney General Chris Bentley appealed to the federal government to introduce stricter gun control legislation in March 2008, including a ban on handguns. They also criticized the government for extending an amnesty to gun owners who refuse to register their firearms, saying that this approach undermines the Canadian gun registry.^[37]

Other

Bartolucci defended the use of police tasers in late 2007, in response to mounting criticism that followed the death of Robert Dziekański at the hands of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers in British Columbia. Bartolucci argued there was no conclusive evidence that tasers cause death.^[38] He rejected calls for a moratorium on taser use in June 2008, when an Ontario resident died after being tasered in a confrontation with police. Bartolucci has described Ontario's approach to taser use as "very, very measured".^[39]

Bartolucci amended the province's sex offender registry in December 2007, after the provincial Auditor General reported that prisoners released from federal institutions had not been included on the list.^[40]

In February 2008, Bartolucci met with leaders of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation to discuss grievances about the territory's police detachments. Conditions at many detachments were described as unsafe, and it was estimated that the buildings would cost $23 million to be brought up to code. Bartolucci expressed sympathy, although he did not propose an immediate resolution.^[41]

Bartolucci supported the McGuinty government's decision to renew Julian Fantino's contract as head of the Ontario Provincial Police in February 2008.^[42] Two months later, Bartolucci introduced new animal protection legislation that he described as the toughest in Canada.^[43]

Electoral record

Bartolucci was also elected as a Sudbury councillor from 1979 to 1982, and from 1985 to 1991.

All provincial electoral information is taken from Elections Ontario. The expenditure entries for all elections after 1995 are taken from official candidate reports as listed by Elections Ontario. The figures cited are the Total Candidate's Campaign Expenses Subject to Limitation, and include transfers from constituency associations.

Footnotes

External links

• Ministerial biography
• Party biography
• Legislative record