Helena C. Guergis, ( ; born February 19, 1969) is a Canadian politician. She represented the Ontario riding of Simcoe—Grey in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2011, and was appointed Minister of State (Status of Women) on October 30, 2008, following the October 14, 2008 Canadian federal election. Soon after starting her parliamentary career, she became involved in several controversial situations, and these increased with time in both number and severity.
Guergis was forced to resign from the Cabinet of Canada and leave the Conservative Party caucus on April 9, 2010, pending a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation into "serious" but unspecified allegations regarding her conduct."Guergis resigns, now faces RCMP probe" , Toronto Star, April 9, 2010 While the RCMP investigated, and eventually concluded there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing, Guergis continued to sit as an Independent Conservative in the House of Commons. She applied unsuccessfully for reinstatement to the Tory caucus. Guergis was defeated while running as an independent in the 2011 election by Kellie Leitch, her replacement as the riding's Conservative candidate.
On December 22, 2011, Guergis launched a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Stephen Harper and several other people and organizations, including the federal Conservative Party, filed in Ontario Superior Court, over accusations of unfair and malicious treatment causing damage to her political career and reputation. Her lawsuit was later dismissed.
Early life Guergis was born in Barrie, Ontario, of Assyrian descent, and raised in nearby Angus, part of Essa Township, where her family has a history of political work. Her cousins David and Tony Guergis were the mayors of Essa and Springwater, her sister Christine Brayford was a municipal councillor in New Tecumseth, their uncle Edward was a municipal councillor in Essa from 1978 to 1985, and their grandfather George was a reeve of Essa from 1971 to 1974."Growing Up Guergis: The evolution of a political family" , Simcoe Life, Spring 2007. Both David and Tony Guergis lost in landslide defeats in their bids for re-election in 2010.
Guergis attended Georgian College in Barrie, where she completed an Ontario Real Estate program. After her graduation, she opened a bed-and-bath gift shop called "Final Touch" at the Rainbow Mall in Angus.Helena Guergis, statement at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, 14 October 2004. See also CBC Canada Votes 2006, Simcoe-Grey riding entry . She also worked as a fundraising volunteer for the Angus Food Bank and the Barrie Literacy Council, and was a Crisis Intervention volunteer for the Barrie and District Rape Crisis Centre for seven years. Guergis was a constituency assistant and executive assistant to Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Joe Tascona during this period.
Provincial politics Guergis closed her consumer retail business after six-and-a-half years, to accept a political adviser's position with Janet Ecker, who was then Minister of Education and Finance in the Ontario Progressive Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris. She held this position for three-and-a-half years, and also served three terms as a vice-president on the Progressive Conservative Party's provincial executive.Robert Benzie, "Marchese fighting cynicism to keep seat he's held 13 years", Toronto Star, 3 September 2003, A08.
She was the Progressive Conservative candidate for the downtown Toronto riding of Trinity—Spadina in the 2003 provincial election. The PCs did not target this riding as winnable, and Guergis agreed to be a "sacrificial lamb" candidate in order to gain experience. She finished a distant third against New Democratic Party incumbent Rosario Marchese. In 2004, Guergis endorsed Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
Member of Parliament Guergis defeated Liberal incumbent Paul Bonwick by 100 votes in the 2004 election to win the riding of Simcoe-Grey. The Liberals formed a minority government after the election, and Guergis was appointed to the Conservative shadow cabinet as critic for International Co-operation. On January 24, 2005, she was appointed deputy critic for seniors' issues.
Stances on same-sex marriage issue When running for provincial office in 2003 in the socially liberal riding of Trinity-Spadina, Guergis said that she would vote in favour of same-sex marriage if given the opportunity. Responding to a question on same-sex marriage at an all-candidates debate, she said, "I believe in the right to choose, so I would be voting in favour of it.""Marchese 1; Guergis, Pedro 0", The Varsity, 9 September 2003. The context of the article indicates that she was responding to a question on same-sex marriage, not civil unions.
Campaigning the following year in the socially conservative riding of Simcoe-Grey, Guergis said that she would vote against the federal government's proposed legalization of same-sex marriage. She argued that the majority of her constituents opposed the initiative, and that she was committed to supporting their views. Guergis did in fact vote against Bill C-38, which granted legal sanction to same-sex marriage, in 2005. In the same year, she tabled a private member's bill restricting MPs from crossing parties after their election.Jason Fekete, "Cabinet controversy ruffles Tory feathers", Calgary Herald, 8 February 2006, A4.
Wins re-election, becomes parliamentary secretary Guergis was re-elected with 49.8 per cent of the vote in the 2006 election, substantially increasing her margin of victory as the Conservatives won a minority government nationally. On February 7, 2006, she was named by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as parliamentary secretary to David Emerson, the Minister of International Trade, and the Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics. Guergis's appointment was somewhat controversial, in that Emerson had crossed the floor from the Liberal Party of Canada on the same day that he received his cabinet position. One day prior to her appointment, Guergis informed the media that she would issue a press release indicating her continued support for anti-floor-crossing legislation. The release never appeared.Alexander Panetta, "Tory Rumblings; Some MPs in the new government want to revive legislation against switching parties", Hamilton Spectator, 8 February 2006, A10.
Cabinet Minister On January 4, 2007, Guergis joined the federal Cabinet when she was promoted to the dual positions of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Secretary of State for Sport. In February, she rejected opposition calls for a travel advisory for Mexico. Opposition members had made this request, after four Canadian tourists were killed in Mexico over the course of a year.Richard Brennan, "Tories dismiss calls for Mexico travel advisory", Toronto Star, 9 February 2007, A10.
On February 19, 2007, Guergis and Health Minister Tony Clement announced that Canada was reviving its dormant ParticipACTION program to encourage personal fitness."Ottawa revives ParticipACTION campaign to promote fitness", National Post, 17 February 2007, 17 February 2007, A10; "ParticipACTION is Back" [press release], Canada NewsWire, 19 February 2007, 16:13.
Afghan detainee controversy, injudicious information release The Conservative government was criticized in April and May 2007, over its handling of reports on the alleged mistreatment of prisoners captured by Canadian soldiers and turned over to local authorities in Afghanistan. At one stage, Guergis stated in response to an opposition question in Parliament that "The NATO commander has confirmed and has said that he sees no evidence to back up any allegations that are being made by the Taliban alleged terrorist detainees. The hon[orable] member continues to take the word of the Taliban detainees over our brave Canadian men and women and that is truly unfortunate." The matter expanded into a full-blown controversy several months later, when it became clear that evidence of Afghan detainee mistreatment had been covered up, and it has retained Parliament's interest to the present day.
In January 2008, Guergis revealed that opposition leader Stéphane Dion would be traveling to Kandahar, Afghanistan, to visit a reconstruction project. This visit, along with similar visits to sensitive war-torn regions by Canadian politicians of all parties, along with other notable Canadians, was supposed to have been kept secret for Dion's protection. After his return to Canada, Dion angrily criticized Guergis' action, saying that she put him at risk of possibly being attacked by the Taliban. In a letter to Harper, Dion demanded Guergis' resignation or firing, saying that Guergis committed a "gross breach of Canadian security" that raised doubts about her fitness for Cabinet.
She was re-elected in the 2008 federal election, winning 55 per cent of the popular vote,Guergis makes first public appearance since resigning Canoe News April 24, 2010 following which she was appointed Minister of State (Status of Women).
Remarriage On October 15, 2008, Guergis married her former caucus colleague Rahim Jaffer; this was her second marriage and his first. Jaffer and Guergis became engaged in October 2007, and decided on the morning after the election to scrap their planned wedding date and to get married immediately. Jaffer, who had served as an MP since 1997 at the age of 25, lost his own Alberta seat, Edmonton—Strathcona, in the election. Their wedding was presided over by Ian McClelland, a former Member of Parliament and a licensed marriage commissioner, later that same day at McClelland's home. The couple's parliamentary colleague James Rajotte, along with one of Jaffer's cousins, witnessed the ceremony.
On June 16, 2010, Jaffer excused his absence from a parliamentary committee hearing, which was being convened to look into allegations of his misconduct, by disclosing that Guergis was pregnant.
Controversies
Charlottetown Airport incident On February 19, 2010, Guergis was alleged to have had a verbal confrontation with Air Canada and Charlottetown Airport security staff while attempting to board an Air Canada Jazz flight to Montreal. According to an anonymous letter allegedly from an airport employee, Guergis arrived with an aide very late for her flight to Montreal, and publicly berated airport staff and security. During pre-boarding airport screening, Guergis reportedly refused to remove her footwear, which set off the alarm as she walked through the metal detector. When Guergis was asked again to take off her footwear, she was allegedly rude and uncooperative. On February 25, 2010, Guergis issued an apology for the airport incident by news release. During the week of March 15, 2010, Guergis claimed that she had grounds for legal action against Air Canada, for violation of her privacy. Guergis was criticized by members of the Federal Conservative Party, who felt her actions hurt the party.
CBC's TV news anchor Peter Mansbridge went to an airport security headquarters office in Ottawa with Guergis to view the tapes of the alleged incident. Mansbridge described it as "pretty tame stuff." "At no time does she throw her boots. Nor does she wave her arms around, he said." "I can tell you I have seen a lot worse on most of my trips through Canadian airports of people being upset about what they were being put through," Mansbridge said."
Letters to the editor controversy