Carl DeFaria (born ) is a

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1995 to 2003 and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership up ...

Background

DeFaria has a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and a law degree from

Osgoode Hall Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart (architect), John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is n ...

. He worked in criminal and constitutional law before entering political life. DeFaria was also an instructor of the Bar Admission Course for the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

. His wife, Riina DeFaria, has also campaigned for the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

on two occasions.

Politics

He ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, as the Tory candidate in the working-class riding of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He finished a distant third, behind prominent

New Democrat New Democrats may refer to: * New Democratic Party, a social democratic party in Canada * New Democrats (United States), the ideological centrist faction of the Democratic Party ** New Democrat Coalition, the related caucus in the United States H ...

Mike Farnan and a Liberal candidate. DeFaria then ran for the federal Progressive Conservative Party in the federal election of 1993 in

Mississauga East Mississauga East was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2003, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 2007. It was located in the ...

, placing a distant third, this time behind Liberal Albina Guarnieri and a Reform Party candidate. He was elected in Mississauga East by more than 6,000 votes over his Liberal opponent in the provincial election of 1995, amid a Tory sweep of the

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

region. A moderate, DeFaria remained a backbencher during the Progressive Conservative government of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a retired Canadian politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. Taking the PC ...

. DeFaria was re-elected in the provincial election of 1999, defeating his Liberal opponent by more than 4,000 votes. He supported

to succeed Harris as party leader in 2002, and was named Minister of Citizenship with responsibility for Seniors on April 15, 2002. In late 2002, he was criticized by some for issuing a pamphlet of Christmas songs entitled "Sing Along With Carl". One of the works was a

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...

song from 1851, which referred to blacks as "darkies". DeFaria quickly apologized, claiming that he had not scrutinized the pamphlet carefully enough before its release. In the provincial election of 2003, he lost to Liberal candidate

Peter Fonseca : ''For other people with a similar name, see Pedro da Fonseca (disambiguation)'' Peter Fonseca (born 5 October 1966) is a Portuguese-born Canadian politician and former athlete. He is a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada, re ...

(a well-known Olympic athlete) by about 3,000 votes, amid a general regional decline in Tory support.

Later life

He ran for the Mississauga South federal Conservative nomination in 2004, losing to Phil Green. In 2005, DeFaria was appointed director of the Serious Crimes Unit by Timorese President

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. He has served as the 6th prime minister of East Timor since 2023, previously serving in that position from 2007 to 2015. A former rebel, he also served as E ...

. His task was to windup war crimes probes before the UN pullout on May 20, 2005. He faced some criticism that the UN was leaving before the war crime trial process was finished. He said, "Obviously, we would like to have all of the people who have been indicted brought to justice. It will be up to the Timorese government. I'm sure if they decide to pursue it, they will have a lot of support from the international community." In the 2006 federal election, DeFaria ran for the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

, finishing second to longtime Liberal incumbent Albina Guarnieri.

Electoral record (incomplete)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Defaria, Carl 1949 births Businesspeople from Ontario Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from Mississauga Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs University of Toronto alumni 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario