Mario Sergio (born July 28, 1940) is a former

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 Liberal 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 2018 who represented the ridings of

Yorkview Yorkview was an Ontario provincial electoral district (riding), in the former city of North York from 1963 to 1999. The riding was established for the 1963 Ontario general election. The riding was abolished in preparation for the 1999 Ontario gener ...

and

York West York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

. He served in cabinet in the government of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

as a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

from 2013 to 2016.

Background

Sergio attended technical school in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and worked as a real estate broker after moving to Canada. He started his own general insurance business in 1961, and started a private real estate brokerage firm in 1968.

Municipal politics

Sergio was first elected to the North York

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

in 1978, and remained in municipal politics until 1995 when he was elected to the Ontario legislature. He also served on the Metro Toronto Council from 1985 to 1988, and was a member of North York's Planning Board Committee for fourteen years.

Provincial politics

In the provincial election of 1995, Sergio defeated incumbent

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 ...

George Mammoliti in Yorkview by almost 3000 votes to win election to the legislature. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Sergio joined 29 other Liberals in the official opposition. In the 1999 provincial election, Sergio was re-elected in the new riding of York West by more than 10,000 votes over his nearest opponent. He was subsequently appointed deputy

whip A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...

and critic for small business. The Liberals won the 2003 election, in which Sergio defeated his closest opponent by over 12,000 votes. While in government he has served as

parliamentary assistant In British politics and some Commonwealth nations, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan staff member employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work ...

to a number of different portfolios including Minister of Consumer and Business Services (2003–2004), Minister responsible for seniors (2005–2007), and Minister for Municipal Affairs and Housing (2006-2010, 2011-2013). He was re-elected in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. In 2013, Sergio was appointed as a

with responsibility for Seniors. He left cabinet as part of a

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

on June 13, 2016. On July 13, 2017, Sergio announced that he would not seek re-election in the 42nd Ontario general election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sergio, Mario 1940 births 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Italian emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Metropolitan Toronto councillors Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Calabria Politicians from Toronto 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario