Peter Alan Stollery (born November 29, 1935) is a former Canadian politician and businessman.

Background

An old Yorkville family, the Stollerys owned a furnishings store named Stollery's, which opened in 1901 in

downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

. Peter Stollery, the founder’s grandson, worked on and off at the haberdashery for 24 years, first as a furnishings’ man and eventually as a manager from 1965 to 1968 after his father, Alan Stollery, died suddenly. His attachment to these roots explain his later designation in the

Senate of Canada The Senate of Canada () is the upper house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, they compose the Bicameralism, bicameral le ...

as Senator for " Bloor and Yonge", the intersection at which the store was located. Before entering public life, Stollery also worked as a teacher in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

and travel writer for ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

''. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, and a Member of the

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

in London.

Career in Parliament

Stollery was elected to 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 ...

as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

candidate in the 1972 election for Spadina riding in Toronto defeating incumbent MP Perry Ryan who had left the Liberals and

crossed the floor In some parliamentary systems (e.g., in Canada and the United Kingdom), politicians are said to cross the floor if they formally change their political affiliation to a political party different from the one they were initially elected under. I ...

to the Progressive Conservatives. He was re-elected in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

and 1980 elections. He served for a time as chairman of the Liberal

Caucus A caucus is a group or meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to ...

(1976–1978), and as parliamentary secretary to the Secretary of State and to the Minister of Communications (1980–1981). In 1981, Stollery was appointed to the

on the recommendation of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

. Trudeau wanted to open Stollery's Spadina riding so his aide James Coutts could be elected to Parliament in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

. The voters rebelled, and in the subsequent by-election Coutts was defeated in what had been a safe Liberal seat by

Dan Heap Daniel James Macdonnell Heap (September 24, 1925 – April 25, 2014) was a Canadian activist and politician. Heap served as a Member of Parliament with the New Democratic Party, a Toronto City Councillor, a political activist and an Anglican w ...

of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

. He retired from the Senate on November 29, 2010, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75, at which point he had served in Parliament for over 38 years, including more than 29 years in the Senate. In the Senate, Stollery served on several committees. He took part in numerous overseas delegations and assumed the position of Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs (1999–2005). He continued to serve on the committee as Vice-Chair until his retirement from the Senate. He has been involved with the Canada-Europe Interparliamentary Union.

Controversy

On May 29, 2006, during a session of the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, Stollery criticized

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan politician who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from 2002 to 2014, including as the first president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2004 to 2014. He previously served a ...

, then President of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. Although Karzai was democratically elected, Stollery implied that Karzai's ascent to power was due to US influence. He argued that Canadian troops could be better used to help “create a democratic society in Afghanistan”. In September 2006, Stollery added that the limited presence of Canadian troops on the African continent was a result of military officials believing it was not as "sexy" as helping the U.S. by fighting in Afghanistan. He was subsequently criticized by Liberal Senator

Roméo Dallaire Roméo Antonius Dallaire (born June 25, 1946) is a retired Canadian politician and military officer who was a senator from Quebec from 2005 to 2014, and a lieutenant-general in the Canadian Armed Forces. He notably was the force commander of U ...

, who called Stollery's comments "scandalous language." Dallaire stated that "Nothing is sexy in war. The whole concept of war is perverse, and the reason we're in one area and not another is because political decisions have been taken."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stollery, Peter 1935 births Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian businesspeople in retailing Canadian senators from Ontario Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Liberal Party of Canada MPs Liberal Party of Canada senators Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario Politicians from Toronto 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada 20th-century members of the Senate of Canada 21st-century members of the Senate of Canada