Maurizio Bevilacqua

Maurizio Bevilacqua
4th Mayor of Vaughan
In office
December 1, 2010 – November 15, 2022
Deputy
Preceded byLinda Jackson
Succeeded bySteven Del Duca
Secretary of State (International Financial Institutions)
In office
May 26, 2002 – December 12, 2003
Prime MinisterJean Chrétien
MinisterPaul Martin
John Manley
Preceded byJohn McCallum
Succeeded byDenis Paradis (as minister of State (Financial Institutions))
Secretary of State (Science, Research & Development)
In office
January 15, 2002 – May 25, 2002
Prime MinisterJean Chrétien
MinisterAllan Rock
Preceded byGilbert Normand
Succeeded byRey Pagtakhan
Parliamentary constituencies
Member of Parliament
for Vaughan
(Vaughan—King—Aurora; 1997–2004)
In office
June 2, 1997 – September 2, 2010
Preceded byRiding established
Succeeded byJulian Fantino
Member of Parliament
for York North
In office
December 10, 1990 – June 2, 1997
Preceded byHimself
Succeeded byKaren Kraft Sloan
In office
November 21, 1988 – June 7, 1990
Preceded byTony Roman
Succeeded byHimself
Personal details
Born (1960-06-01) June 1, 1960
Citizenship
PartyIndependent
Other political
affiliations
Liberal
ProfessionConsultant

Maurizio Bevilacqua PC (Italian: [mauˈrittsjo beviˈlakkwa]; born June 1, 1960) is a Canadian politician who served as the fourth mayor of Vaughan from 2010 to 2022. He was a Liberal member of Parliament (MP) from 1988 to 2010 and was one of eleven candidates for the 2006 leadership contest, but dropped out of the race on August 14, 2006. He has been described in the media as a "right-of-centre, business friendly Liberal".[1]

He resigned his seat in the House of Commons of Canada[2] and announced on September 3, 2010, that he would be a candidate for mayor of Vaughan.[3] On October 25, he was elected mayor.

Early life

Born in Sulmona, Italy, he arrived in Canada in 1970 at the age of 10.[4] As a youth, he attended Emery Collegiate and received a Bachelor of Arts from York University. He has two children, Jean-Paul and Victoria.

Politics

He first got involved in party politics by working as a staffer for Sergio Marchi,[5] and would later participate in student politics at York University.

Bevilacqua ran as the Liberal candidate in the 1988 federal election in the riding of York North. Following a judicial recount, the Progressive Conservative candidate, Michael O'Brien, was declared the winner and served 55 days as the member of Parliament for York North. In January 1989, however, the decision was overturned on appeal and Bevilacqua was declared elected by 77 votes. He served until the Supreme Court of Ontario annulled the results due to voting irregularities in May 1990, leaving the seat vacant.[6][7] Bevilacqua won the 1990 by-election in York North by over 7,000 votes.[8][9]

Bevilacqua represented the districts of York North (1988–1997), Vaughan—King—Aurora (1997–2004) and Vaughan (2004–2010). He is a former secretary of state (Science, Research and Development) and (International Financial Institutions). He is also a former parliamentary secretary to the minister of Labour (Human Resources Development) and to the Minister of Employment and Immigration (Human Resources Development). He was formerly a consultant.

He was the longtime chair of the Commons finance committee. While a fiscal conservative, Bevilacqua has supported same-sex marriage.[1]

2006 Liberal leadership bid

On April 19, 2006, he declared his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party, joining Martha Hall Findlay, Michael Ignatieff, and Stéphane Dion as official entrants into the leadership race. His supporters included MPs Gerry Byrne and Roy Cullen, former Cabinet minister Roy MacLaren and former party pollster Michael Marzolini. Bevilacqua also attracted the support of former Chrétien organizers Tennio Evangelista, Jeff Angel and Jeff Smith.[1] His campaign for the Liberal Party leadership was not successful and he dropped out of the race on August 14, 2006 to support fellow Liberal Party leadership candidate Bob Rae.[10]

Mayor of Vaughan (2010 - 2022)

Bevilacqua announced in early September 2010 that he was running in the 2010 Vaughan municipal election for the position of mayor. The announcement came shortly after his resignation as member of Parliament for Vaughan.[3]

He defeated controversial incumbent Linda Jackson, the former mayor who was still facing charges from election finance irregularities stemming from her 2006 mayoral victory.[11]

Bevilacqua was re-elected mayor of Vaughan in 2014 and again in 2018, both times with greater than seventy percent of the vote.[12][13]

On June 1, 2022, Bevilacqua announced he would not be seeking re-election in the 2022 election[14] and later endorsed Steven Del Duca to succeed him.[15]

Electoral record

Federal

1988 Canadian federal election: York North
Party Candidate Votes
Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua 37,513
Progressive Conservative Micheal O'Brien 37,436
New Democratic Evelyn Buck 11,583
Libertarian Chris Edwards 1,293
Canadian federal by-election, December 10, 1990: York North
Bevilacqua's 1988 election declared void and invalid on July 6, 1990
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua 21,332 49.90%
New Democratic Peter Devita 14,321 33.50%
Progressive Conservative Micheal O'Brien 4,618 10.80%
Christian Heritage William Ubbens 1,399 3.27%
Libertarian Roma Kelembet 424 0.99%
Independent David M. Shelley 239 0.56%
Independent Adelchi Di Palma 163 0.38%
Independent Paul Wizman 156 0.36%
Independent John Turmel 97 0.23%
Total valid votes 42,749 100.0
1993 Canadian federal election: York North
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Maurizio Bevilacqua 71,223 63.22
Reform Heather Sinclair 20,135 17.87
Progressive Conservative Dario D'Angela 15,451 13.71
New Democratic Peter M.A. Devita 2,996 2.66
National Ben Kestein 1,271 1.13
Libertarian Robert Ede 913 0.81
Natural Law Wayne Foster 676 0.60
Difference 51,088 45.35
Turnout 112,665

Municipal

Source for results:[16]

Mayoral candidate[17] Vote %
Maurizio Bevilacqua (X) 37,072 70.70
Frank Miele 13,690 26.11
Savino Quatela 1,671 3.19

Source:[18]

Mayoral candidate [19] Vote %
Maurizio Bevilacqua (X) 43,894 78.41
Daniel De Vito 6,792 12.13
Paul Donofrio 4,440 7.93
Savino Quatela 852 1.52
Mayoral Candidate [20] Vote %
Maurizio Bevilacqua 45,054 64.1
Linda D. Jackson (X) 10,169 14.5
Mario Racco 10,134 14.4
Paul Donofrio 1,553 2.2
Tony Lorini 1,301 1.9
David Natale 931 1.3
Tony Lombardi 839 1.2
Savino Quatela 252 0.4

References

  1. ^ a b c "Centrist Bevilacqua to seek Liberal leadership". CTV Saskatchewan. April 18, 2006. Archived from the original on September 29, 2011. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  2. ^ San Grewal. Bevilacqua resigns as MP, clears way for run at Vaughan’s top job Archived 2018-06-29 at the Wayback Machine. Toronto Star. August 25, 2010. Retrieved 2014-06-04.
  3. ^ a b "Bevilacqua confirms Vaughan mayoral run" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, CBC News, September 3, 2010. Retrieved 2014-06-4.
  4. ^ "Mayor's Profile". Archived from the original on March 23, 2015. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  5. ^ Bevilacqua considers leadership bid
  6. ^ Taylor, Sterling; Howell, Peter (January 12, 1989). "York North recount puts Bevilacqua in Commons". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. A24. ProQuest 435860391
  7. ^ Dexter, Brian (October 11, 1990). "York North federal by-election call is imminent". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. N1. ProQuest 436289062
  8. ^ Dexter, Brian (December 11, 1990). "Bevilacqua wins York North seat lost in dispute". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. A9. ProQuest 436314588
  9. ^ History of Federal Ridings since 1867
  10. ^ Bevilacqua pulls out of Liberal leadership race . CBC News. August 14, 2006.
  11. ^ "Bevilacqua wins in Vaughan landslide". National Post. October 25, 2010. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  12. ^ "2014 General Election Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  13. ^ "2018 General Election Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  14. ^ "Vaughan Mayor Maurizio Bevilacqua announces he will not seek re-election". Toronto Star. June 2, 2022. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
  15. ^ "Vaughan mayoral candidate Steven Del Duca lands endorsement from popular outgoing mayor". CBC News. October 7, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  16. ^ "Results". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on July 26, 2019. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  17. ^ "Certified Candidates". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on May 9, 2018. Retrieved May 8, 2018.
  18. ^ "2018 Ontario Municipal Elections Ontario Votes - City of Vaughan". Association of Municipalities of Ontario. Archived from the original on November 3, 2018. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
  19. ^ "List of Nominated Candidates for the 2014 Municipal Elections" (PDF). City of Vaughan. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 20, 2014. Retrieved October 16, 2014.
  20. ^ "Vaughan Votes". City of Vaughan. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved July 1, 2010.