1. Charles Sousa previously served as the Minister of Finance for Ontario from 2013 to 2018.
30 Facts About Charles Sousa
1. 2.
Charles Sousa joined the provincial cabinet as the minister of labour in 2010 and became Ontario's minister of citizenship and immigration in 2011.
3.
In 2022, Charles Sousa ran as the federal Liberal candidate in the Mississauga-Lakeshore by-election which was held on December 12,2022.
4.
In September 2023, Charles Sousa was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement.
5.
Charles Sousa grew up in Mississauga and graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1982 with a degree in Business Administration.
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Charles Sousa then earned an Executive MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario in 1994.
7.
Charles Sousa worked at Royal Bank of Canada Financial Group for more than 20 years, primarily as Director Commercial Banking and Director Marketing at RBC Dominion Securities.
8.
Charles Sousa has been a member of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, a director with the United States Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Toronto Board of Trade.
9.
Charles Sousa was an ambassador for the Credit Valley Hospital Foundation and an honorary chair of the Rainbow Ball Foundation.
10.
In 2003, Charles Sousa received a Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of his service to the community.
11.
In 2015, Charles Sousa was ranked as nobleman to the Confraria Port Wines.
12.
Charles Sousa served as one of 29 co-chairs for John Tory's campaign for mayor of Toronto in the 2003 election, being part of the leadership of the group "Grits for Tory".
13.
Charles Sousa ran against sitting Mississauga South member of Parliament Paul Szabo for the federal Liberal nomination in 2004, but was defeated in a tightly fought but amicable campaign.
14.
In 2014 Charles Sousa backed Sven Spengemann for the federal Liberal nomination against Szabo's preferred candidate, Julie Desjardins with Spengemann winning by only 19 votes as Szabo and Desjardins felt that the nomination was stolen.
15.
Charles Sousa won the riding of Mississauga South in the 2007 provincial election, defeating incumbent Tim Peterson.
16.
Analysts had expected the vote to be extremely close, but Charles Sousa ultimately won the riding with 46.8 per cent of the popular vote, a margin of just over 5,000 votes more than Peterson.
17.
Charles Sousa was appointed as a parliamentary assistant to three different ministries before Dalton McGuinty promoted him to cabinet in 2010 as Minister of Labour.
18.
In 2008, Charles Sousa introduced a private member's bill to track and report industrial, commercial and institutional waste.
19.
Charles Sousa introduced a private member's resolution to improve financial literacy education amongst youth.
20.
Charles Sousa facilitated passage of the Payday Loans Act to protect Ontario consumers against predatory lending.
21.
Charles Sousa introduced and received unanimous support for Bill 181, the Fire Protection and Prevention Amendment Act, addressing protection for Ontario firefighters and duty of fair representation.
22.
In May 2013, Charles Sousa assumed the role of Management Board Chair when Harinder Takhar suffered a minor heart attack.
23.
In 2014 and in 2017, Charles Sousa tabled a Long Term Report on the Ontario Economy.
24.
Charles Sousa led Ontario's biggest shakeup to beverage alcohol retailing since Prohibition ended in 1927 by introducing beer and cider to grocery stores, and later wine.
25.
Charles Sousa spearheaded Ontario's leadership on increasing personal contributions and benefits to the Canadian Pension Plan, which ultimately led to a national agreement in principle to enhance the Canada Pension Plan.
26.
Charles Sousa has led the establishment of the Cooperative Capital Markets Regulator.
27.
Since Charles Sousa became Finance Minister in 2013 the provincial net debt has risen from $252.1 billion to $305.2 billion.
28.
In November 2016, Charles Sousa announced plans to create a new regulator in the province to consolidate and strengthen oversight of credit unions, mortgage brokers, provincial pension plans and provincially registered insurers.
29.
On March 28,2018, Charles Sousa released the 2018 Ontario Budget: A Plan for Care and Opportunity.
30.
Charles Sousa comfortably won the election, defeating Conservative candidate Ron Chhinzer.