Helena Guergis applied unsuccessfully for reinstatement to the Tory caucus.
42 Facts About Helena Guergis
1.
2.
Helena Guergis was defeated while running as an independent in the 2011 election by Kellie Leitch, her replacement as the riding's Conservative candidate.
3.
Helena Guergis was born in Barrie, Ontario; and raised in nearby Angus, part of Essa Township, where her family has a history of political work.
4.
Helena Guergis's cousins David and Tony Guergis were the mayors of Essa and Springwater, her sister Christine Brayford was a municipal councillor in New Tecumseth, their uncle Edward was a municipal councillor in Essa from 1978 to 1985, and their grandfather George was a reeve of Essa from 1971 to 1974.
5.
Helena Guergis attended Georgian College in Barrie, where she completed an Ontario Real Estate program.
6.
Helena Guergis was a constituency assistant and executive assistant to Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament Joe Tascona during this period.
7.
Helena Guergis closed her consumer retail business after six-and-a-half years, to accept a political adviser's position with Janet Ecker, who was then Minister of Education and Finance in the Ontario Progressive Conservative government of Premier Mike Harris.
8.
Helena Guergis held this position for three-and-a-half years, and served three terms as a vice-president on the Progressive Conservative Party's provincial executive.
9.
The PCs did not target this riding as winnable, and Helena Guergis agreed to be a "sacrificial lamb" candidate in order to gain experience.
10.
In 2004, Helena Guergis endorsed Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.
11.
Helena Guergis defeated Liberal incumbent Paul Bonwick by 100 votes in the 2004 election to win the riding of Simcoe-Grey.
12.
The Liberals formed a minority government after the election, and Helena Guergis was appointed to the Conservative shadow cabinet as critic for International Co-operation.
13.
When running for provincial office in 2003 in the socially liberal riding of Trinity-Spadina, Helena Guergis said that she would vote in favour of same-sex marriage if given the opportunity.
14.
Helena Guergis argued that the majority of her constituents opposed the initiative, and that she was committed to supporting their views.
15.
Helena Guergis did in fact vote against Bill C-38, which granted legal sanction to same-sex marriage, in 2005.
16.
Helena Guergis was re-elected with 49.8 per cent of the vote in the 2006 election, substantially increasing her margin of victory as the Conservatives won a minority government nationally.
17.
Helena Guergis's appointment was somewhat controversial, in that Emerson had crossed the floor from the Liberal Party of Canada on the same day that he received his cabinet position.
18.
One day prior to her appointment, Helena Guergis informed the media that she would issue a press release indicating her continued support for anti-floor-crossing legislation.
19.
On January 4,2007, Helena Guergis joined the federal Cabinet when she was promoted to the dual positions of Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Secretary of State for Sport.
20.
In January 2008, Helena Guergis revealed that opposition leader Stephane Dion would be traveling to Kandahar, Afghanistan, to visit a reconstruction project.
21.
Helena Guergis was re-elected in the 2008 federal election, winning 55 per cent of the popular vote, following which she was appointed Minister of State.
22.
On October 15,2008, Helena Guergis married her former caucus colleague Rahim Jaffer; this was her second marriage and his first.
23.
Jaffer and Helena Guergis became engaged in October 2007, and decided on the morning after the election to scrap their planned wedding date and to get married immediately.
24.
On February 19,2010, Helena Guergis was alleged to have had a verbal confrontation with Air Canada and Charlottetown Airport security staff while attempting to board an Air Canada Jazz flight to Montreal.
25.
When Helena Guergis was asked again to take off her footwear, she was allegedly rude and uncooperative.
26.
On February 25,2010, Helena Guergis issued an apology for the airport incident by news release.
27.
Helena Guergis was criticized by members of the Federal Conservative Party, who felt her actions hurt the party.
28.
Helena Guergis subsequently blamed Jessica Craven, her executive assistant, declaring it was not appropriate for her to send letters to media without disclosing her identity.
29.
CTV News reported that Prime Minister Harper forced Helena Guergis to resign from Cabinet and suspended her from caucus, after private investigator Derek Snowdy, who was investigating Gillani on an unrelated matter, claimed that Gillani had made some verbal accusations about Helena Guergis and Jaffer.
30.
Helena Guergis denied the allegations against her; her lawyer stated that she "vigorously denies all of this man's bizarre claims, and looks forward to helping the RCMP demonstrate that they are completely false".
31.
Harper stated that pending the results of the investigation, Helena Guergis would leave the Conservative caucus and sit as an independent.
32.
On May 16,2010 Alfred Apps, Canada's Liberal party president, said Helena Guergis was treated unfairly by PM Stephen Harper.
33.
Helena Guergis is the prime minister of the country and we need to maintain confidence in all the people working for him.
34.
Helena Guergis was involved in an automobile accident in August 2010, but emerged uninjured.
35.
Helena Guergis sought to rejoin the Conservative caucus after being cleared by the RCMP, but was rejected.
36.
Helena Guergis stated she would run as an Independent candidate in the next federal election.
37.
Helena Guergis had purchased an Ottawa home with her husband Rahim Jaffer in November 2009.
38.
In July 2011, Mary Dawson further found Helena Guergis contravened two sections of the MP Conflict of Interest code, by writing a letter of support for a company in the Green Energy sector to a local municipal politician.
39.
On December 22,2011, Helena Guergis launched a defamation lawsuit against Prime Minister Harper, as well as against several other people and organizations, including the federal Tory party, in Ontario Superior Court, over allegations of unfair treatment leading to damage to her reputation and political career.
40.
Helena Guergis's appeal was rejected by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in June, 2013.
41.
Helena Guergis announced in the spring of 2012 that she had moved to Edmonton, Alberta and that she had been accepted to study law at the University of Alberta.
42.
Helena Guergis graduated with her Juris Doctor degree in November 2017.