James Michael Flaherty was a Canadian politician who served as the federal minister of finance from 2006 to 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
54 Facts About Jim Flaherty
2.
Jim Flaherty entered federal politics and ran for the Conservative Party in the 2006 election.
3.
Jim Flaherty tabled nine federal budgets and was the longest continuously serving minister in Harper's government until his resignation in 2014.
4.
Jim Flaherty died of a heart attack three weeks after his resignation as minister.
5.
Jim Flaherty was born on December 30,1949 in Lachine, Quebec, the son of Mary, who was from a "prosperous family", and Edwin Benedict Jim Flaherty, an entrepreneur and chemist.
6.
Jim Flaherty's parents were from New Brunswick, his father from Loggieville and his mother from Campbellton.
7.
Jim Flaherty attended Bishop Whelan High School and Loyola High School, Montreal.
8.
Jim Flaherty wrote his senior thesis, titled "Camp X: Sensitivity Training with a Group of Young Adults", on the sensitivity training at Camp X, a military training institute in Ontario.
9.
Jim Flaherty then received a Bachelor of Laws degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University.
10.
Jim Flaherty practised law for 20 years, and was a founding partner of Flaherty Dow Elliott after splitting from Gilbert Wright and Flaherty.
11.
Jim Flaherty ran for in the provincial election of 1990, finishing third against New Democrat Drummond White and Liberal Allan Furlong in the riding of Durham Centre.
12.
Jim Flaherty ran again and was elected in the 1995 election.
13.
Jim Flaherty was named Minister of Labour in the cabinet of Premier Mike Harris on October 10,1997, and kept this position until after the 1999 election.
14.
Jim Flaherty served as interim Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services from April 27 to July 27,1998.
15.
Jim Flaherty was a key promoter of tax credits for parents sending their children to private and denominational schools, which the Tories had campaigned against in 1999.
16.
In June 2001, Jim Flaherty was evicted from his constituency office in a theatrical action by Ontario Coalition Against Poverty which aimed to bring home the effects of his policies.
17.
Jim Flaherty ran to succeed Harris in the 2002 PC leadership election, but lost to frontrunner Ernie Eves, his predecessor as finance minister.
18.
Jim Flaherty's campaign featured attacks on Eves, calling him a "serial waffler" and a "pale, pink imitation of Dalton McGuinty".
19.
Jim Flaherty's purported plan was to have special constables encourage homeless persons to seek out shelters or hospitals.
20.
Jim Flaherty argued that his policy would save the lives of homeless persons; leadership rival Elizabeth Witmer and other critics described it as callous, and ineffective against the root causes of homelessness.
21.
Jim Flaherty promised to implement further tax cuts, carry through with plans to create a tax credit for parents sending their children to private school, and privatizing the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.
22.
Jim Flaherty emerged as a social conservative in this campaign, particularly a staunch stance against abortion and his association with anti-abortion groups.
23.
Jim Flaherty retained this position until the Tories were defeated in the provincial election of 2003.
24.
Jim Flaherty declared himself a candidate to succeed him, but was defeated by John Tory by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent on the second ballot of the PC leadership election held on September 18,2004.
25.
Jim Flaherty's supporters included former cabinet ministers John Baird, Tim Hudak and Norm Sterling.
26.
Jim Flaherty emphasized fiscally conservative themes, including further tax cuts and greater privatization.
27.
Jim Flaherty promised to create EXCEL scholarships, whereby students attaining high grades in high school would have half their university tuition paid by the government.
28.
Until 2005, Jim Flaherty served as finance critic in John Tory's shadow cabinet.
29.
On February 6,2006, Jim Flaherty was sworn in as Minister of Finance in Stephen Harper's new Conservative Cabinet.
30.
Jim Flaherty was appointed Minister Responsible for the Greater Toronto Area.
31.
Jim Flaherty announced his resignation from the cabinet on March 18,2014.
32.
Jim Flaherty was a central figure in the debate surrounding the new proposed rules for taxation of Canadian income trusts.
33.
Jim Flaherty said that income trusts would cost the government $500 million annually in lost tax revenue and shift the burden onto ordinary people.
34.
John McCallum, the Liberal finance critic, asked Jim Flaherty to explain the reasoning behind the change in income trust tax policy.
35.
In Budget 2007, Jim Flaherty introduced the Registered Disability Savings Plan.
36.
In Budget 2008, Jim Flaherty introduced the Tax-Free Savings Account, a flexible, registered, general-purpose savings vehicle that allows Canadians to earn tax-free investment income to more easily meet lifetime savings needs.
37.
In 2009, Jim Flaherty received an award from EUROMoney Magazine, naming him Finance Minister of the Year.
38.
Jim Flaherty responded to a report from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities that suggested that cities had an infrastructure deficit of $123 billion and the federal government should step up with some cash with the suggestion cities should stop "whining" and repair their own crumbling infrastructure.
39.
The Toronto Star determined that several people who supported Jim Flaherty when he was an Ontario cabinet minister or who supported his two failed bids to lead the Ontario Tories were awarded employment contracts or given appointments.
40.
On May 13,2008, Jim Flaherty appeared before the Public Accounts committee, facing questions about multiple sole-sourced contracts worth more than $300,000 that were given by the government.
41.
Jim Flaherty says he was unaware his former chief of staff broke government rules in handing a well-connected Tory an untendered contract to write the 2007 budget speech.
42.
However, in a letter Jim Flaherty sent to US newspapers in September 2011, he said the law would waste resources and raise privacy concerns.
43.
On February 5,2014, Jim Flaherty signed Canada on as a participant to FATCA through an Intergovernmental Agreement.
44.
Jim Flaherty intended to fund most of Canada's new infrastructure though Public-private partnerships.
45.
Jim Flaherty intervened in the 2013 Regina wastewater plant funding referendum, during which he wrote an open letter arguing that voters should select the P3 option.
46.
Jim Flaherty's arguments included the promise of allocating $58.5 million of federal funding if the P3 option is selected.
47.
Jim Flaherty presented nine budgets to the Canadian Parliament as Minister of Finance.
48.
On March 18,2014, Jim Flaherty announced that he was resigning as Minister of Finance in order to return to the private sector.
49.
Jim Flaherty continued sitting in the House of Commons as an MP until his death three weeks later.
50.
Jim Flaherty grew up in a Catholic family in Montreal, and was of part Irish descent.
51.
Jim Flaherty assisted in several volunteer causes, including being the president of the Head Injury Association of Durham Region in Ontario.
52.
Elliott and Jim Flaherty have both championed issues surrounding children with disabilities; their son, John, has a disability.
53.
Jim Flaherty was treated with prednisone, a powerful steroid for which side effects such as those suffered by Flaherty are well-documented.
54.
Jim Flaherty died on April 10,2014, at his home in Ottawa after suffering a heart attack at the age of 64.