1. Julian Fantino was the Conservative Party of Canada Member of the Parliament of Canada for the riding of Vaughan following a November 29,2010 by-election, until his defeat in 2015.
45 Facts About Julian Fantino
1. 2.
On January 4,2011, Fantino was named Minister of State for Seniors; on May 18,2011, he became Associate Minister of National Defence; on July 4,2012, he was named Minister for International Cooperation.
3.
Julian Fantino served as the Minister of Veterans Affairs from 2013 until 2015, when he was demoted to his earlier post of Associate Minister of National Defence following sustained criticism of his performance at Veterans Affairs.
4.
Julian Fantino was defeated by Liberal candidate Francesco Sorbara in the 2015 election.
5.
Julian Fantino was born in Vendoglio, Italy in 1942, and immigrated to Canada with his family when he was 11 years old.
6.
Julian Fantino volunteered as an Auxiliary Police Officer for the Metro Toronto Police from 1964 to 1969 and then joined the force as a Police Constable.
7.
Julian Fantino was a member of the Drug Squad and was promoted to Detective Constable.
8.
Julian Fantino subsequently served with Criminal Intelligence and then the Homicide Squad before being promoted to Divisional Commander and then Acting Staff Superintendent of Detectives.
9.
Journalist Gerald Hannon later published a piece in The Globe and Mail accusing Julian Fantino of mounting an anti-gay witch hunt.
10.
Julian Fantino says that he is "not anti-gay or homophobic" and was simply arresting lawbreakers engaging in "a sick, perverted crime".
11.
Julian Fantino returned to the Greater Toronto Area as Chief of York Regional Police in 1998.
12.
Julian Fantino's tenure was brief and he returned to the Toronto Police Service two years later.
13.
In 2004, Julian Fantino made an attempt to repair relations, primarily by appearing on the cover of fab in a photo which featured him posing in his police uniform with five other models dressed as the Village People standing behind him.
14.
Julian Fantino appeared to have little patience for protesters: he wanted them to ask police for permission before holding demonstrations.
15.
In 2003, Julian Fantino criticized the effectiveness of the Canadian gun registry.
16.
Also in 2003, Julian Fantino publicly named and identified several people as being under investigation for child pornography.
17.
Julian Fantino came under increasing scrutiny due to three corruption scandals which broke out during his tenure and his handling of those incidents.
18.
Julian Fantino was accused of having tried to deal with these cases out of public view and attempting to shield them from investigation by outside police services.
19.
In December 2009, Julian Fantino was accused during a related court case of having "unplugged" a special task force investigating corruption charges against the Toronto Police Service's narcotics squad, thereby ignoring the task force's suspicions that another of the force's drug squads was corrupt.
20.
Lawyer Julian Falconer argued in court that "When Chief Fantino declared there were only a few bad apples, he did not deliver the straight goods," and shut down the investigation before it expanded as part of a damage-control campaign.
21.
On February 8,2005, Julian Fantino was appointed Ontario's commissioner of emergency management by Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty.
22.
Julian Fantino received much public attention over highly publicized child pornography busts, with 21 men arrested in February 2008 and 31 men arrested in February 2009.
23.
Julian Fantino was criticized by lawyer Peter Rosenthal during the trial of aboriginal activist Shawn Brant.
24.
Julian Fantino was criticized for ordering wiretaps of Brant's phone without proper authority and for making provocative comments to Brant during negotiations to end a blockade of the rail line west of Kingston.
25.
Julian Fantino was criticized for his role in the Caledonia land dispute after he was accused of sending e-mails to local politicians accusing them of encouraging anti-police rallies by non-Natives.
26.
Julian Fantino ordered a hearing into the matter but attempted to remove the adjudicator he had appointed on the grounds that the judge was biased against the commissioner due to critical comments he made during testimony by Julian Fantino.
27.
Julian Fantino was summoned in early January 2010 to face a charge of influencing or attempting to influence an elected official in April 2007 in Haldimand County, Ontario.
28.
The charge against Julian Fantino was stayed in February 2010 as the Crown said there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.
29.
On his web site, Brummell alleged that Julian Fantino was an accessory to the murders of Jessica Lloyd and Marie France Comeau, and claimed OPP were knowledgeable of the earlier crimes of Colonel Russell Williams prior to his murders.
30.
Julian Fantino ended speculation that he was interested in the job with a letter to the Globe and Mail.
31.
On October 12,2010, Julian Fantino announced he would seek the nomination for the federal Conservative Party in the riding of Vaughan.
32.
Julian Fantino was acclaimed as Conservative Party's candidate on October 14 and the by-election was called for November 29,2010.
33.
Julian Fantino was elected to the House of Commons of Canada on November 29,2010, by narrowly defeating Liberal candidate Tony Genco.
34.
On January 4,2011, Julian Fantino was named as Minister of State for Seniors.
35.
In Prime Minister Harper's cabinet shuffle following the 2011 federal election Julian Fantino was promoted to Associate Minister of National Defence.
36.
On July 15,2013, Julian Fantino was shuffled to the position of Minister of Veterans' Affairs.
37.
Julian Fantino was criticized for his department's difficulties in delivering help and benefits to veterans and for spending $4 million on advertising to explain the government's position while allowing more than $1 billion allocated for benefits to lapse.
38.
On January 5,2015, after months of controversy, Julian Fantino was replaced by Erin O'Toole and demoted to the position of Associate Defence Minister.
39.
In September 2017, Julian Fantino announced that he was working with Aleafia, a Concord Ontario-based company that is involved in the use of medical marijuana, one of the many start-ups capitalizing on Canada's then-upcoming legalization of cannabis.
40.
On October 31,2017, Julian Fantino was announced as Executive Chairman of Aleafia.
41.
Julian Fantino, who had been the board's chair, resigned from the board effective May 15,2020.
42.
Julian Fantino had been criticized for his involvement due to his longtime opposition to cannabis and having once compared legalizing the substance to legalizing murder.
43.
Julian Fantino was involved in a retail recreational cannabis store which opened in Toronto's Kensington Market in 2020.
44.
On September 28,2017, Julian Fantino swore an affidavit in support of his application to intervene in the judicial review of a decision by the Canadian Judicial Council in respect of a complaint by former Toronto Police officer Donald Best against Ontario Superior Court Justice J Bryan Shaughnessy.
45.
Julian Fantino further posited in the affidavit that there was a conspiracy involving secret backroom dealings by a judge and the police.