43 Facts About Tom Wappel

Tom Wappel was a Liberal member of the House of Commons from 1988 to 2008, representing the Toronto riding of Scarborough West and its successor riding of Scarborough Southwest.

Tom Wappel did not seek re-election in the 2008 general election.

Tom Wappel is a prominent opponent of abortion and gay rights, and has made controversial comments on immigration and the role of religion in government.

Tom Wappel opposes the death penalty and describes himself as holding liberal views on economic issues.

Tom Wappel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Laws from Queen's University.

Tom Wappel was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1976 and worked in civil litigation and corporate law.

Tom Wappel won the Scarborough West Liberal nomination in 1988 in a surprising upset over Patrick Johnston, a star candidate who had been personally recruited by party leader John Turner.

Tom Wappel's campaign was supported by members of the anti-abortion group Campaign Life, and his election platform included a pledge of "respect for human life, from conception to the natural end of life".

Tom Wappel opposed the Canada-United States free trade agreement, and criticized the media for portraying him as a single-issue candidate.

Tom Wappel won a narrow victory in the general election, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent Reginald Stackhouse by 440 votes.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in 1988, and Tom Wappel entered Parliament as a member of the opposition.

Tom Wappel was the first declared candidate in the Liberal Party's 1990 leadership convention, announcing his candidacy on June 29,1989.

Tom Wappel described himself as the only candidate willing to make abortion a leadership issue.

Tom Wappel spoke against federal daycare programs during one all-candidates meeting, arguing that the Canadian government should promote stay-at-home parenting instead.

Tom Wappel's candidacy was not supported by any other MPs although he won the endorsement of Liberals for Life, an anti-abortion pressure group working inside the Liberal Party, in March 1990.

Tom Wappel finished in fourth place, as Jean Chretien won the leadership on the first ballot.

Tom Wappel was appointed as the Liberal Party's immigration critic in January 1991.

Tom Wappel's suggestions were leaked to the media and were immediately rejected by the Liberal Party leadership.

Tom Wappel was removed as the Liberal Party's immigration Critic in January 1992 and reassigned as critic for the Solicitor-General.

Tom Wappel was endorsed by the Canadian Police Association in the 1993 federal election, and focused his campaign on "law and order" issues.

Tom Wappel was easily re-elected as the Liberals won a majority government nationally.

Tom Wappel was not appointed to Jean Chretien's cabinet and was a frequent critic of his own party's social legislation.

Later in the year, Tom Wappel described homosexuality as "not genetic, but a choice", while arguing that religion is "virtually genetic, since it is passed from generation to generation".

Tom Wappel remained active on law enforcement issues, introducing a private member's bill to create a national witness protection program and calling for tougher provisions under Canada's Young Offenders Act.

Tom Wappel was re-elected to a third term in the 1997 election, again running on a "law and order" platform.

Tom Wappel ran for Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada in 2001, seeking support from backbench Liberals and opposition members.

Tom Wappel was eliminated after the first ballot of a secret vote by all members of Parliament.

Tom Wappel faced media scrutiny in May 2001, when he refused to help a blind, elderly veteran in his riding whom he suspected of having voted for a rival candidate in the previous election.

Chretien reprimanded Tom Wappel and required him to issue an apology.

Tom Wappel later described the letter as a "stupid mistake", and called for voters to forgive him.

In July 2002, Tom Wappel joined with fifteen other Liberal MPs in calling for Paul Martin to succeed Jean Chretien as Liberal leader.

Tom Wappel issued a report in June 2003 arguing that federal bureaucrats had "badly managed" the sockeye salmon fishery in British Columbia's Fraser River two years earlier.

Tom Wappel remained a government backbencher, and was returned to a fifth parliamentary term in the 2004 election as the Liberals were reduced to a minority government.

Tom Wappel remained one of the most vocal social conservatives in the Liberal caucus and was a prominent opponent of the Martin government's 2005 same-sex marriage legislation, which he described as "discriminatory, a sham, and a hoax".

Tom Wappel was re-elected to the House of Commons in the 2006 federal election, as the Conservative Party won a national minority government.

Tom Wappel was one of twenty-four Liberal MPs to vote for an extension of Canada's military mission in Afghanistan in May 2006.

Tom Wappel renewed his call for abortion legislation, describing Canada as "the only western democracy that has absolutely no law whatsoever when it comes to protecting the unborn child".

Tom Wappel expressed surprise that more Liberal MPs did not support the extension.

Tom Wappel did not endorse any candidate in the 2006 Liberal leadership election, as none of the candidates were declared social conservatives.

Tom Wappel indicated that he would personally vote for Joe Volpe at the convention.

Tom Wappel promoted several private member's bills calling for better nutritional labels on food products.

On March 23,2007, Tom Wappel announced that he would not stand in the next federal election.

Tom Wappel joined the Campaign Life Coalition as its legal counsel on January 1,2009.