89 Facts About Vic Toews

Vic Toews represented Provencher in the House of Commons of Canada from 2000 until his resignation on July 9,2013, and served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, most recently as Minister of Public Safety.

Vic Toews previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba from 1995 to 1999, and was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Gary Filmon.

Vic Toews was born September 10,1952, in Filadelfia, Boqueron Department, Paraguay, to Mennonite Canadian parents.

Vic Toews's father, Victor David Toews, was a Reverend who was teaching in the Fernheim Mennonite Colony with Toews mother, Anna Peters.

Vic Toews has five siblings: Bernhard, Clara, Marlene, Edward, and Esther.

Vic Toews's family left Paraguay in 1956 for Canada and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Vic Toews speaks Mennonite Low German, Spanish and English.

Vic Toews holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Winnipeg, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Manitoba.

Vic Toews joined the provincial Ministry of Justice in 1976 and became a Crown attorney the following year.

Vic Toews divorced from his wife of 30 years, Lorraine Kathleen Fehr, after it was discovered that he had fathered a child with a young Conservative Party staffer.

In divorce documents, Fehr claimed Vic Toews had a much earlier relationship with the family's child care provider.

In 2005, Vic Toews was charged with violating Manitoba's Election Finances Act in the 1999 provincial election.

Vic Toews joined the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba in 1989, winning a seat in the 1995 election, by narrowly defeating NDP incumbent Harry Schellenberg in the north Winnipeg riding of Rossmere.

In 1999, the Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1999 provincial election and Vic Toews himself lost to Schellenberg in a rematch.

Vic Toews was appointed to the cabinet of Premier Gary Filmon after the election, becoming Minister of Labour on May 9,1995.

Vic Toews rejected these criticisms, and argued that Bill 26 provided greater autonomy to individual workers.

Vic Toews was forced to deal with strikes at Boeing, Inco, and the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation, leading one journalist to describe 1996 as "the busiest year for picketing since the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike".

Vic Toews cancelled the provincial Payment of Wages Fund in July 1996, argued that it was not achieving its purpose.

On January 6,1997, Vic Toews was promoted to Minister of Justice, Attorney General and Keeper of the Great Seal, with further responsibility for Constitutional Affairs.

Vic Toews introduced legislation to make parents legally responsible for the crimes of their children.

Vic Toews criticized some criminal justice initiatives brought forward by the federal government of Jean Chretien.

Vic Toews nonetheless cooperated with the federal government on several issues.

Vic Toews said that the proposal was "sensitive to the needs of the aboriginal community", and that it would reduce the number of repeat offenders.

Some argued that this was improper interference, while Vic Toews stated that he acted to ensure the appointment of more bilingual judges.

Vic Toews was quoted as saying that judges, unlike parliamentarians, "are not well-placed to understand and represent the social, economic and political values of the public".

Vic Toews stated on another occasion that judges have a relatively light workload.

In May 1999, Vic Toews announced that Manitoba would accept a Supreme Court of Canada decision granting spousal benefits to same-sex couples.

The New Democrats argued that Crown offices were underfunded under Vic Toews' watch, and suggested that the Justice Department's prosecutorial duties were compromised.

Vic Toews had been a supporter of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for decades federally.

Vic Toews expressed interest in working with the Canadian Alliance, a successor to the Reform Party that sought to build support among Blue Tory Progressive Conservatives.

Vic Toews endorsed Tom Long's bid for the Alliance leadership in June 2000, and approved of Brian Pallister's efforts to bring the Progressive Conservatives into cooperation with the new party.

Vic Toews formally joined the Alliance in the buildup to the 2000 federal election, and defeated four other candidates to win the party's nomination in Provencher, a primarily rural riding in southeastern Manitoba.

Vic Toews defeated Iftody with a nearly 7,000-vote margin in the general election.

The Liberals won a national majority government, and Vic Toews was appointed as Justice Critic in the opposition shadow cabinet.

Vic Toews did not take a strong position for or against Day's leadership, but issued a call for party discipline pending a formal review.

When Day resigned, Vic Toews worked on Grant Hill's unsuccessful campaign to become the new party leader.

In 2003, Vic Toews recommended that Alliance members purchase Progressive Conservative membership cards to support the leadership bid of Jim Prentice.

Vic Toews denied this constituted interference, and said that members of the two parties should be encouraged to work together.

Vic Toews returned to office in the 2004 federal election as the Liberals were reduced to a minority government, and was retained as Justice Critic in the parliament that followed.

On January 25,2005, Vic Toews pleaded guilty to the charge of exceeding his personal campaign expense limits in the 1999 provincial election.

Vic Toews claimed that the overspending resulted from a miscommunication between his campaign and the provincial party as to how some expenses were to be accounted.

Vic Toews received a $500 fine, and the charge remained on his record.

Vic Toews declined to contest the position, and was returned without difficulty in the 2006 Canadian federal election.

Vic Toews criticized some Supreme Court decisions, and on one occasion accused former Chief Justice Antonio Lamer of overseeing a "frenzy of constitutional experimentation".

Vic Toews called for official reviews of judicial appointments, arguing that the policy views of judges should be known before they take office.

Vic Toews spoke favourably of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on its twentieth anniversary in 2002, describing it as "a powerful check on the power of government to unreasonably intrude on our rights and freedoms".

Vic Toews called for governments to demonstrate more willingness to use the Charter's Notwithstanding Clause to overrule court decisions.

Vic Toews specifically argued that the clause should have been used to overturn a court decision that he claimed weakened Canada's child pornography laws.

Vic Toews stated that the bill could restrict freedom of expression and religion, and was quoted as saying that a "homosexual activist" could sue a hotel chain to remove Bibles as hate literature.

Vic Toews later emerged as a prominent opponent of same-sex marriage, and suggested that changing the definition of marriage in Canada could result in polygamy being legalized.

In mid-2006, Vic Toews's department prepared draft legislation concerning religious rights and freedom of speech in relation to same-sex marriage.

Vic Toews later announced that the Harper government would not appeal the O'Neill decision.

Vic Toews called a judicial inquiry into the 1985 Air India bombing in February 2006.

Vic Toews abolished the Law Commission of Canada later in the year, saying that the government would commission other agencies to do its research work.

Vic Toews called for the bill to be passed in its original form.

In November 2006, Vic Toews introduced a bill to toughen bail conditions for persons accused of gun-related crimes.

Vic Toews's proposed changes were supported by other interested parties, including Manitoba Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh.

The bill became law in February 2008, over a year after Vic Toews left the Justice portfolio.

Vic Toews indicated that his focus was on treatment rather than jail time, although he did not rule out jail sentences for ten-year-olds.

In October 2006, Vic Toews announced plans to introduce more severe sentencing provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Vic Toews confirmed that his government would arm guards at the Canada-United States border, and would not revive plans by the previous Liberal administration to decriminalize simple possession of cannabis.

Some provincial justice ministers expressed concern about the costs of Vic Toews's proposed sentencing reforms.

Vic Toews acknowledged that his government's gun sentencing laws would cost $246 million per year for new prison space and $40 million for operating costs, but argued that the changes were necessary and were requested by police and provincial officials.

In November 2006, Vic Toews announced that police representatives would be appointed to the provincial judicial advisory committees that review the qualifications of potential judges.

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada has criticized Vic Toews's plan, arguing that the government had "politicized" the judicial appointments process.

Vic Toews indicated that he would proceed with his changes despite the opposition, though he was removed from the Justice portfolio before the new system could be implemented.

Vic Toews' department shut down the Co-ordination of Access to Information Requests System in April 2008.

Vic Toews argued that it was expensive, and slowed access to government information.

Vic Toews indicated that he made the remarks with respect to her past statements on Israel.

Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay responded that Vic Toews had taken Arbour's remarks "completely out of context", and described his comments as an "appalling" personal attack.

Claire L'Heureux-Dube criticized Vic Toews' comments, writing that Arbour had avoided taking sides in the Middle East conflict.

Vic Toews was invited to speak at an event marking the 25th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but declined.

The Canadian media subsequently reported that Justice officials had prepared a briefing note on Schreiber the previous year, while Vic Toews was still minister.

In late 2007, Vic Toews indicated that the Harper government would not prioritize funding for a new football stadium proposed by Winnipeg media mogul David Asper.

Vic Toews later modified his position, and announced in June 2008 that he was interested in moving forward with a revised stadium plan.

On January 19,2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Vic Toews would replace Peter Van Loan as the new Public Safety Minister.

In February 2012, as Minister, Vic Toews introduced the Protecting Children from Internet Predators Act.

Vic Toews later denied that he had made the "child pornographers" reference, despite his comments being available in Hansard and on video.

Vic Toews resigned from his position on July 8,2013 and retired from politics.

On March 7,2014, Vic Toews was appointed as a Judge on the Court of King's Bench of Manitoba by Justice Minister Peter MacKay.

In March 2015, Vic Toews had his judicial paycheque garnished to pay rent he owed while he lived in Gatineau during his time as a federal politician.

Vic Toews argued that he did not understand the judicial document that had been sent to him by the collections agency because it was only written in French.

In March 2017, Vic Toews ruled that R v Jordan's 18-month limit before a provincial court case stayed for unreasonable delay did not apply to the speeding case he was deciding.

Vic Toews overturned the decision below because while the delay between the speeding incident and the day the case went to trial was exactly 18 months, the ticket was issued eight days after the speeding incident and the trial was therefore held within the 18-month limit.

Vic Toews was barred by the Conflict of Interest Act from acting for any other party in the case as a formerly involved cabinet minister.

Vic Toews breached the two-year cooling off period for public office holders by consulting for Norway House Cree Nation through his wife's company.

Vic Toews challenged the ethics commissioner's finding to the Federal Court of Canada, which prompted the judicial council to suspend its review pending the outcome of the challenge.

Vic Toews then suspended his challenge in November 2017, saying that he wanted the judicial council proceedings to be resolved as soon as possible.

Note: A subsequent investigation by Elections Manitoba found that Vic Toews overspent by $7,500 in the 1999 campaign.