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**Mario Silva**
	Mario Silva
	;
	Member of Parliament; for Davenport
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; 2004 election
Preceded by	Charles Caccia
Born	June 11, 1966 (age 43); Azores, Portugal
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	partnered
Residence	Toronto
Profession	educator

This article is about the Canadian MP. For other people of that name, see Mário Silva.

Mario Silva, MP (born June 11, 1966) is a Canadian politician and is one of two MPs of Portuguese descent in the Canadian Parliament. Silva is a former a Toronto City Councillor (1994-2003) and acting mayor^[1] He moved to federal politics, being elected for the Liberal Party of Canada in the 2004 election in the riding of Davenport. He is the current Official Opposition Critic for Foreign Affairs (Americas) after having served as Critic for the Treasury Board and Liberal Critic for Labour Issues. In 2007, the President of the French Republic bestowed him the title of Knight of the Order of the Legion of Honour (Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), the premier order of France and an award of great distinction.

Born in the Azores, Portugal, he was first elected to city council in 1994 after defeating veteran councillor Tony O'Donohue by 15 votes.^[2] Silva received a high grade from the Toronto Environmental Alliance for his support of environmental initiatives, and has strong support from the Labour Movement. Of Portuguese background, Silva is popular locally for his help with immigration matters, community involvement, and record on international human rights.

Silva's move to federal politics was not without controversy, however, as it saw him claim the Liberal nomination in Davenport instead of popular Liberal incumbent Charles Caccia. An ally of new Prime Minister Paul Martin, Silva was seen by the party as a preferable candidate to Caccia, the longest serving Member of Parliament (MP). Caccia had supported Sheila Copps against Martin in the 2003 Liberal Party leadership convention.^[3]

Silva signed up enough new members to likely defeat Caccia in a nomination battle^[4]; Caccia instead chose not to file to be the party's candidate, and after mulling running in the election against Silva as a Green candidate or as an Independent,^[5] announced his retirement from politics.^[6] Despite some ill-will in the riding towards the ousting of Caccia, Silva still won the traditionally Liberal seat by a convincing margin.

As a Member of Parliament Silva has served on several committees including the Environment Committee and the Canadian Heritage Committee. In addition he has championed several human rights and environmental issues including being the first MP to back the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and an outspoken critic for the defence of undocumented workers.

Silva is first Portuguese-Canadian Member of Parliament and only the second MP of Portuguese descent (the first being John Rodriguez, a former New Democratic Party MP for Nickel Belt, who is of Guyanese Portuguese descent).

Shortly after the election, Silva came out as gay in a Toronto Star profile.^[7]

Silva retained the seat in the 2006 election and was the only GTA Liberal MP to increase his voter margin.

[edit] Federal election results

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mario Silva	20,172	51.9%
	New Democratic Party	Gord Perks	12,681	32.6%
	Conservative	Theresa Rodrigues	4,202	10.8%
	Green	Mark O'Brien	1,440	3.7%
	Communist	Miguel Figueroa	172	0.5%
	Canadian Action	Wendy Forrest	122	0.4%
	Marxist-Leninist	Sarah Thompson	103	0.3%
Total valid votes			38,892	100.00%
Total rejected ballots			240	0
Turnout			39,132 of 62,007	63.1%

Source: Elections Canada

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Mario Silva	16,773	50.68%
	New Democratic Party	Rui Pires	11,292	34.12%
	Conservative	Theresa Rodrigues	3,077	9.29%
	Green	Mark O'Brien	1,384	4.18%
	Communist	Elmer Gale	251	0.75%
	Communist	Johan Boyden	137	0.41%
	Canadian Action	John Riddell	97	0.29%
	Marxist-Leninist	Sarah Thompson	79	0.23%
Total valid votes			33,090	99.17%
Total rejected ballots			278	0.83%
Turnout			33,368 of 63,095	52.89%

Source: Elections Canada

[edit] Notes and sources

^ "Acting Mayor" is a non-elected position. For example, the Vancouver City Clerk's office [1] sets out the duties and powers of their Acting Mayor. Other cities will no doubt have somewhat different rules and guidelines.
^ No Byline. Court ends seesaw council battle. Globe and Mail. December 15 1995, p. A2
^ Harding, Katherine. Campaign warhorses consider a new race; Charles Caccia: Trudeau-era minister. The Globe and Mail. May 26 2004, p. A7
^ Hurst, Lynda. Liberals brace for membership fights. Toronto Star. June 15 2002, p. A31
^ Gray, Jeff. Caccia mulling running as an independent. Globe and Mail. April 29 2004, p. A15
^ Cotroneo, Christian. Long-time MP Charles Caccia won't contest Davenport riding; Liberal stalwart decides not to run as independent Party replaced him with Mario Silva at nomination meeting. Toronto Star. June 4 2004, p. F04
^ Gulliver, Tanya (2005-12-08), "Eyes on the prize", Xtra!, http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=1177&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=6, retrieved 2007-09-14

[edit] External links

[edit] Political office

Preceded by Tony O'Donohue	Toronto City Councillor 1994-2003	Succeeded by Adam Giambrone

[actmay-0] "Acting Mayor" is a non-elected position. For example, the Vancouver City Clerk's office [1] sets out the duties and powers of their Acting Mayor. Other cities will no doubt have somewhat different rules and guidelines.

[court-1] No Byline. Court ends seesaw council battle. Globe and Mail. December 15 1995, p. A2

[Caccia-2] Harding, Katherine. Campaign warhorses consider a new race; Charles Caccia: Trudeau-era minister. The Globe and Mail. May 26 2004, p. A7

[battle-3] Hurst, Lynda. Liberals brace for membership fights. Toronto Star. June 15 2002, p. A31

[ind-4] Gray, Jeff. Caccia mulling running as an independent. Globe and Mail. April 29 2004, p. A15

[contest-5] Cotroneo, Christian. Long-time MP Charles Caccia won't contest Davenport riding; Liberal stalwart decides not to run as independent Party replaced him with Mario Silva at nomination meeting. Toronto Star. June 4 2004, p. F04

[xtra-6] Gulliver, Tanya (2005-12-08), "Eyes on the prize", Xtra!, http://www.xtra.ca/public/viewstory.aspx?AFF_TYPE=3&STORY_ID=1177&PUB_TEMPLATE_ID=6, retrieved 2007-09-14

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Contents

[edit] Federal election results

[edit] Notes and sources

[edit] External links

[edit] Political office