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Tax on Soda Another Misguided Attempt by Public Health Officials |... healthandfitnessadvice.co... | Augusta Dentists - Dr. Bryant, DMD, FAGD - Bryant Dental Care of Augusta bryantdentalcare.com |
Michael J. Bryant (born April 13, 1966) is former public administrator and former politician in Ontario, Canada. A Harvard-trained lawyer, he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of St. Paul's for the Ontario Liberal Party from 1999 until 2009. He served until May 25, 2009, as a member of Dalton McGuinty's provincial cabinet, first as Attorney-General[1], being the province's youngest-ever to hold that post, and subsequently as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, Minister of Economic Development and Government House Leader. Bryant left provincial politics to take up the newly-created post of chief executive officer of Invest Toronto, an agency owned and operated by the City of Toronto with a mandate to attract investment to the municipality and facilitate economic development. After an altercation with a cyclist on August 31, 2009, Bryant was charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death. Shortly after, he resigned as CEO of Invest Toronto, while maintaining that he is innocent of the charges.[2]
[edit] BackgroundBryant was raised in the Greater Victoria area of British Columbia, where his father Ray was mayor of Esquimalt from 1966 to 1969.[3] He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia in 1988, and a Master's Degree from the same institution in 1989.[4] He graduated as in 1992 from Osgoode Hall Law School with an LL.B.[4] and was the silver medalist of his year[5]. He then earned an LL.M. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1994.[4] Bryant is a Fulbright Fellow. He clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992-93, and was later a lawyer at the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City, as well as lecturing in law at King's College at the University of London in England, and practicing litigation at McCarthy Tétrault.[4][6] In 1997, he became an adjunct professor in international law at the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.[4] In December 2009, he restarted his career in law when he joined the firm Ogilvy Renault as a special adviser in the area of energy law.[7] Bryant lives in midtown Toronto with his wife Susan Abramovitch, who is an entertainment lawyer, and their two children.[6] [edit] PoliticsBryant was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1999, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Isabel Bassett in St. Paul's by almost 5,000 votes. Bryant had won the Liberal Party's nomination meeting over Kathleen Wynne, 328 votes to 143. The Progressive Conservatives were re-elected, and Bryant served as his party's Critic to the Attorney General for the next four years. He was re-elected by a greater majority in the provincial election of 2003. The Liberals won a majority government in this election, and Bryant was appointed Ontario Attorney General and Minister with responsibility for Native Affairs and Democratic Renewal. While Attorney General he helped create Ontario's controversial Stunt Driving law, aimed at reducing street racing, and supported seizing and crushing vehicles that had been modified for street racing.[8][9] Bryant was also a strong proponent of a complete ban on handguns in Canada, at one point launching a website named "No Gun, No Funeral."[10] Bryant was re-elected in the 2007 election and appointed as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs following a post-election cabinet shuffle on October 30, 2007. On September 18, 2008, he became Minister of Economic Development, replacing Sandra Pupatello. On May 23, 2009, Bryant announced that he would be leaving provincial politics in order to become CEO of the newly-established Invest Toronto corporation, with Dalton McGuinty taking over his portfolio of Economic Development.[11] Bryant denied that his departure was as a result of a falling-out with McGuinty, though reports suggested that Bryant's outspoken nature and ambition for the Premier's job may have been controversial within McGuinty's inner circle.[12][13][14] Bryant's resignation was effective June 7, 2009. Eric Hoskins retained the seat for the Liberals in a by-election held on September 17, 2009. [edit] 2009 criminal charges On September 1, 2009, Bryant was taken into police custody after an altercation with cyclist Darcy Allan Sheppard which resulted in the cyclist's death.[15] Bryant was later charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death with respect to the incident.[16] Witness reports indicated that Bryant's black Saab convertible and Sheppard were involved in what police referred to as "an altercation which ended in a minor collision".[17][18] According to police and to witness reports, Bryant attempted to end the altercation by driving away, and Sheppard grabbed hold of the side of the vehicle as it sped away.[18][19][20] Witnesses have said that it appeared as though Bryant then attempted to knock Sheppard off the car by brushing against trees and mailboxes on the eastbound lane of Bloor Street while driving west towards Avenue Road. Police are also investigating witness reports that Sheppard may have reached into Bryant's convertible and grabbed Bryant or the steering wheel.[21] According to police, "At this point, we're not sure if the victim was holding on to the headrest, the door or the wheel... We need a clearer look. In the video we have seen so far, we can't make that out. Much of what we have are distance shots or blurred."[22] Sheppard fell and later died of his injuries in hospital.[1][23][24] Sheppard's girlfriend reported to the media that before the incident, Sheppard had been intoxicated to such an extent that she did not want him to cycle home from her apartment. Police had been called to her apartment that evening to investigate “unknown trouble” and had briefly questioned Sheppard. Police stated that there was no indication Sheppard was intoxicated,[25] but that they knew he had been drinking.[26] According to Toronto police Sgt. Tim Burrows, Bryant had not been drinking that evening.[25] Burrows is quoted elsewhere as stating that there was no reason to give Bryant a breathalyzer test following the incident.[27] Bryant was released the next day by the police on his own recognizance without a bail hearing, appearing in a suit and tie to read a prepared statement to the media, where he maintained that he was innocent of the charges and extended condolences to Sheppard's family. A veteran defence lawyer suggested that "anyone else would have been taken to bail court and forced to stand in the box, unshaven and dishevelled".[28] Bryant also resigned as CEO of Invest Toronto, saying that the arrest would act as a distraction for the corporation. The terms of Bryant's release required him to abstain from driving, surrender his passport and remain in Ontario.[2] He will be defended by Marie Henein.[29] The Ministry of the Attorney General has appointed British Columbia's Richard Peck as the prosecutor and is expected to have an out-of-province judge oversee this case, as Bryant previously appointed judges and oversaw Crown prosecutors when he was serving as Attorney General.[30] His first court date was scheduled for October 19, 2009,[31][32] where the trial was adjourned until November 16, 2009,[33] and again to December 7, 2009.[34] On December 7, the case was put over yet again until January 22, 2010.[35] Bryant has hired the services of a public relations firm, Navigator Ltd., fueling speculation that media coverage of the facts, in particular the victim's history with addiction and legal problems, was informed by Navigator's activities to portray Bryant as the victim with respect to the incident. In response, a grassroots online campaign has emerged on blogs and social networks such as Twitter and YouTube by citizens seeking to publicize surveillance video clips of the events that they allege cast the victim in a more favourable light.[36] A Twitter account run by Navigator, @bryantfacts, has been countered by another Twitter account, @bryanttruths, set up by public relations professional Don Wiedman. On YouTube, an anonymous user using the name Honest Edits has posted videos of the surveillance footage broadcast by CTV News, CityTV News, and CBC News. Compressed for clarity, they are strung together in a chronological sequence that the news media have not presented. The videos have received tens of thousands of views.[37] [edit] References
[edit] External linksCategories: 1966 births | Academics of King's College London | Attorneys General of Ontario | Clerks of the Supreme Court of Canada | Harvard Law School alumni | University of Toronto faculty | Liberal Party of Ontario MPPs | Living people | Members of the Executive Council of Ontario | People from Victoria, British Columbia | University of British Columbia alumni | York University alumni | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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