Andy Mitchell

Over one thousand people were killed when ship sank in the Saint Lawrence River in 1914, and Mitchell argued the detonation would violate Canada's laws against interference with human remains.

Many of the deceased were members of the Salvation Army, which strongly opposed the detonation plans.

Andrew Mitchell, (born April 21, 1953) is a Canadian politician.

Mitchell was born in Montreal, Quebec, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Carleton University (1972).

Before running for public office, he worked for the Bank of Nova Scotia in Ottawa, Toronto, Cornwall, Elliot Lake, and Gravenhurst.

He was also active with several local Chamber of Commerce organizations.

Mitchell joined the Liberal Party in 1991.

He served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2006, representing Parry Sound-Muskoka as a member of the Liberal Party.

He was a minister in the government of Jean Chrétien and a cabinet minister in the government of Paul Martin.

Mitchell was first elected in the 1993 federal election, winning a seat that had been held by the Progressive Conservatives since 1957.

At the time, he did not have a strong public profile outside of his riding.

The Liberals won a majority government, and Mitchell entered parliament as a backbench supporter of Jean Chrétien's government.

He chaired a parliamentary task force that examined banking and small business policy in 1994.

Its recommendations included a code of conduct for banks regarding small business loans, an ombudsman to oversee this code of conduct, and a provision allowing entrepreneurs to borrow up to twenty per cent from their registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs).

The proposed code of conduct was intended to facilitate more bank loans to small businesses.

In 1996, Mitchell was appointed to another task force that examined the role of the federal government in relation to Canada's disability community.

It recommended that the government cancel its plans to wind down assistance programs for disabled people and instead introduce new programs and tax credits.

Mitchell argued this investment was necessary to ensure disabled Canadians could enjoy the full rights of citizenship.

In the same period, he chaired a standing committee on natural resources with a focus on economic development in rural Canada.

He supported construction of Fenbrook Institution, a medium security prison in Gravenhurst, as a benefit to the local economy.

Mitchell was re-elected in the 1997 federal election against a strong challenge from former general Lewis MacKenzie, who was running for the Progressive Conservative Party.

The Liberals were re-elected with a second majority government nationally, and Mitchell was appointed as secretary of state for parks in Chrétien's government.

This was a ministerial position but not a full cabinet portfolio.

Shortly after his appointment, Mitchell announced that Canada's national parks would not be privatized or commercialized apart from a small number of projects that had already been approved in the previous parliament.

He following year, he introduced legislation to create a permanent agency for Parks Canada.

The oversight of national parks had previously shifted among various ministries, and Mitchell argued that the new agency would allow for more and better-managed parks.

In April 1998, Mitchell said the Canadian government would block a salvage company's plans to dynamite the wreckage of the Empress of Ireland ocean liner to recover an estimated one million dollars' worth of nickel ingots.

Mitchell joined with environmental groups in late 1998 to oppose a bid by the government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit, and the Toronto-based company Falconbridge Ltd. to change a proposed boundary of the Tuktut Nogait National Park and permit nickel mining in the disputed area.

Mitchell argued that the change would endanger the local caribou population and noted that eighty per cent of the nickel find was already located outside of the park's boundaries.

A committee of the Senate of Canada decided against moving the boundary in December 1998.

The following year, Mitchell introduced legislation to restrict future development in all national parks and announced the creation of an aboriginal affairs secretariat to assist Parks Canada in matters relating to First Nations communities.

Mitchell supported a private member's bill introduced by Liberal backbencher Albina Guarnieri in 1998 to reduce parole opportunities for criminals convicted of multiple murders.

In October 1999, Mitchell was reassigned as secretary of state for rural development and secretary of state for the federal economic development initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor).

In early 2000, he hosted Canada's first national rural conference in Magog, Quebec.

He also introduced thirty-seven million dollars for small and medium-sized businesses in Ontario and new money for advanced grain identification technology in Manitoba.

Re-elected in the 2000 federal election, Mitchell helped formulate a federal loan to prevent bankruptcy at Algoma Steel in 2001.

He later announced the creation of a sixteen-member advisory committee on rural issues at the second national rural conference in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

In May 2002, Mitchell led a trade delegation to Atlanta, Georgia, to promote trade with Northern Ontario.

Later in the same year, he promoted increased high-speed internet service for rural Canada and announced a fifteen million dollar plan to support co-operatives.

In August 2003, he joined with Chrétien and Industry Minister Allan Rock to unveil Canada's Municipal Rural Infrastructure Fund, valued at one billion dollars.