Tony Clement

Tony Peter Clement (born January 27, 1961) is a Canadian former federal politician and former Member of Parliament for Parry Sound-Muskoka in Ontario.

Before entering federal politics, Clement served as an Ontario cabinet minister, including as Minister of Health and Long-Term Care under premiers Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.

A graduate of the University of Toronto, Clement completed degrees in political science in 1983 and law in 1986.

He first attracted the attention of the media in 1986, when he created a new society to invite the South African ambassador to Canada, Glenn Babb, to speak after the International Law Society had withdrawn its invitation, deeming it too controversial because of the issue of apartheid.

Clement argued in favour of inviting Babb on the grounds of free speech.

An attempt by four law professors for a court injunction barring "any representative of the Republic of South Africa to expound, explain or otherwise to solicit public support for his Government's policy of apartheid" was rejected by the court.

He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1988.

Clement is married to Lynne Golding, a partner and Chair of the Health Law Practice at the international law firm, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin.

Clement became president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in 1990 and was a close ally of then-party leader Mike Harris.

He served as Harris's assistant principal secretary from 1992 to 1995 and played a leading role in drafting policy directives for the Common Sense Revolution.

He ran, unsuccessfully, for Metro Toronto Council in 1994, losing to future mayor David Miller in the ward of Parkdale-High Park.

Clement was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the provincial election of 1995, defeating incumbent Liberal Bob Callahan by over 6,000 votes in the riding of Brampton South.

After serving as a Parliamentary Assistant for two years, he was appointed Minister of Transportation on October 10, 1997.

He also represented the Progressive Conservative government on a variety of televised discussion panels, gaining the reputation of a rising star in the party.

Clement was returned in the provincial election of 1999 in the new riding of Brampton West—Mississauga, defeating Liberal candidate Vic Dhillon by over 8,000 votes.

He was promoted to Minister of the Environment on June 17, 1999, and served in this capacity until May 3, 2000.

In this role, he implemented the program known as Ontario's Drive Clean, which mandated periodic emissions tests on vehicles in southern Ontario.

Clement was appointed Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on October 25, 1999, and held this position until February 8, 2001.

On February 8, 2001, Clement was appointed Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

He initiated primary care reform, oversaw the implementation of Telehealth Ontario (a toll-free health information line staffed by registered nurses) and expanded Ontario's hospitals system.

Clement also entered into a public-private partnership for a hospital redevelopment in Brampton.

Clement ran for leadership in the 2002 Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership election and finished third on the first ballot.

Clement then placed his support behind victorious candidate Ernie Eves on the second ballot.

When Eves became Premier, he kept Clement in the Health portfolio.

Moving to federal politics, he was a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada after its formation from the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties in 2003.

He lost to Stephen Harper.

Clement was especially prominent when Toronto suffered an outbreak of SARS in the summer of 2003, travelling to Geneva in a successful bid to urge the World Health Organization to lift a travel ban to Canada's largest city.

Clement won the seat of Parry Sound-Muskoka in the 2006 federal election, defeating incumbent Liberal cabinet minister Andy Mitchell.

The Conservatives formed government in that election and Clement was appointed Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor.

He also later served as President of the Treasury Board.

Clement was re-elected despite the Conservative defeat in the 2015 election.

On July 12, 2016, he announced his second bid for the leadership of the Conservative Party but withdrew on October 13, 2016.

From his initial election in 2006, Clement sat as a Conservative member until he resigned at the request of Conservative leader Andrew Scheer on November 7, 2018 due to a sexting scandal.

Clement was born Tony Peter Panayi in Manchester, England, the son of Carol Ann (née Drapkin) and Peter Panayi.

His father was a Greek Cypriot and his mother was Jewish (part of her family had immigrated from Aleppo, Syria).

He emigrated to Canada in childhood with his parents when he was four years old.

His parents divorced and his mother married Ontario politician John Clement, with Tony adopting his stepfather's surname soon after.

As a student at the University of Toronto, Clement was elected twice, both as an undergraduate and as a law student, to the university's Governing Council.

He was also president of the campus Progressive Conservatives.

In November 2019, Clement started the "And Another Thing" podcast with Jodie Jenkins which features a weekly interview with a public figure, and the discussion between Clement and Jenkins.