FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DEBORAH COYNE NOMINATED AS LIBERAL CANDIDATE IN TORONTO-DANFORTH RIDING

TORONTO (March 29, 2007): Toronto-Danforth Liberals have again chosen Deborah Coyne to carry the party’s flag in the next election as a member of Stéphane Dion’s Liberal ‘Dream Team.’

A lawyer, university professor, constitutional activist, public servant, writer, small businessperson and mother of two children, Ms. Coyne will challenge Jack Layton, the sitting MP for the downtown Toronto riding and current Federal NDP leader. As a newcomer to politics in the last election, she finished a strong second in Toronto-Danforth, and intends to take the seat this time around.

In her acceptance speech at the nomination meeting held last Saturday, Ms. Coyne emphasized her desire to properly represent the concerns of Toronto-Danforth residents as a member of a strong governing Liberal team. “As your Liberal candidate in Toronto-Danforth and next Member of Parliament, I intend to speak out forcefully, and get action, on all issues of concern to all of us living in this great riding,” she told the assembly. These priorities include:

  • the arts and cultural community, ignored by the Harper government
  • the many families in need of quality child care
  • the environment and greater energy efficiency and conservation
  • small businesses that need a national sales tax and fairer levels of taxation
  • our seniors, our disabled and all those in need of a decent level of income and standard of living
  • community safety, community policing and all the infrastructure and support required to ensure real equality of opportunity for all Canadians

Ms. Coyne believes the Toronto-Danforth community deserves better representation in Ottawa. She noted in her speech that, as the riding’s MP, Layton “is a phantom” and jokingly added “although today (Saturday), for a few hours, he is gracing the Queen Street Opera House with his presence at his nomination meeting. So I guess now Jack is the Phantom of the Opera.”

She also called attention to what the NDP’s support of the present Harper government has cost Canadians, including the end to the national childcare program proposed by the Liberals, the demise of the Kelowna Accord, struck by the Liberals, no further progress on social housing and no progress on the environmental front, including meeting our Kyoto targets, which a Liberal-led government passed during the last Parliament.

The NDP, under Layton’s leadership, is “effectively holding the door while Harper unravels the national government, too scared to engage in an election because the NDP base is now seriously challenged by the Green Party,” Ms. Coyne stated.

Ms. Coyne closed her remarks with a heartfelt assessment of Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, calling him a “sincere, authentic leader who, in his own words, will govern for the next generation, not just the next election. Stéphane Dion is the leader who will encourage us to live intelligently and frugally, not wastefully, who will help build a Canada where achievement is measured by our commitment and responsibility to our fellow citizens, not by our level of consumption.

“In the forthcoming election, I am confident that Canadians will choose sincerity over shallowness, authenticity over plastic, principled commitment over manipulation, and honesty and integrity above all else.”

ABOUT DEBORAH COYNE

Deborah Coyne has spent a lifetime engaged in public policy working to build a better Canada. Lawyer, university professor, constitutional activist, public servant, writer, small businessperson and mother of two children, her skills and hard work have often placed her at the centre of the great public debates of our times.

Deborah is currently a policy analyst with an international consulting practice focusing on innovation, trade and finance, federal governance, and public sector regulatory reform.

After completing a law degree in Toronto, Deborah later studied International Relations at Oxford University in England, gaining a Master of Philosophy degree. Upon her return to Toronto, Deborah practised law before embarking on an active public policy career.

Wanting to make a difference, Deborah served in the Prime Minister’s Office, the Business Council on National Issues, the Ontario Secretariat for Disabled Persons, and the 1986 Ontario Insurance Taskforce. From 1986 to 1988, she taught at the University of Toronto Law School. Beginning in 1987, Deborah became a leading figure actively engaged in the constitutional debates that unfolded involving the Meech Lake Accord and the referendum on the Charlottetown Accord. Deborah Coyne subsequently worked at the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Charitable Foundation, the office of the premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, Informetrica Ltd. and the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board.

Deborah Coyne is the author of numerous articles and four books on a wide range of topics affecting Canada and Canadians. She has been a member of the Advisory Council, and the Steering Committee of the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Policy Options, and co-founder of the Canada for All Canadians Committee, along with the Canadian Coalition on the Constitution.

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