Vic Toews

Vic Toews (last name pronounced "Taves") (born September 10, 1952) is a member of the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Provencher in Manitoba for the Conservative Party of Canada. Previously, he was a senior cabinet minister in the government of Manitoba Premier Gary Filmon.

Toews was born in Fildelfia , Paraguay, the son of Mennonite missionary parents working in the region. The family moved to Manitoba in 1956. Toews was educated at the University of Manitoba, and received a degree in law in 1976. From 1977 to 1987, he worked as a crown counsel in the Department of the provincial Attorney General . In 1987, he was appointed Director of Constitutional Law for the province of Manitoba, and held this position until 1991. Among his responsibilities in this capacity was that of advising the Manitoba government on the Meech Lake Accord in 1990.

Toews was also hired as a lecturer by the University of Manitoba in 1987, and oversaw classes on labour law and employment law until his election to the provincial legislature in 1995. He also worked as as an Associate Counsel with the Great West Life Assurance Company from 1991 to 1995.

Toews first campaigned for political office in the provincial election of 1990, running as an Progressive Conservative in the northwest Winnipeg riding of Elmwood. This riding was held by New Democratic MLA Jim Maloway, and was not widely regarded as winnable for the Progressive Conservatives. Nevertheless, Toews received a credible 3035 votes, against 4127 for Maloway.

In the 1995 provincial election, Toews ran in the affluent north Winnipeg riding of Rossmere, and defeated New Democratic incumbent Harry Schellenberg by 4318 votes to 4201. Toews was the only Progressive Conservative to defeat an incumbent New Democrat in this electoral cycle, and on May 9, 1995 was appointed Minister of Labour with responsibility for the Civil Service Act , Civil Service Superannuation Act , Civil Service Special Supplementary Severance Benefit Act , Public Servants Act and Workers' Compensation Act . On January 6, 1997, he was promoted to Minister of Justice and Attorney General , and Keeper of the Great Seal, with responsibility for Constitutional Affairs .

The Filmon government was defeated in the 1999 provincial election, and Toews was personally defeated in a rematch against Harry Schellenberg in Rossmere. Schellenberg received 5097 votes, Toews 4803. Toews returned to his work with Great West Life after this loss. Legal charges were filed against Toews in 2004, claiming that he exceeded his legal spending limits in the 1999 campaign. He would plead guilty in 2005 to these charges.

In the leadup to the Canadian federal election of 2000, Toews joined the Canadian Alliance and won the party's nomination in the federal riding of Provencher (a mostly rural riding in southeastern Manitoba, on the border with Ontario). The Canadian Alliance was initially intended as a vehicle for uniting members of the Reform Party of Canada and Progressive Conservative Party of Canada. It did not attain this end in most parts of the country, but a number of former Progressive Conservatives in Manitoba (including Toews, Brian Pallister and Jake Epp) joined the new organization. In the general election, Toews defeated Liberal MP David Iftody , 21358 votes to 14419. The Liberals won the general election, and Toews emerged as a prominent figure in the parliamentary opposition (eventually being promoted to justice critic).

As a federal MP, Toews has endorsed a number of socially conservative causes. He has been a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and the Canadian Gun Registry , and also opposed efforts to extend Canada's laws against hate propaganda to include "sexual orientation" in a list of protected groups. Interestingly, Toews was perhaps more cautious than other members of the Canadian Alliance in endorsing American military preparation for the 2003 invasion of Iraq (possibly due to a significant pacifistic contingent in his riding's Mennonite population).

In 2004, Toews joined the new Conservative Party of Canada, formed as a merger of the Canadian Alliance and the federal Progressive Conservatives. He supported Stephen Harper for the leadership of the new party, and was easily re-elected in the 2004 general election.

On January 26, 2005, Toews pled guilty under the Election Finances Act to charges of overspending in the 1999 provincial election. He claims that the overspending was the result of a miscommunication between his campaign and the provincial PC party on how expenses were to be accounted. Nevertheless, there have been calls for Toews to resign as his party's justice critic in light of this development.