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The
Hill Times
| Monday Jan 15. 2001 | BACK
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Nunziata
says party politics ‘irrelevant,’ little House enthusiasm
by Angelo
Persichilli
The Hill Times (Versione
italiana)
Yep,
former Independent MP John Nunziata says he’s still very surprised that he
lost the last federal election and last week described it as one of the
“lowest points” in his 16-year federal political life. But the outspoken
former MP who was knocked off in York South-Weston, Ont., by parachute
candidate Alan Tonks by 1,294 votes, says he definitely has no plans of
returning to elected life any time soon.
So what does the 46-year-old former politician and lawyer, as well as husband
and father of three children plan to do with the rest of his life? And does
the former Rat Packer have any sage advice for Parliamentarians?
In a sweeping interview, Mr. Nunziata assessed his political activity for the
past 16 years and his future as a private citizen. He also gave his take on
the current House of Commons.
“The response I had at the doors during the campaign was very positive and I
was left with the impression that they were going to vote for me,” said Mr.
Nunziata. “In all the areas I went I was assured of their support.
Experienced campaigners that worked for me in many elections got the same
response.”
Mr. Nunziata lost the election with 14,345 votes, placing second to Mr. Tonks
who garnered 15,639 votes.
So what happened? It’s one of the few times Mr. Nunziata doesn’t have all
the answers. “I do not know. I believe that the low turnout had an impact on
the results. I got 2,000 votes less than I got the previous time,” he said.
Asked about what he would change if he could go back, he said, “I believe I
did everything that was supposed to be done. No regrets.”
Mr. Nunziata was first elected in 1984, one of the few Liberal MPs who
resisted the Mulroney wave.
“I have a lot of good memories during this period,” he said, but the one
that he cherishes most is his victory as an “Independent MP in 1997.”
Declared Mr. Nunziata: “I was very thrilled. I won doing what I thought was
right and doing it my way.”
And the lowest point in his political career? “Losing last November,” he
said without hesitation. “In politics losing is always the lowest. However,
I am comfortable with it because I lost, but I did it my way.”
Mr. Nunziata said he also has no regrets about his political life but said
just in case one of his children ever wants to join the political arena, he
has some advice: “I would advise them to establish their career first and do
not enter politics too young. Then I would advise them to be balanced in their
approach.”
As for the party his children might be advised to join, Mr. Nunziata said that
“things are changing. I believe that very few people think that party
politics is still very relevant.”
Mr. Nunziata recalled when he was first elected in 1984 people used to talk
about “the core Liberal vote,” but said today “people have matured to
the point where there is not a lot of confidence in the political system any
longer, they vote issues.”
According to Mr. Nunziata, people now “look at the parties, the leaders and
issues at every election and decide at the time of the vote. I believe that
very few people, now, vote for a party because that’s how their grandfather
voted.”
Mr. Nunziata, along with Sheila Copps (Hamiton East, Ont.), Brian Tobin (Bonavista-Trinity-Conception,
Nfld.) and Don Boudria (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell, Ont.), was considered part
of the so-called Rat Pack. The MPs made a name for themselves with their
aggressive attacks against the Mulroney government of 1984-1988, especially
their attacks against Sinclair Stevens.
It seems, however, disputes left little rancour between the parties involved.
Mr. Nunziata said he has spoke with Mr. Stevens on a number of occasions and
described the meetings as “cordial.” He said he’s also met with a number
of former Mulroney Tory cabinet ministers and said he believes that very few
people “carry animosity.”
Moreover, Mr. Nunziata said that, “despite the nastiness of the Rat Pack,”
then prime minister Brian Mulroney invited both Mr. Nunziata, Brian Tobin and
their wives, to go along with him in the last year of his mandate to Ireland.
As well, Mr. Nunziata said he’s received many calls from many former
colleagues from all the parties. “Yes. There were a number that wrote
letters, others, including ministers and former colleagues who called
personally.”
Interestingly, he said the people who called were not necessarily the people
he believed were friends.
Mr. Nunziata was booted out of the Liberal caucus when he voted against the
federal budget and successfully ran as an Independent candidate in the 1997
election.
As for the new House of Commons, Mr. Nunziata said he thinks it will be a
period of change, again.
“The sense that I have talking to MPs, of all parties, with the exception of
the NDP, is that there is a degree of restlessness. I thing that this mandate
will be a period of changes. I think that Stockwell Day was right when he said
that many parties will have a new leader. Maybe his party will have a new
leader too,” he said.
According to the former MP, he detects a very different mood in federal
politics today: “If I can compare the post election period, I would go back
to the 1984 election. It was special. Of course it was special for me also
because I was elected for the first time, but also because there was a mood of
change.”
He said he remembers that everybody was excited because “we had a new
government after many years of Liberal power, a brand new Prime Minister,
every day a fight in the House; after the 1988 election we were, of course,
disappointed because we did not win the election but we doubled the number of
Liberal MPs in the House. New people bring a lot of naivete but also a lot of
enthusiasm. In 1993, we were all excited because we were back in government
and we had a lot of new members.”
Since 1997 Mr. Nunziata said that things have changed: “Yes. The enthusiasm
has disappeared, also because we did not have a lot of new people aboard.”
As for his future, Mr. Nunziata said that he is still pondering some options,
but has no plans to return to elected life.
“No. I have served for 16 years in the House and four years as a councillor.
Twenty years of my adult life dedicated to politics is more than enough.
Definitely I will be close to my family.”
He will likely practice law, but he doesn’t rule out pitching in to the
political fray in some manner.
Said Mr. Nunziata: “I wouldn’t mind getting involved in some show as a
commentator. That would be interesting because you don’t have to worry a lot
about what you’re saying...not that I ever did.”
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