Joseph Oliver, PC (born May 20, 1940) is a Canadian politician who served as Minister of Finance from 2014 to 2015. He was elected to the House of Commons in the 2011 federal election[1] and represented the electoral district of Eglinton—Lawrence as a member of the Conservative Party until his defeat in the 2015 election. In 2017 Oliver was named non-executive chairman of the board of Echelon Wealth Partners, an independent, Canadian-owned and operated wealth management and capital markets firm.[2] In March 2019 he was appointed to the board of directors of the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO).[3]
Early life and career
Oliver was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, to a Jewish family. His father was a dentist and his mother was a teacher. He grew up attending Congregation Shaar Hashomayim.[4] He is married to Golda Goldman and has two sons, David and Jeffrey.[5]
Oliver ran in the Toronto riding of Eglinton—Lawrence in the 2008 election, but lost to the longtime Liberal incumbent, Joe Volpe. In the 2011 election, he defeated Volpe to win the seat.[8]
Minister of Natural Resources
On May 18, 2011, Oliver was sworn in as the Minister of Natural Resources.[9] In June 2011, Oliver repeated Harper's campaign promise to support Quebec's asbestos industry, by claiming that chrysotile asbestos, a carcinogen, could be used "in a safe and controlled manner."[8] As Natural Resources Minister, Oliver also oversaw SNC-Lavalin's purchase of Atomic Energy of Canada.[8] Oliver has also defended pipeline projects for Canada's oil sands such as Keystone XL and the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines.[8] In a January 2012 open letter defending Keystone XL Oliver called Canadians who opposed the project "radicals" who "use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada's national economic interest."[8] During his time as natural resources minister, the ministry's advertising budget grew from $237,000 in 2010–11 to $40 million in 2012–13.[8] Also under Oliver, the regulatory checks on the energy industry's super-projects such as Keystone were streamlined.[8]
Minister of Finance
On March 19, 2014, Oliver was appointed to replace Jim Flaherty as Minister of Finance.[10] In January 2015, Oliver announced that the budget would not be tabled until April, instead of the usual February to March, because of economic uncertainty caused by the rapid drop in oil prices.[11] On April 21, 2015, Oliver presented the federal budget, which projected a $1.4 billion surplus by taking $2 billion from the country's contingency fund.[12]
2015 Election
During the 2015 Canadian federal election, Canada was officially declared to be in a recession and fellow cabinet minister Jason Kenney, who unlike Oliver, was running in a safe riding, was the primary Conservative spokesperson on the economy.[13] Meanwhile, Oliver kept a low profile: he cancelled two speaking events in Toronto, one at a men's club, discreetly attended a G20 conference in Turkey, and focused on winning his riding.[13][14][15] Oliver lost the seat to Liberal challenger Marco Mendicino.[16]
Oliver is on the board of directors of the High Arctic Energy Services, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), and the Manning Centre,[20] and he is chairman of PlantExt, a medical cannabis firm in Israel.[21]
