View source for Greg Sorbara

{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix = [[The Honourable]]
| honorific_suffix =
 [[Executive Council of Ontario|ECO]]
| name = Greg Sorbara
| image = 
| caption = 
| office = [[Ontario Minister of Finance]]
| term_start = 2003
| term_end = 2005
| predecessor = [[Janet Ecker]]
| successor = [[Dwight Duncan]]
| premier = [[Dalton McGuinty]]
| term_start1 = 2006
| term_end1 = 2007
| predecessor1 = Dwight Duncan
| successor1 = Dwight Duncan
| premier1 = Dalton McGuinty
| office2 = [[Ministry of Colleges and Universities|Minister of Colleges and Universities]]
| term_start2 = 1985
| term_end2 = 1987
| predecessor2 = [[Larry Grossman (politician)|Larry Grossman]]
| successor2 = [[Lyn McLeod]]
| premier2 = [[David Peterson]]
| office3 = [[Ministry of Colleges and Universities|Minister of Skills Development]]
| term_start3 = 1985
| term_end3 = 1987
| predecessor3 = [[Phil Gillies]]
| successor3 = [[Alvin Curling]]
| premier3 = David Peterson
| office4 = [[Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development|Minister of Labour]]
| term_start4 = 1987
| term_end4 = 1989
| predecessor4 = [[Bill Wrye]]
| successor4 = [[Gerry Phillips]]
| premier4 = David Peterson
| office5 = [[Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement (Ontario)|Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations]]
| term_start5 = 1989
| term_end5 = 1990
| predecessor5 = Bill Wrye
| successor5 = [[Peter Kormos]]
| premier5 = David Peterson
| parliament6 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start6 = May 2, 1985
| term_end6 = September 10, 1987
| predecessor6 = [[William Hodgson (Canadian politician)|William Hodgson]]
| successor6 = [[Charles Beer]]
| riding6 = [[York North (Ontario provincial electoral district)|York North]]
| parliament7 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start7 = September 10, 1987
| term_end7 = June 8, 1995
| predecessor7 = [[Don Cousens]]
| successor7 = [[Al Palladini]]
| riding7 = [[York Centre (provincial electoral district)|York Centre]]
| parliament8 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start8 = June 28, 2001
| term_end8 = October 10, 2007
| predecessor8 = [[Al Palladini]]
| successor8 = ''Riding abolished''
| riding8 = [[Vaughan—King—Aurora]]
| parliament9 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start9 = October 10, 2007
| term_end9 = August 1, 2012
| predecessor9 = ''Riding established''
| successor9 = [[Steven Del Duca]]
| riding9    = [[Vaughan (provincial electoral district)|Vaughan]]
| party = [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]]
| birth_name = Gregory Samuel Sorbara
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|09|4|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Toronto]], Ontario, Canada
| residence = [[Vaughan]], Ontario, Canada
| profession = Lawyer
| spouse = Kate Barlow
| children = 6, including [[Martina Sorbara|Martina]]
}}
'''Gregory Samuel Sorbara''' (born September 4, 1946) is a former [[politician]] in [[Ontario]], Canada. He was a [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] member of the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] from 1985 to 1995, and again from 2001 to 2012 who represented ridings north of [[Toronto]] in the city of [[Vaughan]]. Sorbara served as a cabinet minister in the governments of [[David Peterson]] and [[Dalton McGuinty]].

He resigned from cabinet October 11, 2005, following a police investigation involving his family's real estate development firm and was reinstated on May 23, 2006 after a judge ruled that there was no cause for including Sorbara's name on a search warrant. Sorbara chaired the party's successful [[2007 Ontario general election|2007 election campaign]] but announced on October 26, 2007 that he was leaving the cabinet to spend more time with his family but would continue as a [[backbench]] MPP. On August 1, 2012, Sorbara announced that he was retiring from the legislature but would stay on as chair of the Liberal's election campaign.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liberal MPP Greg Sorbara resigns |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/liberal-mpp-greg-sorbara-resigns-1.1230920|publisher=CBC.ca |date=August 1, 2012 |access-date=2014-05-27}}</ref> Sorbara was chancellor of [[York University]] from June 2014 to May 2023, succeeded by [[Kathleen Taylor (business executive)|Kathleen Taylor]].

==Family life and legal career==
Sorbara was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] in 1946. His father, Sam Sorbara, immigrated to Canada from Italy in the 1920s.<ref name=donation/> Sorbara graduated from [[St. Michael's College School]] and attended [[University of Toronto]] for four years but left without graduating. In 1967 he joined the [[Company of Young Canadians]] in [[Vancouver]], where he met his future partner, Kate Barlow. Later, he completed his education at [[York University]] and [[Osgoode Hall Law School]], and began to practise law.<ref name=bio>{{cite book |title=Greg Sorbara: the battlefield of Ontario politics |author=Greg Sorbara |publisher=Dundurn Press |date=2014}}</ref> His daughter [[Martina Sorbara]] is a singer-songwriter.<ref>{{cite news |title=It's all about them |first=Elio |last=Iannacci |url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/its-all-about-them/ |publisher=Maclean Magazine |date=September 3, 2009}}</ref> 

On October 11, 2005, the RCMP raided the Sorbara Group offices as part of the Royal Group Technologies investigation. The police warrant stated that there were reasonable grounds to believe Sorbara and other directors of Royal Group defrauded the company and shareholders when they bought land in Brampton, that was owned by a subsidiary of the Sorbara Group. Sorbara initially resisted opposition calls for him to step down, but later resigned as Minister of Finance the same day.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ontario finance minister quits over fraud probe |date=October 12, 2005 |publisher=CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ontario-finance-minister-quits-over-fraud-probe-1.553526 |access-date=2014-05-27}}</ref> 

In 2017, Sorbara and family donated $5 million to the construction efforts of the [[Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital]].<ref name=donation>{{cite web|url=https://www.mackenziehealth.ca/en/about-us/inspiring-donations-kick-start-campaign.aspx|title=Inspiring donations kick start campaign|publisher=mackenziehealth.ca}}</ref>

==Political career==
In the [[1985 Ontario general election|1985 provincial election]] Sorbara ran as the [[Ontario Liberal Party|Liberal]] in the riding of [[York North (Ontario provincial electoral district)|York North]], a suburban riding north of Toronto. He defeated [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] incumbent [[William Hodgson (Canadian politician)|William Hodgson]] by 4,100 votes.<ref name="1985 Election Results">{{cite news |title=Results of vote in Ontario election |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=May 3, 1985 |page=13}}</ref> The Liberals under [[David Peterson]] were able to form a minority government after this election, and Sorbara was appointed [[Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (Ontario)|Minister of Colleges and Universities]] and [[Ministry of Skills Development (Ontario)|Minister of Skills Development]] on June 26, 1985.<ref name="1985PetCab">{{cite news |title=Liberals pledge reform as they take over in Ontario |newspaper=The Gazette |location=Montreal, Que |date=June 27, 1985 |page=B1}}</ref>

Sorbara was re-elected in the redistributed riding of [[York Centre (provincial electoral district)|York Centre]] in the [[1987 Ontario general election|1987 provincial election]].<ref name="1987 Election Results">{{cite news |title=Results from individual ridings |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=September 11, 1987 |page=F2}}</ref> On September 29, 1987, he became [[Ministry of Labour (Ontario)|Minister of Labour]] with responsibility for [[Ontario Women's Directorate|Women's Issues]].<ref name="1987PetCab">{{cite news |title=Wrye gets new cabinet job |newspaper=The Windsor Star |date=September 29, 1987 |page=A1}}</ref> Following a cabinet shuffle in August 1989, he became [[Ministry of Government Services (Ontario)|Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations]].<ref name="1989PetCab">{{cite news |title=Veterans bear load as 8 ministers cut in Peterson shuffle |last=Allen |first=Gene |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=August 3, 1989 |page=A1}}</ref>

In 1990 the Liberals were upset by the [[Ontario New Democratic Party|New Democratic Party]] in the [[1990 Ontario general election|election which followed]], though Sorbara won in his riding.<ref name="1990 Election Results">{{cite news |title=Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=September 7, 1990 |page=A12}}</ref>

{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=David_Peterson}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post4preceded = [[Bill Wrye]]
| post4         = [[Ministry of Government Services (Ontario)|Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations]]
| post4years    = 1989–1990
| post4note     =
| post4followed = [[Peter Kormos]]

| post3preceded = [[Bill Wrye]]
| post3         = [[Ministry of Labour (Ontario)|Minister of Labour]]
| post3years    = 1987–1989
| post3note     =
| post3followed = [[Gerry Phillips]]

| post2preceded = [[Phil Gillies]]
| post2         = [[Ministry of Skills Development (Ontario)|Minister of Skills Development]]
| post2years    = 1985–1987
| post2note     =
| post2followed = [[Alvin Curling]]

| post1preceded = [[Larry Grossman (politician)|Larry Grossman]]
| post1         = [[Minister of Colleges and Universities (Ontario)|Minister of Colleges and Universities]]
| post1years    = 1985–1987
| post1note     =
| post1followed = [[Lyn McLeod]]
}}
{{s-end}}

===1992 leadership race===
On November 14, 1991, Sorbara announced that he was joining the race to replace Peterson as [[1992 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election|leader of the party]].<ref>{{cite news |title=McLeod and Sorbara join Liberal race |newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator |date=November 14, 1991 |page=A10}}</ref> He stated, "We have to stop this province's slide into a low-wage, no-growth economy," and spoke of infrastructure investment.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liberals propose economic 'rescue' |first=Paula |last=Todd |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=January 6, 1992 |page=A9}}</ref> During the convention which was held in [[Hamilton, Ontario]] on February 9, he finished third on the first ballot, and remained in this position until dropping from the race after the fourth ballot. Sorbara subsequently refused to support either [[Murray Elston]] or [[Lyn McLeod]] (the eventual winner) on the fifth and final ballot.<ref name="carppa1992">{{cite book |title=Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs (1992)|editor=David Leyton-Brown |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |year=1998 |author1=Rand Dyck |author2=Sam Bottomley |page=161}}</ref> and did not seek re-election in 1995.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tory wheeler-dealer in tough race |first=Brian |last=Dexter |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=May 19, 1995 |page=NY2}}</ref>

Sorbara supported [[Dalton McGuinty]]'s successful bid for the provincial party leadership at the 1996 leadership convention. He did not run in the [[1999 Ontario general election|1999 provincial election]], but was elected Party President over [[Alvin Curling]] in November 1999.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dalton defeats dissent; Liberal leader gets strong party support |last=Mallan |first=Caroline |newspaper=The Hamilton Spectator |date=November 29, 1999 |page=D5}}</ref>  He later won a 2001 by-election in the redistributed Greater Toronto Area riding of [[Vaughan—King—Aurora]], defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Joyce Frustaglio by almost 10,000 votes.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ontario: Liberal romps to byelection win |newspaper=Kingston Whig-Standard |date=June 29, 2001 |page=11}}</ref> Sorbara delivered a statement in May 2010, supporting the minority Muslim sect, Ahmadiyya, who were recently attacked in Lahore for practicing their faith.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gregsorbara.onmpp.ca/Multimedia.aspx |title=Greg Sorbara, MPP - Vaughan |access-date=2010-06-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706192616/http://www.gregsorbara.onmpp.ca/Multimedia.aspx |archive-date=2011-07-06 }}</ref>

===Minister of Finance===
The Liberals won the [[2003 Ontario general election|2003 election]], and Sorbara was appointed [[Ministry of Finance (Ontario)|Minister of Finance]] in the [[Executive Council of Ontario|Ontario Cabinet]] on October 23, 2003.<ref name="2003McGuintyCab">{{cite news |title=Premier Dalton McGuinty and his 22-member cabinet were sworn in Thursday |publisher=Canadian Press NewsWire |date=October 23, 2003 |page=1}}</ref>

Sorbara became involved in a conflict-of-interest controversy not long after his appointment.  In late 2003, the [[Ontario Securities Commission]] informed Sorbara's office that [[Royal Group Technologies]] would be announcing they were under investigation by the OSC. As a former director of Royal Group, this placed Sorbara in a conflict of interest as he also oversaw the OSC.  Sorbara could not consult the Premier concerning the conflict of interest as he was restricted by the province's Securities Act from informing anyone else of the impending announcement by the company.  Royal Group did not announce the investigation for almost two months.

There were calls for Sorbara to resign after the controversy became public knowledge, but he was cleared of any wrongdoing by the provincial integrity commissioner in August 2004.

On May 18, 2004, Sorbara released the McGuinty government's first budget. The centrepiece was a controversial new Health Premium of $300 to $900, staggered according to income. This violated a key Liberal campaign pledge not to raise taxes, and gave the government an early reputation for breaking promises. The Liberals defended the premium by pointing to the previous government's hidden deficit, and McGuinty claimed he needed to break his campaign pledge on taxation to fulfill his promises on other fronts. This broken promise has created a lasting public relations difficulty for the Liberal Party.

The Ontario Health Premium also became a major issue in the early days of the 2004 federal election, called a week after the Ontario budget. Most believe that the controversy hampered Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin's bid for re-election.

Also controversial was the elimination of coverage for health services not covered by the Canada Health Act including eye examinations and physical therapy. Other elements of the McGuinty government's first budget were a four-year plan to tackle the deficit left behind by the Conservatives, free immunization for children, investments in education and investments to lower waiting times for cancer care, cardiac care, joint replacement and MRI and CT scans.

On May 11, 2005, Sorbara delivered his second budget. The flagship of the budget was the "Reaching Higher" plan. Investing $6.2 billion over four years, the plan increased accessibility for low-income students with loans and grants while funding more enrollments, expanded medical school spaces, and invested in new faculty, graduate scholarships and research.

The budget also projected breaking a vow to balance the future 2007–08 budget. Sorbara instead aimed at balance in 2008–09.

Sorbara also moved to expand infrastructure spending by encouraging Ontario's large pension plans to invest in the construction of new roads, schools and hospitals. Specific projects in the budget included a 10-year expansion of the TTC and Go Transit, 15,000 new affordable housing units and improved border crossings. NDP leader Howard Hampton described this move as "privatization by stealth."

After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, Sorbara was also named as the [[Management Board Secretariat (Ontario)|Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet]].

Sorbara was re-elected to the Legislature in the [[2007 Ontario general election|2007 election]], and subsequently on October 26, 2007, he announced that he no longer wanted to sit in Cabinet, citing he wanted to devote more time for his constituents and his family.<ref name="nocabinet">{{cite news |title=Sorbara quits cabinet |url=https://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/270866 |work=Toronto Star |date=October 26, 2007 |access-date=2007-10-26}}</ref>

{{s-start}}
{{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Dalton_McGuinty}}
{{ministry box cabinet posts
| post2preceded = [[Dwight Duncan]]
| post2         = [[Ministry of Finance (Ontario)|Minister of Finance]]
| post2years    = 2006–2007
| post2note     =
| post2followed = [[Dwight Duncan]]
| post1preceded = [[Janet Ecker]]
| post1         = [[Ministry of Finance (Ontario)|Minister of Finance]]
| post1years    = 2003–2005
| post1note     =
| post1followed = [[Dwight Duncan]]
}}
{{s-end}}

==Electoral record==
{{Election box begin | title=[[2003 Ontario general election]]}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Greg Sorbara|36,928|56.14|15.97}}
{{CANelec|ON|Progressive Conservatives|Carmine Iacono|21,744|33.06|-21.64}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Mike Seaward|4,697|7.14|4.22}}
{{CANelec |ON |Green |Adrian Visentin |2,412 |3.67 |2.73}}
{{end}}

{{Election box begin | title=[[2007 Ontario general election]]}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Greg Sorbara|28,961|61.9|5.76}}
{{CANelec|ON|Progressive Conservatives|Gayani Weerasinghe|8,773|18.8|-14.26}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Rick Morelli|5,417|11.6|4.46}}
{{CANelec |ON |Green |Russell Korus |2,978 |6.4 |2.73}}
{{CANelec|ON|Independent|Savino Quatela|624|1.3| }}
{{end}}

{{Election box begin | title=[[2011 Ontario general election]]}}
{{CANelec|ON|Liberal|Greg Sorbara|26,176|53.02|-8.7}}
{{CANelec|ON|Progressive Conservatives|Tony Genco|15,409|31.21|12.41}}
{{CANelec|ON|NDP|Paul Donofrio|5,584|11.31|-2.9}}
{{CANelec|ON|Libertarian|Paolo Fabrizio|934|1.89| }}
{{CANelec |ON |Green |Brendan Frye |695 |1.41 |-4.99}}
{{end}}

== Bibliography ==
*  ''The Battlefield of Ontario Politics'' (2014) [[Dundurn Press]] {{ISBN|9781459724617}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{OntarioMPPbio|id=greg-sorbara}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Roy McMurtry]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of [[York University]]|years=2014–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}

{{McGuinty Ministry}}
{{Peterson Ministry}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorbara, Greg}}
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Italian descent]]
[[Category:Chancellors of York University]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Ontario]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Lawyers in Ontario]]
[[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Ontario]]
[[Category:Ontario Liberal Party MPPs]]
[[Category:Osgoode Hall Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Politicians from Toronto]]
[[Category:York University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]
[[Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario]]