Charles Caccia

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The Honourable
Charles Caccia
PC
Minister of the Environment
In office
August 12, 1983 – September 16, 1984
Prime MinisterPierre Elliott Trudeau
John Turner
Preceded byJohn Roberts
Succeeded bySuzanne Blais-Grenier
Minister of Labour
In office
September 22, 1981 – August 12, 1983
Prime MinisterPierre Elliott Trudeau
Preceded byGerald Regan
Succeeded byAndré Ouellet
Member of Parliament
for Davenport
In office
June 25, 1968 – June 28, 2004
Preceded byWalter L. Gordon
Succeeded byMario Silva
Personal details
Born(1930-04-28)April 28, 1930
Milan, Italy
DiedMay 3, 2008(2008-05-03) (aged 78)
Ottawa, Ontario
Political partyLiberal
Spouse(s)Mildred (div), Iva
ProfessionProfessor

Charles L. Caccia, PC (April 28, 1930 – May 3, 2008) was a Canadian politician. Caccia was a Liberal member of the House of Commons of Canada. He represented the Toronto riding of Davenport between 1968 and 2004.

Background[edit]

Caccia was born in 1930 in Milan, Italy. He became a professor of forestry at the University of Toronto, and was a co-founder of COSTI in Toronto. Caccia's first wife, Mildred, was a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party in a provincial election in the 1970s. They had two children, Nicolette and John, and were divorced. Caccia was survived by second wife Iva.

Politics[edit]

Caccia was best known for his strong pro-environment views on the left of the Liberal party. He served at various times during the ministries of Pierre Trudeau and John Turner as Minister of Labour, Minister of the Environment, Parliamentary Secretary to the Solicitor General of Canada, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Manpower and Immigration. He most recently was the Chair of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, and of the subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. Caccia was one of only three cabinet members to endorse Jean Chrétien in the 1984 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election, along with David Collenette and Roméo LeBlanc.[1] He was the Liberals' Environment critic from 1984 to 1989, and spent most of the rest of his career on the backbench.

One of the most left-leaning Liberal Members of Parliament (MPs) of the time, he was known for his stances on environmental issues and his staunch opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he was one of the few Liberal MPs to back Sheila Copps in the Liberal Party's 2003 leadership election. His left-leaning politics and support of Copps ended his political career when the more right-leaning Paul Martin became Liberal leader and prime minister in 2004. Martin backed former Toronto city councillor Mario Silva for the Liberal Party nomination in Davenport. With Martin's support, Silva signed up enough new members until it was obvious he would defeat Caccia for the nomination. Caccia pulled out of the race, and after some talk, chose to retire from politics rather than run as an independent or Green in the 2004 election.

In 1964, he was labelled as a communist by East York Mayor True Davidson for suggesting that Toronto city run day cares accept children from mothers in two parent working families. At the time, they only accepted children from single working mothers.[2]

Electoral record[edit]

2000 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 17,014 66.7 +0.9
New Democratic Jordan Berger 3,457 13.6 -4.9
Alliance Anthony Montenegrino 2,021 7.9
Progressive Conservative Eduardo Marcos 1,526 6.0 -4.1
Green Mark O'Brien 642 2.5 +0.4
Marijuana Elmer Gale 480 1.9
Canadian Action Ann Emmett 288 1.1
Natural Law Stephen Porter 73 0.3
Total valid votes 25,501 100.0

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

1997 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 17,195 65.9 -8.0
New Democratic Chris Masterson 4,807 18.4 +9.4
Progressive Conservative Adele Pereira 2,628 10.1 +5.5
Green Richard Procter 551 2.1 +1.2
Canadian Action Ann Emmett 293 1.1
Marxist–Leninist Francesco Chilelli 250 1.0 +0.7
Independent Miguel Figueroa 194 0.7
Independent John Munoro 190 0.7
Total valid votes 26,108 100.0
1993 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 20,100 73.9 +15.0
New Democratic John Doherty 2,455 9.0 -9.8
Reform Michael Jakubcak 2,107 7.7
Progressive Conservative Margaret Samuel 1,251 4.6 -14.0
National Sherelanne Purcell 448 1.6
Natural Law Bruce Hislop 283 1.0
Green Sat K. Singh Khalsa 255 0.9
Libertarian Nunzio Venuto 200 0.7 -1.0
Marxist–Leninist Barbara Seed 64 0.2
Abolitionist Susan Lylliane Pennington 33 0.1
Total valid votes 27,196 100.0
1988 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 16,436 58.9 +5.2
New Democratic Anna Menozzi 5,243 18.8 -3.7
Progressive Conservative Alex Franco 5,179 18.6 -2.6
Libertarian April Henderson 480 1.7 +0.7
Rhinoceros Barry Heidt 214 0.8
Communist George P. Hewison 196 0.7 0.0
Independent Heather Robertson 150 0.5
Total valid votes 27,898 100.0
1984 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 13,248 53.7 -8.8
New Democratic Manfred Netzel 5,548 22.5 +0.3
Progressive Conservative Giovanni Rocca 5,217 21.1 +7.5
Green Elgin Blair 256 1.0
Libertarian John Scott Hayes 252 1.0 0.0
Communist Gordon Massie 165 0.7 +0.2
Total valid votes 24,686 100.0
1980 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 14,545 62.4 +6.5
New Democratic Ed Brown 5,170 22.2 -2.2
Progressive Conservative Italo Luci 3,167 13.6 -4.3
Libertarian Richard Brooke 230 1.0 +0.3
Communist Gail J. Phillips 117 0.5 0.0
Marxist–Leninist Richard Daly 72 0.3 0.0
Total valid votes 23,301 100.0


1979 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 12,760 55.9 -3.7
New Democratic Ed Brown 5,579 24.4 +7.6
Progressive Conservative Lilliana Edwards 4,090 17.9 -4.1
Libertarian George J. Dance 156 0.7
Communist Gail J. Phillips 117 0.5 -0.1
Marxist–Leninist Richard Daly 80 0.4 -0.1
Independent Steve Penner 48 0.2
Total valid votes 22,830 100.0
1974 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 12,294 59.6 +15.9
Progressive Conservative Brownie Darubin 4,542 22.0 -8.0
New Democratic Mairi McElhill 3,476 16.8 -7.8
Communist Mike Phillips 123 0.6 -0.3
Independent John Ross Taylor 102 0.5
Marxist–Leninist Richard Daly 95 0.5 -0.3
Total valid votes 20,632 100.0
1972 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 9,366 43.7 -6.7
Progressive Conservative John A. Gillespie 6,442 30.1 +8.0
New Democratic Angelo Principe 5,272 24.6 -2.9
Independent William Kashtan 190 0.9
Independent Richard Daly 160 0.7
Total valid votes 21,430 100.0
1968 Canadian federal election: Davenport, Toronto
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Caccia 10,736 50.4 -7.9
New Democratic Otto Bresan 5,865 27.5 +10.3
Progressive Conservative Ken Dear 4,688 22.0 -1.0
Total valid votes 21,289 100.0

References[edit]

Archives at
LocationCity of Toronto Archives Edit this on Wikidata
IdentifiersFonds 1315
SourceCharles Caccia fonds
How to use archival material
  1. ^ Jeffrey, Brooke. (2010). Divided loyalties : the Liberal Party of Canada, 1984-2008. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-4426-6018-2. OCLC 762397337.
  2. ^ Smith, Cameron (November 22, 2003). "A long career tilting at windmills". Toronto Star. p. B5.

External links[edit]

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