Provincial He was a member of the
New Democratic Party while in high school from 1969 to 1974. He campaigned as a
Liberal for a 1982 provincial
by-election in
York South, but lost to new NDP leader
Bob Rae.
Federal Nunziata was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in the
1984 general election as a
Liberal despite a national
Progressive Conservative landslide. Nunziata thrived as a member of the opposition
Rat Pack, a group of Liberal
Members of Parliament (MPs) including
Don Boudria,
Brian Tobin, and
Sheila Copps. Nunziata's ideological position in the Liberal Party was not clearly defined at this stage. He stressed "family values" and was opposed to
abortion, but his views on other issues were not always
socially conservative. During the national debate on
capital punishment in 1986, he was one of the strongest parliamentary opponents of any restoration of the death penalty. He was re-elected without difficulty in the
1988 election. While in Parliament Nunziata served as Opposition Critic for the Solicitor General from 1984 to 1992. He served as the critic for Employment from January 1992 to November 1992. He was chairman of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group and headed a Caucus Task Force on
Pearson International Airport. Nunziata introduced several Private Members Bills including those to repeal the Faint Hope Clause of the
Criminal Code of Canada and to modify the
Young Offenders Act. When
John Turner resigned as Liberal leader, Nunziata ran to succeed him in the
1990 Liberal leadership convention. He placed last in a field of five candidates. In the buildup to the
1993 federal election, Nunziata criticised Liberal leader
Jean Chrétien for appointing
Art Eggleton over a local candidate in
York Centre. On April 21, 1996, Nunziata was expelled from the Liberal
caucus after he voted against the government's
budget in protest over the government breaking a promise to rescind the
Goods and Services Tax. Despite the difficulties of winning a seat as an independent, Nunziata ran and won re-election in the
1997 general election. He defeated Toronto councillor
Judy Sgro by 4,431 votes to retain his riding, and so became the only independent member elected to the new parliament. In the
2000 election, he was defeated by Liberal
Alan Tonks.
Municipal Nunziata started his political career in 1978 when he was elected an
alderman in the former borough of
York at age 23 and while still attending law school. In 1979, Nunziata was the only alderman to vote against the closing of the Beech Hall Seniors' Apartments. He learned that the residents had not been informed that they were to be evicted, and leaked the story to the
Toronto Star. He was responsible for getting the residents to organise and fight for their rights. Eventually, the residents, with the help of the Co-op Housing Foundation of Canada, managed to convert the rental apartments into Toronto's first
housing co-op. He ran for
Mayor of Toronto in the
2003 municipal election, pledging support for the police, and to bring the homeless off the streets and into institutional care facilities. He finished 4th behind winner
David Miller with about 5% of the vote. Since 2003, Nunziata has become a partner with the Parliamentary Group and he has responsibility for Queens Park government relations. In 2013, Nunziata was one of several candidates for appointment to Ward 3 to replace
Doug Holyday, who resigned to become an MPP. Nunziata lost out to
Peter Leon. On September 12, 2014, the last day to register as a candidate, Nunziata registered to run for
Toronto city council in Ward 12 (York-South Weston) against incumbent
Frank Di Giorgio, community leader Lekan Olawoye and former city staffer Nick Dominelli in the
October 27 municipal election. Nunziata said he wanted to win the ward to help build consensus on council "so we can actually make a difference". However, Nunziata lost to Di Giorgio by a margin of 238 votes or about 1.44% of the popular vote in the ward.
Electoral record ==References==