Chris Friel (politician)

Friel was born and raised in Brantford. He has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Waterloo (1989).[2] Before running for office, he was the executive director of a non-profit government agency.[3]

Both of his parents were active in politics. His father, James Friel, was involved in the labour movement and ran for a trustee position on the Brant County Board of Education in 1976.[4] His mother, Judy Friel, ran for a seat on the Brantford City Council in 2000.[5]

After his loss in 2003, he worked in business and economic development with the Ontario Native Affairs Secretariat.[6]

Friel was first elected as mayor of Brantford in the 1994 municipal election, defeating one-term incumbent Bob Taylor. He was only twenty-seven years old at the time.[7] He was re-elected in 1997, defeating right-wing candidate Andy Woodburn by a significant margin. He initially planned to stand down in 2000, but later changed his mind and was re-elected for a third term.[8]

Friel became mayor during a period of economic difficulties for Brantford; shortly after his election, he described the city as having the worst downtown in Canada.[9] He later presided over a period of economic growth for the city.[10]

Friel initially opposed the Brantford Charity Casino, describing it as a "scam" designed to shift money from the city to the province. He was quoted as saying, "What bothers me is that the government used to do these capital projects to build a country. . . . Now the government is doing work that is building gaming. It's like they've given up, there's no creativity."[11] He later accepted the casino's presence and tried to ensure it would provide some benefits to his community, though he still described it as an economic mistake.[12]

He helped establish Laurier Brantford, a local division of Wilfrid Laurier University.[13] He was also mayor when the Brantford Eaton's closed and took part in overseeing the site's transformation into a call centre.[14] During his second term, he spoke in favour of keeping the Brantford Hydro-Electric Commission as a public utility.[15]

Friel encouraged merger discussions between Brantford and neighbouring Brant County in 2000. At one stage, he said that he would ask the province to impose a decision on restructuring if the county declined talks. Brant County Mayor Ron Eddy strongly opposed this position, and Friel later acknowledged that producing a local agreement would be impossible.[16] During the same period, Friel argued that the Six Nations people have a legitimate claim to the land surrounding the Grand River, six miles in each direction.[17] Generally, Friel was known for having good relations with local indigenous groups.[18]

Friel strongly supported Brantford's anti-smoking by-law, citing his own father's death from lung cancer at a relatively young age.[19] He himself took a three-month leave of absence in 2002 due to serious health issues.[20]

Friel was defeated in the 2003 mayoral election, losing to Mike Hancock by only fifteen votes.[21] He chose not to seek a recount.[22] He challenged Hancock again in the 2006 election and lost by 165 votes. When Hancock did not seek re-election in 2010, Friel ran for mayor again and won by a significant margin.

A newspaper article from 2000 described his political style as "flamboyant, sometimes truculent."[23] When running for re-election in 2003, he acknowledged that he had been an unorthodox mayor.[24]

Friel was a political ally of Brant Member of Parliament (MP) Jane Stewart, who served as a cabinet minister in Jean Chrétien's government.[25] He strongly criticized provincial premier Mike Harris at a 2001 Labour Day rally,[26] although he was more complimentary toward Chris Hodgson, Harris's municipal affairs minister.[27]

Friel sought the Liberal Party nomination for Brant in the buildup to the 2004 federal election, but lost to Lloyd St. Amand.[28]

• See the 2010 Brantford election page for information on defeated candidates other than Turmel.

• See the 2003 Brantford election page for information on Tooke.

• See the 2000 Brantford election page for information on Raymond and Gallant.

• See the 1997 Brantford election page for information on Barlett and Clement.

• See the 1994 Brantford election page for information on Lancaster.

• www.chrisfriel.ca