Christopher Bentley

Christopher Bentley
Ontario MPP
In office 2003–2013
Preceded by	Bob Wood
Succeeded by	Peggy Sattler
Constituency	London West
Personal details
Born	1956 (age 59–60)
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Wendy
Children	2
Occupation	lawyer

Christopher "Chris" Bentley (born c. 1956) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He represented the riding of London West and was a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty.

Background

Bentley received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, and obtained a law degree from the University of Toronto in 1979.^[1] Two years later, he obtained a Master's degree from Cambridge University in England. Bentley has practiced criminal and labour law, with the firm of Bentley & LeRoy LLP. In 1985, he was a founder and first chairperson of Neighbourhood Legal Services London & Middlesex, a legal clinic intended to assist low-income clients.

Since 1992, Bentley has worked as a part-time professor at Western. He helped establish the university's Law School Careers Office, and has lectured at various continuing education courses. In 2000, he published a book entitled Criminal practice manual: A practical guide to handling criminal cases.

Politics

Bentley ran for the provincial legislature in the 2003 general election, contesting the riding of London West as a Liberal. He was successful, defeating incumbent Progressive Conservative Bob Wood by over 10,000 votes.^[2] The Liberals won the election, and Bentley was appointed Minister of Labour on October 23, 2003.^[3] After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, he was named as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.^[4]

Bentley was re-elected in the 2007 election^[5] and was named Attorney General of Ontario shortly thereafter.^[6] In January 2010 he was assigned the additional portfolio of Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.^[7]

He retained his seat in the October 2011 provincial election,^[8] and was named Minister of Energy.^[9] Bentley was soon mired in a controversy over the government's decision made during the election campaign to scrap unpopular gas plants being constructed in Mississauga and Oakville - the move was seen as a politically expedient one made to improve the Liberal Party's chances of retaining the 5 ridings it held in the area. The election returned a minority government and the emboldened opposition demanded that Bentley's ministry release all documents related to the decision. Bentley delayed prior to releasing 36,000 pages in September and insisted that all documents had been released. After it became known that there were an additional 20,000 documents Bentley was cited by a rare contempt motion by a legislative committee and was facing a contempt motion of the legislature when McGuinty unexpectedly ended the legislative session by proroguing the legislature on October 15.^[10]

Previously, Bentley had widely been seen as Premier Dalton McGuinty's heir apparent but on October 25, 2012, ten days after McGuinty announced his resignation, Bentley announced that he would not be a candidate in the Liberal Party leadership convention being held to choose McGuinty's successor and that he too would be leaving politics.^[11] Bentley resigned his seat in the legislature effective February 14, 2013.^[12]

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Chris Bentley	22,616	45.7	-6.8
	Progressive Conservative	Ali Chahbar	14,601	29.5	+5.2
	New Democratic	Jeff Buchanan	10,757	21.7	+10.6
	Green	Gary Brown	1,194	2.4	-8.0
	Freedom	Tim Hodges	300	0.6	+0.2
	Republican	Chris Gupta	61	0.1	-0.1
Total valid votes			49,529	100.0

Ontario general election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Chris Bentley	26,089	52.5	+0.74
	Progressive Conservative	Allison Graham	12,085	24.3	-6.81
	New Democratic	Paul Pighin	5,534	11.1	-3.79
	Green	Gary Brown	5,181	10.4	+8.78
	Family Coalition	Andrew Jezierski	266	0.5
	Freedom	Paul McKeever	215	0.4	-0.53
	Independent	Mike Reynolds	206	0.4
	Republican	Chris Gupta	82	0.2

Ontario general election, 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Chris Bentley	25,581	51.46	+7.12
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Wood	15,463	31.11	-13.81
	New Democratic	Patti Dalton	7,403	14.89	+5.76
	Green	Laura Wythe	805	1.62	+1.01
	Freedom	Bill Frampton	460	0.93	+0.46

References

1. Howlett, Karen; Campbell, Murray (October 30, 2007). "McGuinty turns to veterans for top cabinet jobs". The Globe and Mail. p. A12.
2. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014.
3. "Premier Dalton McGuinty and his 22-member cabinet were sworn in Thursday". Canadian Press NewsWire. October 23, 2003. p. 1.
4. "Cabinet shuffle focuses on health care, education; McGuinty to head new Research and Innovation ministry". The Kitchener Record. June 30, 2005. p. A5.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 8 (xvii).
6. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
7. Kenyon, Wallace (January 19, 2010). "Sweeping changes hit Queen's Park; Liberal Cabinet". National Post. p. A8.
8. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 9.
9. "Ontario's new cabinet". Toronto Star. October 21, 2011. p. A18.
10. Mills, Carys (October 26, 2012). "Energy Minister Chris Bentley 'thrown under the bus'". Toronto Star. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
11. "Chris Bentley to quit politics". CBC News. Canadian Press. October 26, 2012. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
12. "Energy Minister Chris Bentley to resign his seat". Toronto Star. February 8, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History