Toews joined the provincial Ministry of Justice in 1976, and became a Crown attorney the following year. He was promoted to Director of Constitutional Law for the province of Manitoba in 1987, and in this capacity advised the Manitoba government on the Meech Lake Accord. He also presided over an expansion of police powers in matters relating to drunk driving offenses.
Toews was hired by the University of Manitoba in 1987 as a lecturer, and taught classes in labour law and employment law. He left the Attorney-General's office in 1991 to become an associate counsel for Great-West Life Assurance, and was given a leave of absence in 1995 when he entered political life.
In 1994, Toews spoke out against a decision by Bob Rae's Ontario government to prohibit protests outside abortion clinics. He described the decision as "almost unbelievable" and argued that the Rae government was "challenging ... a constitutionally held right", adding that the decision was "consistent with their social agenda."
He campaigned for the Progressive Conservatives again in the 1995 provincial election in the north-end Winnipeg constituency of Rossmere. This time, he defeated New Democratic Party incumbent Harry Schellenberg by 117 votes.
Toews had a difficult relationship with organized labour, and was sometimes accused of promoting anti-labour policies. In early 1996, he introduced the controversial Bill 26, which required unions to disclose the salaries of their officials and to indicate how membership dues were spent. It further required that union certification votes take place within seven days of an application, and allowed employees to prevent their dues from being donated to political parties. The last proposal was strongly opposed by the New Democratic Party, which has historically received significant union donations. NDP leader Gary Doer argued that the bill unfairly targeted his party, and suggested that corporate shareholders should be given the same right to shield their investments from party donations (an initiative more likely to weaken Progressive Conservative fundraising efforts). Toews denied that his bill was anti-labour, and argued that it provided more autonomy to individual workers.
Toews's ministry also proposed the privatization of home-care delivery services in 1996. This initiative was opposed by many in the field, and led to an extended protest strike from sector workers. Some opposition members suggested Toews may have been in a conflict of interest on the issue, as Great-West Life Assurance had plans to enter the home-care industry once privatization was completed. Several other strikes occurred throughout 1996, leading one journalist to describe it as "the busiest year for picketing since the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike".
Toews cancelled the provincial Payment of Wages Fund in July 1996, on the grounds that it was not achieving its stated purpose. The fund had been created to permit workers to collect from employers who had gone into bankruptcy or receivership.
Toews quickly earned a reputation for focusing on "law and order" issues. One of his first decisions was to grant jail superintendents the right to institute complete smoking bans and random drug tests on inmates, and to monitor prisoners's calls. Soon after, he introduced measures targeting prison gangs and the drug trade. In August 1998, he announced that his ministry would hire more Crown attorneys and construct seventy-years new beds for the Headingley Correctional Institution, in an attempt to incarcerate more dangerous offenders. Toews opposed conditional sentencing, and discouraged its practice in Manitoba.
He also introduced legislation to make parents legally responsible for the crimes of their children. Members of the opposition New Democratic Party argued that the plan would be ineffective, and cited past experiments in the United States as evidence. In early 1998, the Filmon government proclaimed a Victims' Rights Act. Both the Justice Ministry and the opposition New Democrats subsequently endorsed the principle of a Victims' Bill of Rights, which was passed into law later in the year.
Toews often criticized the federal Liberal government's record on crime issues, but also gave support to a number of federal proposals. In March 1997, he endorsed a plan by federal Justice MinisterAllan Rock to give the police greater powers to target outlaw biker gangs. The following year, he stood with federal minister Lloyd Axworthy to announce a plan to discourage court sentences for non-violent aboriginal offenders. Toews argued that the proposal would reduce the number of repeat offenders, and said that it was "sensitive to the needs of the aboriginal community". He later supported a proposal for the integration of an aboriginal healing lodge into the provincial prison system.
On other issues, Toews was more reluctant to cooperate with the federal government. He announced in 1997 that Manitoba would not enforce or administer the newly-created Canadian gun registry. Two years later, he described changes to the federal Young Offenders Act as both ineffective and too expensive.
Toews's relationship with the judiciary was often fractious. In early 1999, he gave a speech to the Alberta Summit on Justice criticizing judges for overstepping their discretion on political matters. He was quoted as saying that judges, unlike parliamentarians, "are not well-placed to understand and represent the social, economic and political values of the public". Some attendees criticized this speech, and a representative of the Legal Aid Society of Alberta described it as "inflammatory and sensational". Later in the year, a provincial judge criticized Toews for what she described as "misleading and inaccurate" remarks about judicial appointments and the daily schedules of judges.
Other policy decisions
In May 1999, Toews announced that Manitoba would accept a Supreme Court of Canada decision granting spousal benefits to same-sex couples.
Criticism
Both Toews and his ministry were frequent targets of opposition criticism. The New Democrats alleged that Crown offices were underfunded during his tenure as minister, and suggested that the Crown's ability to perform its prosecutorial duties was compromised. These concerns became especially prevalent after June 1997, when the Manitoba Court of Appeal allowed a man who admitted having sexual intercourse with a twelve-year old girl to serve his sentence in the community rather than in prison. In making its decision, the court argued that the girl was a willing participant and possessed the sophistication to consent. Toews expressed serious concerns about the trial's outcome, and filed leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Toews's decision to appeal was not controversial, but the Crown's handling of the original case soon became a source of controversy. NDP Justice Critic Gord Mackintosh said that the Crown never challenged defence claims that the girl consented to the act. The New Democrats argued that departmental underfunding had led to a lax prosecution, and suggested that Toews should take ministerial responsibility for the matter. Four years later, an internal review found that the Crown's performance in the case had been substandard.
Toews was also accused of misusing the powers of his office on at least two occasions. In May 1998, he was accused of improperly interfering with the work of a judicial appointment committee by requesting that two names be added to a list of proposed judges. He denied any wrongdoing, and said he had only acted to ensure that more bilingual judges would be appointed to the bench.
The second controversy was potentially more serious. During a legislative debate in June 1999, Toews announced that NDP Justice Critic Gord Mackintosh had repeatedly called the province's Street Peace gang hotline to hang up before leaving a message. The announcement itself was not particularly noteworthy, but questions soon surfaced as to how Toews had obtained the information (calls to the hotline were meant to be confidential and anonymous). He admitted that calls from government buildings had been tracked, and acknowledged that he had received Mackintosh's name from a member of his department. Premier Filmon described Toews's conduct as inappropriate, but did not remove him from office. Toews was also forced to admit that the hotline itself had gone unanswered for several months.
These controversies notwithstanding, Toews remained one of the most prominent figures in the Filmon government.
1999 election
The Progressive Conservatives were defeated in the 1999 provincial election and Toews was personally defeated in Rossmere, losing to Harry Schellenberg by 294 votes. Redistribution had previously added a number of NDP-leaning polls to the constituency, and likely contributed to Schellenberg's victory. Toews returned to work with Great-West Life Assurance in 1999-2000.
After leaving provincial politics, Toews turned his attention to the federal scene and became involved in Canada's "unite-the-right" movement. He had previously called for cooperation between the right-wing Reform Party of Canada and the centre-right Progressive Conservative Party of Canada while still a cabinet minister, although he did not openly endorse the United Alternative initiative when it was first announced in 1999.
A published report from May 2000 indicates that Toews was not a member of any federal political party but was interested in working with the Canadian Alliance, a newly-formed successor to Reform that sought to build support among Blue Tory Progressive Conservatives. Toews endorsed Tom Long's bid for the Alliance leadership in June 2000, and later supported Brian Pallister's bid to bring the Progressive Conservatives into cooperation with the new party.
Toews formally joined the Alliance in the buildup to the 2000 federal election and defeated four other candidates to win the party's nomination for Provencher, a mostly rural riding in southeastern Manitoba. He defeated Liberal incumbent David Iftody by a significant margin in the general election. The Liberals won a national majority, and Toews was appointed Justice Critic in the oppositionshadow cabinet.
The Canadian Alliance was weakened by internal divisions in mid-2001, as several MPs called for party leader Stockwell Day's resignation. Toews did not take a strong position for or against Day's leadership, but called for party discipline pending a formal review. When Day resigned, he worked on Grant Hill's unsuccessful campaign to become the new party leader.
In 2003, Toews recommended that Alliance members purchase Progressive Conservative membership cards to support the candidacy of Jim Prentice, a PC leadership candidate who favoured cooperation with the Alliance. Toews denied this constituted improper interference, and said that members of the two parties should be encouraged to work together.
Policy views
As Justice Critic from 2001 to 2005, Toews frequently accused the Liberal government of being unfocused on crime issues. He supported the government's decision to create a national sex offender registry in 2002, but later criticized the registry for not being made retroactive to include the names of previously convicted offenders. He has called for mandatory minimum sentencing, and stricter parole requirements for violent offenders.
Toews has criticized some Supreme Court decisions, and on one occasion accused former Chief JusticeAntonio Lamer of overseeing a "frenzy of constitutional experimentation". He has called for official reviews of judicial appointments, arguing that the policy views of judges should be known to the public before they take office.
On the 20th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 2002, Toews spoke favourably of the Charter as "a powerful check on the power of government to unreasonably intrude on our rights and freedoms". He also called for governments to demonstrate more willingness to use the Charter's Notwithstanding Clause to overrule court decisions. Toews specifically argued that the Clause should have been used to overturn a court decision that weakened Canada's child pornography laws. (The Liberal government brought forward remedial legislation to address the decision, without resorting to the Notwithstanding Clause.)
Toews was initially considered a moderate figure in the Canadian Alliance, although he later became known for endorsing several socially conservative causes. He is a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, and has argued that changing the definition of marriage in Canada could result in bigamy being legalized. In 2005, he launched an extended filibuster to delay committee work on the same-sex marriage issue. Toews was also a vocal opponent of Bill C-250, which was brought forward in 2003 to make sexual orientation a protected category under Canada's hate crime legislation. He argued that the bill could restrict freedom of expression and religion, and was quoted as saying that a "homosexual activist" could sue a hotel chain for the removal of Bibles as hate literature.
Toews has also argued that religious organizations should be permitted to deny gay organizations the use of their facilities, and supports increasing the age of sexual consent in Canada from fourteen to sixteen. He continues to oppose the federal gun registry, and opposes the decriminalization of cannabis.
Conservative MP
The Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties merged to form the Conservative Party of Canada in 2004. Toews joined the new party, and worked as a Manitoba organizer for Stephen Harper in his successful bid to become its first leader. He was easily returned in the 2004 general election, in which the Liberals were reduced to a minority government. After the election, he was retained as Justice Critic for the official opposition.
On January 25, 2005, he pleaded guilty to the charge of exceeding personal campaign expense limits in the 1999 provincial election. Toews claimed that the overspending resulted from a miscommunication between his campaign and the provincial party as to how some expenses were accounted. There were some calls for him to resign as his party's justice critic, but nothing came of this. Toews received a $500 fine, and the charge remains on his record.
A Winnipeg Free Press poll taken in late December 2005 showed Toews as the most popular choice to replace Stuart Murray as leader of the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives. He declined to contest the position, and was instead returned without difficulty in the 2006 Canadian federal election.
*When asked in 1996 about his reading preferences, Toews claimed to have recently re-read Paul Bowles's The Sheltering Sky. He is also a fan of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. *Toews bears a passing physical resemblance to Jack Layton, leader of the federal New Democratic Party. In 2003, he temporarily shaved off his moustache to prevent confusion. He later took part in a comic sketch with Layton at the 2004 Parliamentary Press Gallery Dinner.
All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada and Elections Manitoba. Provincial election expenditures refer to individual candidate expenses. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.
# Mary Nersessian, "Key players who may form a Conservative cabinet", CTV News report, 2006. [1]# Peter Bakogeorge, "Cracking down on drunk driving", Toronto Star, 8 April 1990, B1.# Jim Carr, "Mostly they dance with NDP", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 April 1995, Editorial.# "Ontario move stuns pro-lifers", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 January 1994, City Page.# Glen MacKenzie, "Labour pains", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1996, B4.# Manitoba Hansard, "Orders of the Day", 36th parliament, Second day of Throne Speech Debate. [2]# Alice Krueger, "PCs plan to raise pay veil", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 December 1995, A1.# Paul McKie, "Strike funds secret", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 May 1996, A4.# Alice Krueger, "Union workers can say no", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 April 1996, A4.# Alice Krueger, "Home care plan deserts workers", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 April 1996, A1.# "Manitoba hospitals feeling strike's squeeze", Globe and Mail, 26 April 1996, A4.# "Tories agenda for '96", Winnipeg Free Press, 31 December 1996, A8.# Paul Samyn, "Tories kill wage life raft", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 July 1996, A1.# Alice Krueger, "Corrections crackdown called minor tinkering", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 January 1997, A4.# "Man correctional staff provided with more tools to enhance safety, security", Canadian Occupational Health & Safety News, 10 February 1997, Volume 20 Number 5.# David Kuxhaus, "Tories to keep more offenders behind bars", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 August 1998, A3.# Bruce Owen, "Do the crime, avoid the time", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 March 1997, B1.# "Law holds Manitoba parents responsible for kids' crimes", Toronto Star, 23 September 1997, A2.# "Victims' rights better protected with proclamation of new Act", Manitoba government publication, 11 January 1998.# David Kuxhaus, "NDP pushing for victims' bill of rights", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 March 1998, A7. See also "Victim Impact Statement Program introduced", Manitoba government document, 22 September 1998.# "Rock starts war on gangs", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 March 1997, A1.# Kevin Rollason, "Natives get new justice", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 March 1998, A1.# John Lyons, "Justice minister likes idea of aboriginal healing lodge", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 October 1998, A6.# Alice Krueger, "Manitoba blanks gun-control law", 25 April 1997, A3.# David Kuxhaus, "New YOA ineffective, too costly, Toews says", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 June 1999.# Carol Harrington, "Manitoba minister riles justice conference", Globe and Mail, 30 January 1999, A16.# Paul McKie, "Top judge takes shot at justice boss", 10 June 1999, City Page.# Paul Samyn, "Manitoba to follow same-sex", Winnipeg Free Press, 21 May 1999, A1.# News briefs, Associated Press, 9 June 1997, 20:13 report.# Scott Edmonds, "Girl scared into silence", Globe and Mail, 10 June 1997, A3.# Leah Janzen, "Prosecutors' office a mess, review says", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 October 2000, A1.# David Roberts, "Manitoba bar raps justice minister", Winnipeg Free Press, 8 May 1998, A17.# Douglas Nairne, "Filmon calls Toews' actions 'inappropriate'", 22 June 1999, City Page. # Douglas Nairne, "Boundary change puts Rossmere up for grabs", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 September 1999, A12.# Glen MacKenzie, "MLA to moonlight with investment firm", Winnipeg Free Press, 13 November 1999, A10.# Bud Robertson, "Toews decides to play wait-and-see with unite-the-right movements", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 February 1999, A6.# Paul Samyn, "Long borrows Tory office for mailout", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 June 2000, A1.# David Kuxhaus, "Pallister continues hunt for way to unite the right", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 July 2000, A8.# Helen Fallding, "Ex-PC Toews wins Alliance bid", Winnipeg Free Press, 31 October 2000, A1.# Greg Joyce, "Canadian Alliance Leader Stockwell Day announces shadow cabinet", Canadian Press, 5 January 2001, 17:57 report.# Paul Samyn, "Alliance revolt escalates", Winnipeg Free Press, 16 May 2001, B1.# Bruce Cheadle, "Day stepping down as Alliance leader", Canadian Press, 11 December 2001, 18:24 report.# Bill Curry and Sheldon Alberts, "MP calls on party to join with Tories", National Post, 8 March 2003, A12.# For example, Tonda MacCharles, "Liberal bill to reform Young Offenders Act", Toronto Star, 6 February 2001, p. 1.# Mia Rabson, "Convicted pedophiles will have to enter their addresses", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 February 2002, A5.# Sue Bailey, "Sex offender registry law introduced", Canadian Press, 11 December 2002, 18:53 report. The non-retroactive approach followed the model of previous legislation in the United Kingdom.# Janice Tibbetts, "Lamer attacks Alliance 'yelping'", National Post, 14 April 2001, A01.# Nahlah Ayed, "Charter at 20 still brews a storm in Canadian politics as it did at birth", Canadian Press, 11 April 2002, 16:07 report.# Luiza Chwialkowska, "Charter's anniversary stokes familiar debate: Courts v. Parliament", National Post, 18 April 2002, A04.# Sandra Cordon, "Gays, lesbians slam Ottawa for appeal of same-sex marriage ruling", Canadian Press, 29 July 2002, 16:31 report.# "Parties may unite to end Conservative same-sex filibuster", Edmonton Journal, 30 May 2005, A5.# Sharon Boase, "Protection of gays pits the Bible vs. Bill C-250", Hamilton Spectator, 8 February 2003, A01.# Helen Fallding, "Camp should have right to deny gays: Alliance MP", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 November 2002, A5.# "Drawing the line at 16", National Post, 11 March 2005, A18.# Paul Samyn, "Pot bill fate confronts lethal mix of dissent", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 May 2003, A11.# Daniel Lett, "Stronach firing up the right", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 January 2004, A1.# Helen Fallding, "Toews charged in election financing", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 December 2001, A3.# David Kuxhaus, "Toews guilty of overspending in provincial election", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 January 2005, A3.# Alexander Panetta, "Liberals demand resignation of Tory critic who broke election rules", Canadian Press, 26 January 2005, 21:36 report.# "Toews fined for breaking election rule", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 2005.# Mia Rabson, "Toews, Pallister for Murray's job: poll", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 December 2005, B2.# "On the night table", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 August 1996, B5.# Glen MacKenzie, "Labour pains", Winnipeg Free Press, 6 October 1996, B4.# "Canadian Alliance politician shaves to avoid confusion with NDP leader", Canadian Press, 30 September 2003, 20:34 report.
