Art Eggleton
Arthur (Art) C. Eggleton (born 1943) is a former Canadian Cabinet minister and Mayor of Toronto.
Eggleton, an accountant by profession, was first elected to Toronto city council in 1969. He was initially a reformer, serving as budget chief in the reform council elected in 1973, however he became more conservative as time progressed. He was the Liberal Party of Canada's candidate in a 1978 by-election in the Toronto riding of Parkdale but was defeated. in 1980 he ran against left-wing mayor John Sewell and was elected. His administration was a generally pro-development, conservative. In 1985 he withstood a challenge from reformist city councillor Anne Johnston who ran against Eggleton for the mayoralty in that year's civic election. He retired from municipal politics in 1991 as the longest serving mayor in Toronto history.
He ran in the 1993 Canadian election in the suburban Toronto riding of York Centre, again as a Liberal, and won election. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed him to the position of President of the Treasury Board and minister for infrastructure in the new Cabinet. From Janary 1996 to June 1997 he served as Minister for International Trade. Eggleton retained his seat in the 1997 Canadian election and was promoted to Minister of National Defence. He was re-elected again in the 2000 election but ran into trouble two years later when it was revealed that he gave a lucrative government contract to his ex-girlfriend. On May 26, 2002, Eggleton was dismissed from Cabinet due to the scandal.
As a backbencher he became critical of Chrétien and expressed his support for Paul Martin. Despite this he was not returned to cabinet when Martin became Prime Minister in December 2003. On May 13, 2004, Eggleton announced he would not be a candidate in the next federal election.
