Tom Wappel
Member of Parliament forScarborough Southwest (Scarborough West; 1988–1997)
In office November 21, 1988 – October 13, 2008
Preceded by	Reginald Stackhouse
Succeeded by	Michelle Simson
Personal details
Born	Thomas William Wappel (1950-02-09)February 9, 1950 (age 75) Toronto,Ontario
Residence(s)	Scarborough,Ontario, Canada
Profession	Lawyer

Thomas William Wappel (born February 9, 1950) is a Canadian retired politician. He was aLiberal member of theHouse of Commons from 1988 to 2008, representing theToronto riding ofScarborough West and its successor riding ofScarborough Southwest. He did not seek re-election in the2008 general election.

Wappel is a staunchsocial conservative. He is a prominent opponent ofabortion andgay rights, and has made controversial comments onimmigration and the role of religion in government. He opposes thedeath penalty and describes himself as holding liberal views on economic issues.^[1] In 1998, he was awarded theJoseph P. Borowski Award, presented to a pro-life Canadian politician.^[2] He is separated, with five children.

Wappel was born in Toronto, toHungarian parents. He holds aBachelor of Arts degree from theUniversity of Toronto (1971), and aBachelor of Laws fromQueen's University (1974). He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1976 and worked in civil litigation and corporate law. Wappel has been a member of theKnights of Columbus.^[3]

Wappel won the Scarborough West Liberal nomination in 1988 in a surprising upset overPatrick Johnston, a star candidate who had been personally recruited by party leaderJohn Turner.^[4] His campaign was supported by members of the anti-abortion groupCampaign Life, and his election platform included a pledge of "respect for human life, from conception to the natural end of life".^[5] He also opposed the Canada-United Statesfree trade agreement, and criticized the media for portraying him as a single-issue candidate.^[6] He won a narrow victory in the general election, defeatingProgressive Conservative incumbentReginald Stackhouse by 440 votes.

During the election, Campaign Life activists circulated a pamphlet that accused Stackhouse of supporting "baby-killing" in some circumstances.^[7]

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in 1988, and Wappel entered Parliament as a member of the opposition. John Turner resigned as party leader in 1989, and a new leadership contest was called to select his replacement.

Wappel was the first declared candidate in the Liberal Party's1990 leadership convention, announcing his candidacy on June 29, 1989. He described himself as the only candidate willing to make abortion a leadership issue.^[8] Wappel spoke against abortion in all circumstances, saying that while rape and incest are terrible tragedies, "they cannot possibly be compounded by the further tragedy of destroying human life."^[9] He also called for increased immigration to Canada and harsher penalties against drug traffickers, while opposing theMeech Lake Accord and "distinct society" status forQuebec.^[10]

Wappel spoke against federal daycare programs during one all-candidates meeting, arguing that the Canadian government should promote stay-at-home parenting instead.^[11] Late in the campaign, he said that he did not consider single-parent households or same-sex couples to be families.^[12]

His candidacy was not supported by any other MPs although he won the endorsement ofLiberals for Life, an anti-abortion pressure group working inside the Liberal Party, in March 1990.^[13] During his nomination speech at the convention, Wappel called for abortion to be made a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.^[14] He finished in fourth place, asJean Chrétien won the leadership on the first ballot.^[15]

Wappel was appointed as the Liberal Party's immigration critic in January 1991. Late in the year, he prepared an internal party document calling for the creation of detainment camps (to be called Welcome Centres) for refugees arriving in Canada. Claimants would be provided with food, lodging and clothing, but would not be permitted to work outside the centre while their cases were under review. The proposal also called for any claimant withHIV to be automatically denied status. His suggestions were leaked to the media and were immediately rejected by the Liberal Party leadership.^[16] He was removed as the Liberal Party's immigration Critic in January 1992 and reassigned as critic for the Solicitor-General.^[17] In his new position, he called for increased safeguards in Canada's parole system.^[18]

Wappel was endorsed by theCanadian Police Association in the1993 federal election, and focused his campaign on "law and order" issues.^[19] He was easily re-elected as the Liberals won amajority government nationally.

Chrétien government

Wappel was not appointed to Jean Chrétien'scabinet and was a frequent critic of his own party's social legislation. He opposed the Chrétien government's decision to extend anti-discrimination protection tohomosexuals in 1994, describing homosexuality as "statistically abnormal, [...] physically abnormal and [...] morally immoral".^[20] Some politicians and journalists called for Chrétien to expel Wappel from caucus after this remark, but no disciplinary action was taken.^[21] Later in the year, Wappel described homosexuality as "not genetic, but a choice", while arguing that religion is "virtually genetic, since it is passed from generation to generation".^[22] He remained active on law enforcement issues, introducing aprivate member's bill to create a national witness protection program and calling for tougher provisions under Canada'sYoung Offenders Act.^[23]

He was re-elected to a third term in the1997 election, again running on a "law and order" platform. When parliament resumed, he introduced a private member's bill designed to prevent persons convicted of serious crimes (and their relatives and collaborators) from receiving any financial benefit resulting from artistic depictions of their acts. The bill was supported by some members of the law enforcement community, but was criticized by artists and was often described as poorly drafted. Toronto journalistMichael Valpy dismissed it as "legal gibberish" and "a piece of junk".^[24] The bill passed the House of Commons but was rejected by theSenate of Canada in 1998, despite last-minute adjustments.^[25]

Wappel ran forSpeaker of the House of Commons of Canada in 2001, seeking support from backbench Liberals and opposition members. He was eliminated after the first ballot of a secret vote by allmembers of Parliament (MPs).^[26]

He faced media scrutiny in May 2001, when he refused to help a blind, elderlyveteran in his riding whom he suspected of having voted for a rival candidate in the previous election. Wappel wrote a letter to the constituent, asking "How is it that you are writing me for my help if you did not think enough of my abilities to justify voting for me?"^[27] The letter was released to the media, and Wappel's remarks were widely condemned by journalists^[28] and MPs from all parties. Chrétien reprimanded Wappel and required him to issue an apology.^[29] Wappel later described the letter as a "stupid mistake", and called for voters to forgive him.^[30]

In July 2002, Wappel joined with fifteen other Liberal MPs in calling forPaul Martin to succeed Jean Chrétien as Liberal leader.^[31] Later in the year, he was unexpectedly elected chair of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans in a free vote of other committee members.^[32] He issued a report in June 2003 arguing that federal bureaucrats had "badly managed" thesockeye salmon fishery inBritish Columbia'sFraser River two years earlier.^[33]

Martin government

Paul Martin succeeded Chrétien as party leader andprime minister in December 2003. Wappel remained a governmentbackbencher, and was returned to a fifth parliamentary term in the2004 election as the Liberals were reduced to aminority government.

Wappel remained one of the most vocal social conservatives in the Liberal caucus and was a prominent opponent of the Martin government's 2005same-sex marriage legislation, which he described as "discriminatory, a sham, and a hoax".^[34] According to one report, Wappel told Martin that he was "profoundly disappointed" with his handling of the issue during a private caucus meeting.^[35] There was some speculation that Wappel would join fellow MPPat O'Brien in leaving the Liberal caucus over the marriage bill, but he decided to remain in the party.^[36]

Wappel was re-elected to the House of Commons in the2006 federal election, as theConservative Party won a nationalminority government. Wappel was one of twenty-four Liberal MPs to vote for an extension of Canada's military mission inAfghanistan in May 2006.^[37] He also renewed his call for abortion legislation, describing Canada as "the only western democracy that has absolutely no law whatsoever when it comes to protecting the unborn child".^[38] In February 2007, he was the only Liberal MP to vote for the extension of two controversial anti-terrorism measures that had first been passed by the Chrétien government in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The measures, which critics described as a threat to civil liberties, were defeated when theBloc Québécois, New Democratic Party and most Liberals voted not to support their extension.^[39] Wappel expressed surprise that more Liberal MPs did not support the extension.^[40]

Wappel did not endorse any candidate in the 2006Liberal leadership election, as none of the candidates were declared social conservatives.^[41] He indicated that he would personally vote forJoe Volpe at the convention.^[42]

Wappel promoted several private member's bills calling for better nutritional labels on food products. In 1998, he introduced a bill that would have required nutritional labels on all foods sold in grocery stores. It was supported by the Alliance for Food Label Reform, and Wappel argued that it would help reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer among consumers.^[43] The bill was not passed.

In 2004, he introduced a separate bill requiringfast food restaurants to list salt and fat content on their menus.^[44] It was defeated by a vote of 198 to 64 in November 2006.^[45]

On March 23, 2007, Wappel announced that he would not stand in the next federal election.^[46] His tenure as a member of Parliament ended with the2008 federal election.

Wappel joined theCampaign Life Coalition as itslegal counsel on January 1, 2009.^[47]

All electoral information is taken fromElections Canada. Italicized expenditures from elections after 1997 refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available. Expenditures from 1997 refer to submitted totals. The +/- figures from 1997 and 2004 are adjusted for redistribution.

• Tom Wappel – Parliament of Canada biography

• 1950 births
• 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• 21st-century members of the House of Commons of Canada
• Canadian anti-abortion activists
• Canadian people of Hungarian descent
• Lawyers in Ontario
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• Living people
• Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
• People from Scarborough, Ontario
• Politicians from Toronto
• Queen's University at Kingston alumni
• University of Toronto alumni

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