Bill Blair | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Blair in 2025 | |
| Minister of National Defence | |
| In office July 26, 2023 – May 13, 2025 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau Mark Carney |
| Preceded by | Anita Anand |
| Succeeded by | David McGuinty |
| Minister of Emergency Preparedness | |
| In office October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Himself (as Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) |
| Succeeded by | Harjit Sajjan |
| Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness | |
| In office November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Ralph Goodale |
| Succeeded by | Marco Mendicino (as Minister of Public Safety) Himself (as Minister of Emergency Preparedness) |
| Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction | |
| In office July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice | |
| In office January 28, 2017 – July 18, 2018 | |
| Minister | Jody Wilson-Raybould |
| Preceded by | Sean Casey |
| Succeeded by | Marco Mendicino |
| Member of Parliament forScarborough Southwest | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Dan Harris |
| Chief of the Toronto Police Service | |
| In office April 6, 2005 – April 25, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Boyd |
| Succeeded by | Mark Saunders |
| Personal details | |
| Born | William Sterling Blair (1954-04-09)April 9, 1954 (age 71)[citation needed] Scarborough,Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Susanne Blair |
| Children | 2 sons; 1 daughter |
| Residence | South Hill, Toronto[1] |
| Alma mater | University of Toronto (BA) |
| Police Career | |
| Department | Toronto Police Service |
| Service years | 1975–2015 |
| Rank |  Chief of Police |
| Awards | Commander of the Order of Merit of the Police Forces Police Exemplary Service Medal Member of the Order of St. John Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal |
William "Bill" Sterling BlairPC COM MP (born April 9,[citation needed] 1954)[2] is a Canadian politician and former police officer who served as theMinister of National Defence from 2023 to 2025. A member of theLiberal Party, Blair has representedScarborough Southwest in theHouse of Commons since 2015. Blair previously held the portfolios ofMinister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction andminister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Before entering politics, Blair worked for four decades with theToronto Police Service (TPS), serving as thechief of police from 2005 until retiring in 2015.
Blair was born in 1954 inScarborough, Ontario. Blair's father had served as a police officer for 39 years.[3] Blair considered pursuing a degree in law or finance, when he initially enrolled at theUniversity of Toronto Scarborough in the mid 1970s.[3] Blair initially studied economics at the University of Toronto. He left to follow his ambition of being a police officer, but returned later and completed aBachelor of Arts ineconomics andcriminology.[4]
Blair is married to Susanne McMaster, and together they have three grown children (2 sons and daughter) and 2 grandchildren.[5]
Blair joined theMetropolitan Toronto Police while in university to make money and began taking courses on a part-time basis.[3] Blair walked abeat nearRegent Park and later worked as an undercover officer in Toronto's drug squad.[3]
After Blair earned his bachelor's degree incriminology, he advanced his career in the police service in the late 1980s, taking part in drug busts involving the seizure of millions of dollars of cocaine.[3] ChiefDavid Boothby assigned Blair to improve the poor community relations between the officers of 51 Division, which patrolled Blair's old beat near Regent Park.[3] Blair normalized police relations with the community by measures such as sending cops to read to kids in local elementary schools and engaging with local businesses and churches.[3]
In 1999, Blair was considered as a candidate to replace outgoing Chief Boothby, but MayorMel Lastman, with the support of PremierMike Harris, chose to hireJulian Fantino, then head of theYork Regional Police.[3] After reorganization of the senior ranks after Fantino's ascension as police chief, Blair became head of detective operations.[3]
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Blair was selected in a 4–2 vote of theToronto Police Services Board in early April 2005,[6] and formally appointed Chief of the Toronto Police Service on April 26, 2005.[7] He succeededMike Boyd, who had served as interim chief after the expiry ofJulian Fantino's contract.[6] Prior to his appointment as chief, Blair worked for approximately 30 years as a Toronto police officer, with assignments involving drug enforcement, organized crime and major criminal investigations.[7] Blair served as president of theCanadian Association of Chiefs of Police.[7]
In the spring of 2009,Tamil Canadians in Toronto upset by civilian deaths in theSri Lankan Civil War, which included an overnight artillery bombardment that killed 378 civilians and wounded 1,100, allegedly perpetrated by the Sri Lankan military, staged a series of protests in Toronto,[8] including shutting down the northbound and southbound lanes ofUniversity Avenue for four days while protesting in front of the US Consulate,[9] and illegally blocking traffic on theGardiner Expressway.[8] Blair and the police faced pressure to crack down on the demonstrations,[10] arrest and deporting the protesters.[11] Instead, Blair used his experience in community policing to ensure that minimal force was used, spoke respectfully of the protesters' rights to expression, and negotiated the peaceful resolution of the events.[8][10][11] TheCanadian Tamil Congress would later award Blair an inaugural "Leaders for Change Award" for his leadership during the protests.[11]
During demonstrations against theG20 Toronto Summit nearly 1,000 arrests were made, making it the largestmass arrest in Canadian history.[12] In the aftermath of the protests, the Toronto Police Service and theIntegrated Security Unit (ISU) for the summit were heavily criticized for brutality during the arrests. Protests called for Blair to resign.[13] In a December 2010 interview, Blair indicated that he would not resign, despite growing criticism of his leadership during and after the summit.[14]
A class action lawsuit was begun against TPS on behalf of all of those who were arrested in spite of the TPS's several attempts to stop proceedings. As of November 10, 2016, theSupreme Court of Canada ruled that it will not hear the Toronto Police Services Board's appeal, and the suit was able to proceed to trial. On August 17, 2020, the lawsuit had resulted in a $16.5 million settlement. Those arrested were each awarded dollar amounts ranging from $5,000 to $24,700.[15]
Responding to questions about a controversial regulation enacted by theCabinet of Ontario to increase police powers during the summit, Blair was supportive, stating that "it was passed in exactly the procedure as described in our legislation in Ontario."[16] Post-summit reports revealed that on June 25, prior to the start of the summit and shortly after Blair defended a widely reported misinterpretation of the regulation in a press conference, the police department received a government bulletin clarifying the misinterpretation and explaining that the new regulation accorded them no additional power to demand identification outside of the summit perimeter.[17][18] Blair's spokesperson stated that as of the press conference, Blair was unaware of the clarification;[17] however, Blair did not retract his prior remarks to the press after receiving the bulletin.[18] When interviewed after the summit, Blair confirmed that there was never an extraordinary legal requirement for the public to present identification within five metres of the perimeter fence, but that he "was trying to keep the criminals out."[18] In December 2010, following a critical report byOntario OmbudsmanAndré Marin, Blair admitted regret that he had initially interpreted the regulation at face value and did not promptly clear up confusion about the meaning of the regulation.[14]
In 2013, Blair came into conflict withToronto MayorRob Ford after confirming to the media that the police had obtained a video of the mayor smoking what appeared to becrack cocaine. Blair said he was "disappointed" in the mayor.[19] As the investigation into the mayor and his friend Alessandro Lisi continued, Mayor Ford dared Blair to arrest him and accused him of wasting money in their surveillance of Ford.[20] Rob Ford's brother, CouncillorDoug Ford, claimed that Blair had "gone rogue" and violated thePolice Services Act when speaking out about the mayor during the ongoing police investigation.[21] On August 11, 2014, Blair served Councillor Doug Ford with notice ofdefamation. Doug Ford accused the police chief of using the suit as "payback" in retaliation against the mayor for not extending his contract, but apologized for his comments shortly afterwards.[22]
In his last years in office, Blair was in conflict with several members of the Toronto Police Services Board over resistance to proposed reforms as well as his resistance to cut the police budget. On July 30, 2014, the board announced that it would not renew Blair's contract for a third, five-year term. He retired from the police service when his contract ended on April 25, 2015,[23] and was succeeded by Deputy ChiefMark Saunders.[24]
Blair declined to comment on his future plans while he was still police chief.[25] TheLiberal Party recruited Blair to be its candidate inScarborough Southwest for the2015 federal election to be held October. On April 25, 2015, Blair confirmed his intention to seek the Liberal Party nomination in Scarborough Southwest.[26] He won the Liberal nomination on June 13, 2015.[27]
On October 19, 2015, Blair was elected to the42nd Canadian Parliament in the Scarborough Southwest riding.[28] On January 28, 2017, Blair was namedparliamentary secretary to theminister of justice.[29] In January 2016, Blair was named as the head of the federal-provincial task force tasked with creating a plan for thelegalization of cannabis in Canada.[30][31] On September 19, 2017, Blair assumed the role of parliamentary secretary to theminister of health.[32]
Blair has held a number of roles working with theDepartment of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
On July 18, 2018, Blair joined Cabinet when he was appointedMinister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction.[33]
Blair was madeMinister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on November 20, 2019,[34] soon after his re-election to the43rd Canadian Parliament. In his role he oversaw the closure of theborder between Canada and the United States during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[35]
Blair becamePresident of the Privy Council on October 26, 2021, and dropped public safety from his portfolio, becomingMinister of Emergency Preparedness,[36] soon after his re-election to the44th Canadian Parliament. In November 2021, Blair oversaw theCanadian Armed Forces' operation to help those in the Pacific coast ofBritish Columbia amidsttorrential rains that caused landslides and floods.[37] Blair played a key role in the federal government's response to theCanada convoy protest, where theEmergencies Act was invoked.[38] In September 2022, Blair coordinated the federal response toHurricane Fiona.[39]
During a cabinet shuffle in July 2023, he was madeMinister of National Defence.[40] Blair continued to hold that role under new Liberal leaderMark Carney's30th Canadian Ministry.[41]
Blair was reelected in the2025 Canadian federal election and was removed from cabinet in the subsequent cabinet shuffle.[41]
In 2007, he was appointed an Officer of theOrder of Merit of the Police Forces[42] and in 2012, he was elevated within the Order to the level of Commander.[43] He is a Member of theVenerable Order of Saint John.[44] On January 19, 2013, Blair was honoured by theCanadian Tamil Congress, with their inaugural "Leaders for Change Award" for his exemplary leadership during the protests of 2009 in Toronto.[11]
| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
 | Order of Merit of the Police Forces (COM)[21] |
|
_ribbon_-vector.svg) | Order of St John[45] |
|
 | Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal[46] |
|
 | Police Exemplary Service Medal[45] |
|
| 2025 Canadian federal election:Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Bill Blair | 33,395 | 61.41 | +3.45 | ||||
| Conservative | Asm Tarun | 16,682 | 30.68 | +10.09 | ||||
| New Democratic | Fatima Shaban | 2,710 | 4.98 | –11.01 | ||||
| Green | Amanda Cain | 753 | 1.38 | –0.87 | ||||
| People's | Michael Poulin | 565 | 1.04 | –1.84 | ||||
| Centrist | Imran Khan | 165 | 0.30 | N/A | ||||
| Marxist–Leninist | Christine Nugent | 113 | 0.21 | N/A | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | ||||||||
| Total rejected ballots | ||||||||
| Turnout | 54,383 | 63.56 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 85,555 | |||||||
| Liberalnotional hold | Swing | –3.72 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[47][48] | ||||||||
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Bill Blair | 24,823 | 57.5 | +0.3 | $59,762.16 | |||
| Conservative | Mohsin Bhuiyan | 8,981 | 20.8 | +0.1 | $74,180.31 | |||
| New Democratic | Guled Arale | 6,924 | 16.0 | +0.5 | $33,149.66 | |||
| People's | Ramona Pache | 1,259 | 2.9 | +1.7 | $2,513.29 | |||
| Green | Amanda Cain | 1,068 | 2.5 | -2.4 | $1,982.23 | |||
| Independent | David Edward-Ooi Poon | 117 | 0.3 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 43,172 | 99.3 | – | $109,258.84 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 325 | 0.7 | ||||||
| Turnout | 43,497 | 56.8 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 76,559 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +0.1 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[49] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Bill Blair | 28,965 | 57.2 | +4.73 | $59,424.78 | |||
| Conservative | Kimberly Fawcett Smith | 10,502 | 20.7 | -0.52 | $31,378.91 | |||
| New Democratic | Keith McCrady | 7,865 | 15.5 | -8.23 | $32,226.21 | |||
| Green | Amanda Cain | 2,477 | 4.9 | +2.32 | $4,140.81 | |||
| People's | Italo Eratostene | 590 | 1.2 | $5,716.04 | ||||
| Animal Protection | Simon Luisi | 236 | 0.5 | none listed | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 50,635 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 449 | |||||||
| Turnout | 51,084 | 65.3 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 78,246 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | +2.63 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[50][51][52] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election:Scarborough Southwest | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Bill Blair | 25,586 | 52.47 | +23.13 | $153,155.47 | |||
| New Democratic | Dan Harris | 11,574 | 23.73 | -11.14 | $48,940.84 | |||
| Conservative | Roshan Nallaratnam | 10,347 | 21.22 | -10.46 | $64,631.85 | |||
| Green | Tommy Taylor | 1,259 | 2.58 | -1.48 | $5,572.61 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 48,766 | 100.0 | $205,220.58 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 277 | 0.56 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 49,043 | 67.96 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 72,164 | |||||||
| Liberalgain fromNew Democratic | Swing | +17.13 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[53][54] | ||||||||
Blair won in what sources indicate was a four-two vote. Word is, he managed to appeal to Fantino fans Case Ootes and Hugh Locke without completely alienating the so-called progressive contingent.
In the face of growing criticisms of his handling of the G20 and its aftermath, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair says he will not resign.
Civil liberties groups are concerned about the new regulations, but Toronto police Chief Bill Blair defended the move to add the new powers and denied there was any attempt to deceive the public about how or when they were enacted.
| 29th Ministry – Cabinet ofJustin Trudeau | ||
| Cabinet posts (4) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Predecessor | Office | Successor |
| Anita Anand | Minister of National Defence July 26, 2023 – May 13, 2025 | David McGuinty |
| Dominic LeBlanc | President of the King's Privy Council for Canada October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023 | Harjit Sajjan |
| Ralph Goodale | Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021 | Marco Medicino |
| Position created | Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction July 17, 2018 – November 20, 2019 | Position abolished |
