Tony Rizzo

Background

Rizzo was born in Italy and moved to Canada with his family in the early 1950s. He studied engineering and obtained work as a civil engineer. In 1973 he created Primus Masonry Ltd. and Muro Construction Inc. in 1989. He is married with three children. Rizzo's daughter Gidget was elected as a school trustee in 1994. His son Luigi unsuccessfully challenged veteran municipal councillor Howard Moscoe in the 2003 municipal election.

Municipal

In 1980, Rizzo ran for a seat on the municipal council in the borough of York. Running as a candidate supported by New Democrats, he lost to incumbent Ron Bradd. In 1982 he contested the same ward, this time beating Bradd. He beat Bradd again in 1985 and again in 1988.

In 1989, Rizzo was accused of underhanded electioneering in the 1988 election when he admitted to donating $700 to the campaign of Roland Saggiorato, a rival candidate shortly after Saggiorato withdrew from the race. Rizzo claimed the donation was legal but some argued the payment was a bribe for Saggiorato withdrawing his candidacy. Rizzo said he had no idea why Saggiorato left the race. He said, "I don't give a damn why." Later Rizzo tried unsuccessfully to appoint Saggiorato to the city's municipal Committee of Adjustment - a position that came with a $2,000 honorarium. Saggiorato said that although he accepted the $700 as part of his election campaign, he had expected an appointment to the committee. He said, "...the whole thing is, the committee job on the committee of adjustment, that was supposed to come."

In late 1989 to mid 1990, Rizzo became embroiled in the infamous Fairbank Park development scandal. Rizzo was head of the committee that approved a proposal to sell off part of a city park for a condominium development in exchange for the construction of a community centre. The proposal was widely criticised by local residents. In August 1990, Rizzo reversed his approval and voted with councillor Frances Nunziata to oppose the project. In the end aldermen Jim Fera and Tony Mandarano were convicted for receiving bribes from the developer. Rizzo was questioned by the police but not charged.

In 1997 he sought a return to municipal politics. He ran in the newly formed Ward 28 (York Eglinton) but lost to Joe Mihevc and Rob Davis. In 2000, now styling himself as a member of the Liberal Party, he ran against Howard Moscoe in Ward 15. He accused Moscoe of interfering in a recent Toronto Transit Commission strike and of collusion with the taxicab industry. He lost the election by 3,627 votes.

Provincial

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, defeating Liberal incumbent Chaviva Hošek by 2,280 votes in the Toronto riding of Oakwood. The NDP won a majority government in this election under the leadership of Bob Rae. In his old riding, York council appointed Reverend Paul Owen to replace Rizzo as an interim alderman. Rob Davis won the seat in a municipal election a year later.

On October 5, 1990, it was revealed that Rizzo had obtained home renovation drawings from architect Rocco Maragna in 1988. Later on Rizzo voted at council to approve city contracts for Maragna's architectural firm. Rizzo admitted that he hadn't declared a conflict of interest because he didn't pay for the drawings. He said, "When I asked for an invoice, he refused to give it to me. I should have insisted. To repay him, I took him for lunch. I should have insisted on an invoice. Maybe it would cost me less." Rizzo wrote in a press release that "In hindsight, I see that what then seemed a small thing was an error in judgment." Premier Bob Rae took issue with Rizzo's response, however he didn't expel him. "It doesn't make it any easier, but bad things happen," Rae said. "The test, it seems to me, is how you respond to those things. Human beings are human beings. They make mistakes."

On October 19, 1990, a further impropriety surfaced. In 1989 the Ontario Labour Relations Board found that Rizzo had shifted a dozen workers from one company to another in order to avoid paying them benefits. His companies were ordered to pay $8,164 to a bricklayer's union. Rae was angered not only by the revelation but also Rizzo's response to the allegation. When confronted by reporters, Rizzo said, "You publish that and I'll take you to court. "What f---ing job are you doing, trying to stay behind my back?" The next day Rizzo resigned from the NDP caucus to sit as an independent member of the legislature. He said he wanted to avoid further embarrassment to the party. Rizzo said that the incident was just the way of doing business in the construction industry. He said, "There was a settlement. My men were paid twice for their benefits through two unions. There's nothing wrong with that. In business, you have to face these problems once in a while," He went on to say that he expected to be back in the NDP caucus. He said, "In time, you will see I have never done anything wrong." He also accused Liberal rival, Chaviva Hošek, of being behind the revelations. "She was behind it during the campaign. This is a continuation of the campaign... you will see somebody tried to get me. Not only that, but they tried to embarrass the government and they tried to use any member of this government to try to embarrass the government."

In June 1992, Rizzo was allowed to return to the NDP caucus. He said, "It's finally over. I feel vindicated." Rae said he wouldn't refuse Rizzo's request to return.

In May 1994, Rizzo introduced a private member's bill that would have ensured that the courts consider grandparents in the best interest of the children. In June, Rizzo was one of twelve NDP MPPs to vote against Bill 167, proposed legislation that would have extended spousal benefits to same-sex couples. Premier Rae allowed a free vote on the legislation. Rizzo said that he felt sorry about the outcome but said he followed his personal convictions on the vote. He said, "There's nothing for me to feel vindicated about. I would have preferred a bill I could support. I did what I felt was right, but I don't feel any satisfaction."

Rizzo's decision to vote against the legislation almost cost him a nomination vote in his riding in 1995. He narrowly won a vote to be the NDP candidate for Oakwood in the 1995 provincial election. Helen Rykens who called herself a same-sex rights activist challenged him in a nomination battle. Rizzo won by 171 to 139 votes. Joe Flexer a former NDP supporter put his name forward as an independent labour candidate in Oakwood. Flexer was supported by teacher's union leader Liz Barkley. Her support resulted in her later expulsion from the NDP.

Declining support for the NDP because of controversial legislation like the social contract and general dissatisfaction with the party led to Rizzo's defeat. He lost to Liberal Mike Colle by 975 votes.

After politics

Rizzo formed a company called GTA Municipal Consultants which files property tax appeals for homeowners and takes a 50 per cent cut of any savings.