Rob Nicholson

For other people with similar names, see Robert Nicholson (disambiguation) and Bob Nicholson (disambiguation).

The Honourable Robert Nicholson PC KC
Nicholson in 2014
Shadow Minister of Justice Shadow Attorney General of Canada
In office November 20, 2015 – September 11, 2019
Leader	Rona Ambrose Andrew Scheer
Preceded by	Françoise Boivin
Succeeded by	Rob Moore
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office February 9, 2015 – November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	John Baird
Succeeded by	Stéphane Dion
Minister of National Defence
In office July 15, 2013 – February 9, 2015
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Peter MacKay
Succeeded by	Jason Kenney
Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada
In office January 4, 2007 – July 15, 2013
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Vic Toews
Succeeded by	Peter MacKay
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
In office February 6, 2006 – January 4, 2007
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Tony Valeri
Succeeded by	Peter Van Loan
Minister responsible for Democratic Reform
In office February 6, 2006 – January 4, 2007
Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Preceded by	Belinda Stronach (Democratic Renewal)
Succeeded by	Peter Van Loan
Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls
In office July 28, 2004 – September 11, 2019
Preceded by	Gary Pillitteri
Succeeded by	Tony Baldinelli
In office September 4, 1984 – October 25, 1993
Preceded by	Al MacBain
Succeeded by	Gary Pillitteri
Personal details
Born	Robert Douglas Nicholson (1952-04-29) April 29, 1952 Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative (Before 2003) Conservative (2003–present)
Spouse	Arlene Nicholson
Alma mater	Queen's University University of Windsor

Robert Douglas Nicholson PC KC (born April 29, 1952) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Niagara Falls in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, he served as Minister of National Defence, Minister of Justice, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. When the Harper Government ended, he was appointed Justice Critic in the Official Opposition shadow cabinet.

Early life

Nicholson was born in Niagara Falls, Ontario. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University and a law degree from the University of Windsor. Nicholson practised law before entering politics, and is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.

Political career

First terms in the House of Commons (1984–1993)

Nicholson was first elected to federal parliament in the federal election of 1984 as a Progressive Conservative, defeating New Democrat Richard Harrington and incumbent Liberal Al MacBain. He was re-elected by a narrower margin in the 1988 election, defeating Liberal Gary Pillitteri by fewer than 2,000 votes.

During the 33rd Canadian Parliament, he served on the standing committees responsible for justice (vice-chairman), foreign affairs, national defence and transport. Nicholson also served on the special committee on child care.

During the 34th Canadian Parliament, he continued to serve on the justice committee and was also named a parliamentary secretary, supporting the Government House Leader (1989-1990) and the Attorney General of Canada (1989-1993) in Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney's government.

Following Kim Campbell's appointment as prime minister, Nicholson joined the cabinet as Minister for Science and Minister responsible for Small Business.

As with all of his caucus colleagues, save for Jean Charest and Elsie Wayne, he was defeated in the 1993 election, finishing third behind Pillitteri and Mel Grunstein of the Reform Party.

Municipal politics

Nicholson was elected as a trustee for the Niagara Catholic District School Board in 1994. He was elected to the Niagara Regional Council later in 1997, and was re-elected in 2000, and 2003. He ran for Chairman of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in late 2003, but lost to St. Catharines Regional Councillor Peter Partington.

He attempted to regain his old Commons seat in the 1997 election, but again finished third. He did not seek election to the Commons in the 2000 election.

Return to Opposition in 38th Parliament

The Progressive Conservatives merged with the Canadian Alliance as the Conservative Party of Canada in early 2004, and Nicholson joined the new party. He was narrowly returned to parliament in the 2004 election, defeating Liberal Victor Pietrangelo by more than 1,000 votes.

Nicholson served as Shadow Transportation Critic from July 2004 to January 2005. He was appointed Chief Opposition Whip on January 28, 2005.

During the 38th Canadian Parliament, he was one of only two members of the 99-member Conservative caucus in the Commons who had previously served in the federal cabinet.

Harper government (2005-2015)

Rob Nicholson at G7 Foreign Ministers & EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Meeting in Germany

Robert Nicholson, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with aboriginal northerners at a replica Inuit village in Aglukkaq's hometown of Inaquit, Canada

Nicholson was re-elected in the 2006 election and appointed to the Harper cabinet as Government House Leader.

Minister of Justice (2007-2013)

Nicholson was appointed as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada in early 2007. He replaced Vic Toews as Justice Minister during a Cabinet shuffle on January 4, 2007. Peter Van Loan replaced Nicholson as Government House Leader.

On March 13, 2010, Nicholson released the terms of reference for the appointment of Frank Iacobucci as an Independent Adviser. Iacobucci will conduct an independent review of documents related to the transfer of detainees by the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan.

This statement comes after Richard Colvin spoke before a parliamentary committee stating that he warned for a full year that detainees Canadian troops handed over to Afghan forces faced torture before the government began to monitor them. “London, The Hague and Canberra [Australia] are deeply concerned about the absence of solid legal protections for detainees, which – in the age of Gitmo and Abu Ghraib – imperils domestic support for the Afghanistan mission,” said the memo of December 4, 2006, written by diplomat Richard Colvin. Amir Attaran also brought forward testimony in stark contrast to then Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan David Sproule's. Afgan prisoners testified that after capture by Canadians, they were subsequently handed to the custody of the Afghan National Army (ANA), claiming they were later abused by the ANA.

Minister of Defence (2013-2015)

In the July 15, 2013 cabinet shuffle, Nicholson switched portfolios with Peter Mackay and became the Minister of Defence.

Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015)

Because of John Baird's resignation, Harper was forced to reshuffle his Ministry on 9 February 2015. An unexpected beneficiary of the Baird defalcation was Nicholson, who was promoted to become Minister of Foreign Affairs. Nicholson's time as head of the Canadian Foreign Service was cut short when he was ejected from office on 4 November 2015 as Harper lost the 2015 election.

Back in opposition (2015-2019)

While the Conservatives were relegated to the Official Opposition after the 2015 election, Nicholson was re-elected and announced his intention to run for the interim leadership of the party. He was defeated by Rona Ambrose, and was subsequently named as the Conservative Justice Critic.

Nicholson did not run for re-election in the 2019 federal election.

Election results

2015 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Nicholson	27,235	42.1	-11.16	–
	Liberal	Ron Planche	22,318	34.5	+15.59	–
	New Democratic	Carolynn Ioannoni	13,525	20.9	-2.59	–
	Green	Steven Soos	1,633	2.5	-1.36	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			64,711	100.0		$249,861.38
Total rejected ballots			353	0.34	-0.15
Turnout			65,064	63.93;	+7.03
Eligible voters			102,606
	Conservative hold		Swing		-13.38
Source: Elections Canada

2011 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Nicholson	28,748	53.26	+6.56	–
	New Democratic	Heather Kelley	12,681	23.49	+5.63	–
	Liberal	Bev Hodgson	10,206	18.91	-8.00	–
	Green	Shawn Willick	2,086	3.86	-4.61	–
	Christian Heritage	Harold Jonker	259	0.5%	+0.48	–
Total valid votes			53,980	100.00	–
Total rejected ballots			264	0.49	-0.01
Turnout			54,244	56.90	+2.30
Eligible voters			95,326	–	–

2008 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	Rob Nicholson	24,016	46.70%	+6.3%	$77,050
	Liberal	Joyce Morocco	13,867	26.96%	-7.5%	$89,565
	New Democratic	Eric Gillespie	9,186	17.86%	-3.1%	$18,513
	Green	Shawn Willick	4,356	8.47%	+4.4%	$7,974
Total valid votes/Expense limit			51,425	99.5%	$94,533
Total rejected ballots			264	0.5%
Turnout			51,689	54.60%

2006 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Nicholson	23,489	40.4%	+1.7%
	Liberal	Gary Burroughs	20,099	34.5%	-2.0%
	New Democratic	Wayne Gates	12,214	21.0%	+0.2%
	Green	Kay Green	2,402	4.1%	+0.1%
Total valid votes			58,204	100.0%

2004 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Rob Nicholson	19,882	38.7%	-7.7%
	Liberal	Victor Pietrangelo	18,745	36.5%	-9.4%
	New Democratic	Wayne Gates	10,680	20.8%	+14.7%
	Green	Ted Mousseau	2,071	4.0%	+2.7%
Total valid votes			51,378	100.0%

Note: Conservative vote is compared to the total of the Canadian Alliance vote and Progressive Conservative vote in 2000 election.

1997 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	15,868	38.4%	-8.7%
	Reform	Mel Grunstein	10,986	26.6%	+1.6%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	9,935	24.0%	+1.7%
	New Democratic	John Cowan	4,052	9.8%	+6.4%
	Green	Alexander Rados	374	0.9%	+0.3%
	Natural Law	Bill Amos	154	0.4%	0.0%
Total valid votes			41,369	100.0%

1993 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	20,542	47.1%	+12.1%
	Reform	Mel Grunstein	10,890	25.0%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	9,719	22.3%	-17.2%
	New Democratic	Steve Leonard	1,470	3.4%	-18.0%
	National	John Cowan	513	1.2%
	Green	John Bruce McBurney	258	0.6%
	Natural Law	Bill Amos	166	0.4%
	Abolitionist	Ted Wiwchar	82	0.2%
Total valid votes			43,640	100.0%

1988 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	17,077	39.5%	-15.6%
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	15,137	35.0%	+15.2%
	New Democratic	Dick Harrington	9,232	21.3%	-2.4%
	Christian Heritage	Bill Andres	1,713	4.0%
	Commonwealth of Canada	Jean-Claude Souvray	97	0.2%
Total valid votes			43,256	100.0%

1984 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	22,852	55.1%	+18.2%
	New Democratic	Richard Harrington	9,863	23.8%	+2.6%
	Liberal	Al MacBain	8,219	19.8%	-21.3%
	Green	Robert G. Scott	352	0.8%
	Social Credit	Earl G. Erb	177	0.4%	-0.1%
Total valid votes			41,463	100.0%

See also

• List of Knights of Columbus members

External links

• Profile at Parliament of Canada
• Rob Nicholson – Parliament of Canada biography
• Speeches, votes and activity at OpenParliament.ca