Peter Van Loan

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Canadian politician (born 1963)

title: "Peter Van Loan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1963-births", "21st-century-members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada", "canadian-king's-counsel", "canadian-people-of-estonian-descent", "conservative-party-of-canada-mps", "lawyers-in-ontario", "members-of-the-28th-canadian-ministry", "members-of-the-house-of-commons-of-canada-from-ontario", "members-of-the-king's-privy-council-for-canada", "people-from-georgina,-ontario", "people-from-niagara-falls,-ontario", "living-people", "osgoode-hall-law-school-alumni", "presidents-of-the-progressive-conservative-party-of-ontario", "recipients-of-the-order-of-the-cross-of-terra-mariana,-2nd-class", "university-of-toronto-alumni", "york-university-alumni"] description: "Canadian politician (born 1963)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Van_Loan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Canadian politician (born 1963) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
honorific-prefix	The Honourable
name	Peter Van Loan
honorific-suffix
image	Peter Van Loan - 2014 (14377788468) (cropped).jpg
caption	Van Loan in 2014
office	Shadow Minister of Canadian Heritage
leader	Rona Ambrose
term_start	20 November 2015
term_end	7 September 2018
predecessor	Pierre Nantel
successor	Steven Blaney
office2	Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
primeminister2	Stephen Harper
term_start2	May 18, 2011
term_end2	November 4, 2015
predecessor2	John Baird
successor2	Dominic LeBlanc
primeminister3	Stephen Harper
term_start3	January 4, 2007
term_end3	October 30, 2008
predecessor3	Rob Nicholson
successor3	Jay Hill
office4	Minister of International Trade
primeminister4	Stephen Harper
term_start4	January 19, 2010
term_end4	May 18, 2011
predecessor4	Stockwell Day
successor4	Ed Fast
office5	Minister of Public Safety
primeminister5	Stephen Harper
term_start5	October 30, 2008
term_end5	January 19, 2010
predecessor5	Stockwell Day
successor5	Vic Toews
office6	President of the Queen's Privy Council
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
primeminister6	Stephen Harper
term_start6	November 27, 2006
term_end6	January 4, 2007
predecessor6	Michael Chong
successor6	Rona Ambrose
riding8	York—Simcoe
parliament8	Canadian
term_start8	June 28, 2004
term_end8	September 30, 2018
children	2
predecessor8	Riding established
successor8	Scot Davidson
birth_date
birth_place	Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
party	Conservative
profession	Lawyer
residence	Sutton, Ontario
::

Peter Leo Van Loan (born April 18, 1963) is a former Canadian politician who served as the member of Parliament (MP) for the electoral district of York—Simcoe from 2004 to 2018. A Conservative, he was the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons from 2007 to 2008 and again from 2011 to 2015.

Biography

Born in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Van Loan is of Estonian heritage on his maternal side. His mother and grandparents fled Estonia during World War II and immigrated to Canada.

Van Loan was educated at the University of Toronto and York University and holds a bachelor's degree, a Masters in International Relations and an additional master's degree in geography. Van Loan graduated from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School and was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1989.

Prior to his election to public office, Van Loan was a partner and Chair of the Planning and Development Law Group at the law firm of Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in Toronto, Ontario. Van Loan was also an adjunct professor of planning at the University of Toronto. He served as president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario during Mike Harris' term of office and then of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada for a brief period. He resigned from the latter post in 2000 after a series of disagreements with its leader, Joe Clark.

Van Loan was a key figure in the unsuccessful attempt to convince Premier of New Brunswick Bernard Lord to run for the leadership of the federal Progressive Conservatives in late 2002. He was a key organizer in the "Yes" Campaign, led by Tory Leader Peter MacKay, to ratify the merger of the Progressive Conservative Party and the Canadian Alliance into the Conservative Party of Canada. Van Loan then again attempted to recruit Lord to run for the leadership of the new party, and again was unsuccessful.

In an article from January 24, 2008, Van Loan was classified as one of "Harper's 12", the twelve most influential people in Ottawa, by Maclean's Magazine. Other cabinet ministers included were Jim Prentice, John Baird, and Jim Flaherty.

On October 30, 2008, Jay Hill replaced Van Loan as Government House Leader and Steven John Fletcher took over the Minister for Democratic Reform post. Van Loan became the Minister for Public Safety, as Stockwell Day became the Minister of International Trade. On these changes, Don Martin wrote: "The House of Commons might become a slightly friendlier place now that Peter Van Loan has lost the job of Question Period cheap shot specialist to become Public Safety Minister, a good move that seems to back Harper’s pledge to play nice with others during the upcoming session."

On January 19, 2010, Harper appointed Van Loan as Minister of International Trade.

On December 5, 2012, on the floor of the House of Commons Van Loan was involved in an altercation with NDP Leader Tom Mulcair. Van Loan crossed the aisle and used an inappropriate word during the confrontation. He was restrained by Defence Minister Peter MacKay.

Van Loan was one of thirteen Canadians banned from travelling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in March 2014. In response to the ban, Van Loan said that the ban was "not of serious consequence" and that he would "not be losing sleep over being on the list."

On July 29, 2018, Van Loan announced that he would be retiring from politics. He retired from the House of Commons on September 30. In the by-election, his seat was held for the Conservatives by Scot Davidson.

Electoral record

References

Martin, Don. (October 30, 2008}}{{dead link). "Harper keeps everyone occupied with supersized cabinet". National Post.
. (January 19, 2010). ["Harper moves 10 in cabinet shakeup"](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/harper-moves-10-in-cabinet-shakeup-1.761446). *[[CBC News]]*.
(December 6, 2012). "Peter Van Loan: Fight Comments Were Inappropriate (VIDEO)". The Canadian Press.
Susana Mas. (March 24, 2013). "Russian sanctions against Canadians a 'badge of honour'". CBC News.
(March 24, 2014). "Putin bans Van Loan from Russia as Ukraine crisis grows". Innisfil Journal.
(29 July 2018). "Former House leader under Stephen Harper, Peter Van Loan, retiring from Commons". [[CTV News]].
King, Miriam. (February 26, 2019). "Trudeau's days are numbered, says newly elected York-Simcoe MP". Newmarket Today.
[http://www.elections.ca/Scripts/vis/candidates?L=e&ED=35119&EV=41&EV_TYPE=1&PC=&PROV=ON&PROVID=35&MAPID=&QID=8&PAGEID=17&TPAGEID=&PD=&STAT_CODE_ID=-1 Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for York—Simcoe, 30 September 2015]
[http://www.elections.ca/content2.aspx?section=can&dir=cand/canlim&document=index&lang=e Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates]

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