Gary Carr (born August 14, 1955 in Toronto, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2003, and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal in 2004.

Carr has a certificate in Business Administration from Ryerson University, and was a businessman and sales manager in the transportation industry before entering public life. He continued his education as a politician, and received an MBA from Athabasca University in 2002. Carr also played professional hockey for five years in the farm teams of the Boston Bruins and Quebec Nordiques. In 1975, he was a Memorial Cup champion as a member of the Toronto Marlboros.

Carr was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, defeating incumbent Liberal Doug Carruthers by 108 votes in the riding of Oakville . From 1993 to 1995, he was his party's Deputy House Leader.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government under Mike Harris in the provincial election of 1995, and Carr was easily re-elected. He was passed over for a cabinet position, however, and served as parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor-General for the next four years.

Carr was again re-elected in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal Kevin Flynn by over 13,000 votes. He was chosen as Speaker of the legislature on October 20, 1999, and held this position for the entirety of the parliament which followed.

Like his predecessor Chris Stockwell, Carr was known as an impartial Speaker who was willing to criticize his own government. In 2003, he alienated several members of the Progressive Conservative Party by ruling that the government of Ernie Eves had committed a prima facie act of contempt against the legislature by holding its budget announcement at the headquarters of Magna International, rather than in the legislature itself. Outside of his capacity as Speaker, he was extremely critical of the direction taken by the Progressive Conservative Party in this period, and did not seek re-election in 2003. He left politics and briefly coached a hockey team located in London.

In early 2004, following a discussion with Paul Martin, Carr announced his intentions to run as a Liberal in the the 2004 federal election. In a closely-watched campaign, he defeated Conservative candidate Dean Martin by over 5,500 votes to win the riding of Halton, which borders on Oakville. As of yet, Carr has not played a major role in the House of Commons.

External links

• Parliament profile
• Official site