John David Maloney

Who is John David Maloney?

John David Maloney is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the House of Commons of Canada 1993 to 2008, and represented the riding of Welland and its antecedents for the Liberal Party.

Maloney has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Diploma in Criminology from the University of Toronto, as well as a law degree from Osgoode Hall. He practiced law before entering political life. Maloney worked for the firm of Smith, Shaver, Selzer & McLuskie from 1972 to 1974, operated a private practice in Port Colborne from 1974 to 1976, and has been a partner in Maloney and Maloney from 1976 to the present. In 1980, he was named Port Colborne Citizen of the Year. He received a Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2002.

He was first elected to parliament in the 1993 federal election, winning a convincing victory over his Reform and Progressive Conservative opponents in the riding of Erie. He was re-elected by narrower margins in the elections of 1997 and 2000, in the redistributed riding of Erie—Lincoln. On the latter occasion, he defeated Canadian Alliance candidate and future MP Dean Allison by just over 2,000 votes.

After further redistribution in 2004, Maloney defeated Greg D'Amico and fellow Liberal MP Tony Tirabassi for the party's nomination in Welland. He defeated New Democratic Party candidate Jody Di Bartolomeo and Conservative Mel Grunstein in the election which followed. In the 2006 federal election, he once again defeated Bartolomeo and Grunstein and was returned to office by the voters of Welland.