Craig Scott (politician)

Craig M. Scott (born March 14, 1962) is a Canadian politician and academic. Formerly a law professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and a director of the Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security,^[3] he was elected as the New Democratic Party candidate in a federal by-election in Toronto—Danforth on March 19, 2012, following the death of Jack Layton in August 2011.^[4]

Craig Scott
Scott in 2013
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Toronto—Danforth
In office March 19, 2012 – October 19, 2015
Preceded by	Jack Layton (2011)
Succeeded by	Julie Dabrusin
Personal details
Born	(1962-03-14) March 14, 1962 (age 63)[1][2] Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party	New Democratic
Spouse	Kovit Ratchadasri
Alma mater	McGill University University of Oxford Dalhousie University London School of Economics
Occupation	Legal scholar

Background

Scott was born and raised in Windsor, Nova Scotia.^[5] From 1979 to 1981, he attended Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in Canada, where he gained the International Baccalaureate Diploma. He then earned undergraduate degrees from McGill University and from the University of Oxford where he was a Rhodes Scholar at St John's College.^[6] He has a Bachelor of Laws from Dalhousie University and a Masters of Law from the London School of Economics. His academic specialty is international law^[7] with a focus on human rights law.^[8] Scott was a professor in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law^[9] from 1989 to 2001. He was Osgoode Law School's Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies)^[10] from 2001 to 2004 and has remained on the faculty subsequently.^[8]

Scott and his partner Kovit Ratchadasri^[11] previously owned the Craig Scott Gallery, an art gallery on Berkeley Street near Toronto's Distillery District.

Advisor

Scott was an advisor to the African National Congress during its period in exile during the Apartheid era and subsequently assisted in the drafting of portions of the post-apartheid Constitution of South Africa. In 1993-1994, he served as co-counsel for the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the International Court of Justice and has also been involved in human rights issues relating to Iraq, Sri Lanka and Honduras^[8] where he was involved with the Truth Commission held in the aftermath of the 2009 Honduran coup d'état.^[12]

He also advised rights seeking groups in Canada in regards to legal challenges using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms^[8] and assisted Maher Arar in his lawsuit against the Canadian government.^[13]

Political career

Scott was selected as the New Democratic Party's candidate for the Toronto—Danforth by-election on January 9, 2012.^[14] He won the seat on March 19, 2012, winning 59% of the vote, despite a strong campaign by second-place Liberal finisher, Grant Gordon.^[15] Scott was defeated for re-election in 2015 by Liberal Julie Dabrusin amid the massive Liberal wave that swept through Toronto.^[16]

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Julie Dabrusin	23,531	42.34	+24.75	–
	New Democratic	Craig Scott	22,325	40.17	-20.70	–
	Conservative	Benjamin Dichter	5,478	9.86	-4.44	–
	Green	Chris Tolley	2,618	4.71	-1.74	–
	Progressive Canadian	John Richardson	1,275	2.29		–
	Animal Alliance	Elizabeth Abbott	354	0.64	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			55,581	100.00		$209,972.56
Total rejected ballots			269	0.48	–
Turnout			55,850	72.38	–
Eligible voters			77,158
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+22.73
Source: Elections Canada[17][18]

v t e Canadian federal by-election, March 19, 2012: Toronto—Danforth Death of Jack Layton
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Craig Scott	19,210	59.44	−1.36	$ 82,847.22
	Liberal	Grant Gordon	9,215	28.51	+10.89	86,016.54
	Conservative	Andrew Keyes	1,736	5.37	−8.95	73,735.56
	Green	Adriana Mugnatto-Hamu	1,517	4.69	−1.77	57,955.38
	Progressive Canadian	Dorian Baxter	208	0.64	–	1,473.73
	Libertarian	John C. Recker	133	0.41	–	2,433.05
	Independent	Leslie Bory	77	0.24	–	898.69
	Canadian Action	Christopher Porter	75	0.23	–	3,163.57
	Independent	John Turmel	57	0.18	–	–
	United	Brian Jedan	55	0.17	–	130.18
	Independent	Bahman Yazdanfar	36	0.11	–	622.86
Total valid votes/expense limit			32,319	100.00		$ 86,821.95
Total rejected ballots			150	0.46	−0.13
Turnout			32,469	43.58	−21.32
	New Democratic hold		Swing		−6.1
Source(s) "By-election March 19, 2012 – Official Voting Results". Elections Canada. Retrieved October 29, 2014. "Financial Reports: Candidate's Electoral Campaign Return – March 19, 2012 By-election". Retrieved October 29, 2014.