EX-LIBERAL MP PUNISHED THE FALL OF JOHN NUNZIATA
Admits he lied under oath about assaulting ex-wife’s boyfriend,
From where he stood beside his pregnant wife and cheering supporters, John Nunziata could never have predicted the twists and turns his life would soon take.
It was federal election night on June 2, 1997, and the former Liberal MP — who entered the political spotlight in the late 1980s as a member of the Liberal Rat Pack that took on the Brian Mulroney government — had just been re-elected as an independent for the Toronto riding of York South-Weston.
It was a night the 57-year-old lawyer now describes as “one of the happiest periods of my life,” the pinnacle of a political career soon tarnished by controversy, his private life shattered by a bitter divorce.
Fifteen years later, Nunziata’s life has unravelled. On Monday, the former MP admitted to a Law Society of Upper Canada hearing panel that he lied under oath during a “pre-enquete” hearing for an assault charge stemming from an altercation with his ex-wife’s boyfriend. He was reprimanded and ordered to pay more than $10,000 in fines and fees.
“Pierre Trudeau once said . . . in politics, the highs are incredibly high and the lows are incredibly low. And, well, he was absolutely right,” said Nunziata, reached in Ottawa Tuesday.
In the past decade, Nunziata has slipped in and out of the public spotlight, first with a failed bid for Toronto mayor in 2003, in which he was widely criticized for his call to clear the homeless from the streets.
During the campaign, he also alleged that a member of another campaign offered him a bribe to drop out of the race. The allegation was investigated by police, but never proven.
Years later, after leaving the public spotlight to work as a lawyer and lobbyist, Nunziata’s private life took a hit when he and his wife, Caroline Brett, divorced. The divorce was finalized in 2007 and the pair was granted joint custody of their three children.
“With my marriage breaking down, I just couldn’t cope. I had very dark thoughts . . . suffering from severe depression,” Nunziata said, describing the “valley of darkness” he struggled to navigate in the years after the split.
Nunziata’s public image took another walloping in October 2008 after he was arrested for assaulting his ex-wife’s boyfriend, an experience he now describes as “interesting” and “surreal.”
According to court documents, Nunziata was watching his son’s hockey game at CanLan Sports Arena on Oct. 17, 2008, when he confronted his ex-wife’s boyfriend, Murray Milthorpe, and kicked him in the back of the leg, causing a reportedly large bruise.
Police arrived at the arena, handcuffed Nunziata and took him to a Toronto jail, where he was fingerprinted and locked up with “some very nasty people,” he said.
Nunziata at first denied the assault under oath at a pre-enquete hearing and attempted to press charges against Milthorpe, but admitted to the assault at a May 2010 trial.
He was given a year’s probation and told he could face the possibility of anger management classes. He was also ordered to stay at least 100 metres away from Milthorpe. Last January, the former MP again made headlines when the Law Society of Upper Canada alleged that he lied under oath in 2008 and launched disciplinary proceedings. With those proceedings completed Monday, Nunziata said he was ready to put his “dark days” behind him and move on. Milthorpe, still with Nunziata’s ex-wife, said he hoped the completion of the law society proceedings would “help the healing process.” A lobbyist with the Parliamentary Group, Nunziata has become a familiar face at Toronto City Hall where his sister, Councillor Frances Nunziata, is council speaker. His clients have included a taxi company that specializes in disabled customers and an association representing career colleges. A source close to Mayor Rob Ford’s office told the Star this summer that John Nunziata expressed interest in becoming Ford’s chief of staff after the job opened up. But Nunziata flatly denied that in an interview and said his days in politics are done. “I had a very good run at it,” he said. With files from David Rider