Jim Karygiannis

The Honourable
Jim Karygiannis
PC
Δημήτρης Καρύγιαννης
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 22 Scarborough—Agincourt
In office
August 5, 2020 – September 24, 2020
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded byNick Mantas
In office
November 25, 2019 – June 24, 2020
Preceded byVacant
Succeeded byVacant
In office
December 1, 2018 – November 6, 2019
Preceded byWard established
Succeeded byVacant
Toronto City Councillor for (Ward 39) Scarborough—Agincourt
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded byMike Del Grande
Succeeded byWard abolished
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Scarborough—Agincourt
In office
November 21, 1988 – April 1, 2014
Preceded byPaul McCrossan
Succeeded byArnold Chan
Personal details
Born
James Karygiannis

(1955-05-02) May 2, 1955 (age 69)
Athens, Greece
Nationality
  • Canadian
  • Greek
[1]
Political partyLiberal
SpouseToula Karygiannis
Residence(s)Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto (BASc)
ProfessionBusinessman, industrial engineer

James Karygiannis PC (/ˌkærɪdʒiˈænɪs/ ⓘ KARR-ij-ee-AN-iss; Greek: Δημήτρης Καρύγιαννης, romanized: Dimítris Karýgiannis, IPA: [ðiˈmitris kaˈriʝanis]; born May 2, 1955) is a former Canadian politician. He served in the House of Commons of Canada as a Liberal MP from 1988 to 2014, and as member of the Toronto City Council from 2014 until 2020, when his seat was vacated due to campaign spending violations.

Karygiannis served concurrently as the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal (2005) and was previously parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Transport (2003–2005).

In opposition, Karygiannis attracted substantive attention from the media and various ethnic community groups as he took polemical stances on foreign policy issues and as part of his role as multiculturalism critic.

On April 1, 2014, he resigned his seat as a Member of Parliament in order to stand in the Toronto municipal election for Toronto City Councillor in Ward 39, and subsequently was elected to that seat.[2] In November 2019, Karygiannis was removed from office for exceeding election expenses in the 2018 municipal election. He was then reinstated and removed twice during the ensuing legal saga that resulted in his final removal from office on September 24, 2020.[3]

  1. ^ "Dion among a dozen MPs with dual citizenships". CBC News. December 8, 2006. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "Veteran Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis resigns, plans to run for Toronto city council". CTV News. April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).