John Sola

John Sola
John Sola
Ontario MPP
	In office; 1987–1995
Preceded by	Bud Gregory
Succeeded by	Carl DeFaria
Constituency	Mississauga East
Personal details
Born	Domagoj Ivan Šola; April 15, 1944 (age 80); Zagreb, Croatia
Political party	Liberal (1987–1993); Independent (1993–1995)

Domagoj Ivan "John" Šola (born April 15, 1944) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1995. Originally a Liberal, he was forced to leave his party over controversy arising from his comments about Serbs.

Background

Sola has a

Toronto Metro-Croatia soccer club.^[1]

Politics

Sola was elected to the Ontario legislature in the

backbench

supporter of the Peterson government for the next three years.

The Liberals were defeated by the New Democratic Party in the 1990 provincial election, although Sola retained his seat by more than 3,000 votes against an NDP challenger.^[3] In opposition, he was appointed as the Liberal critic for the Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet.

Sola's political career ran into controversy in December 1991, shortly after the beginning of

the fifth estate about tensions between Canada's Serbian and Croatian communities. In the course of the interview, Sola said "I don't think I'd be able to live next door to a Serb".^[4]

In 1992, Sola was a supporter of Steve Mahoney during the leadership convention of the Ontario Liberal Party. After Mahoney was eliminated, Sola placed his support behind Lyn McLeod, the eventual winner.

Controversy followed Sola in 1993 when he was taped giving an address to students at

atrocities being committed against Croats and Muslims during the Bosnian War, essentially declaring that by their silence they supported ethnic cleansing. Though Sola issued an apology in the Ontario Legislature, McLeod expelled Sola from the Ontario Liberal Party caucus on April 28, 1993.^[5]

Sola played only a minor role in the assembly after his expulsion from the Liberal Party, and did not seek re-election in 1995. After his defeat, Sola left provincial politics and was appointed Consul General of the

Republic of Croatia in Chicago

. His surname has also been referred to as Sladojević-Šola.

References

^ Labow, Jeffrey (October 4, 1978). "New owners will change Metros name". The Globe and Mail. p. 18.
^ "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.
^ "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.
^ Aggerholm, Barbara; Ries, Barry (December 6, 1991). "Toronto MPP refuses to apologize for Serbian statement". Kitchener - Waterloo Record. p. B7.
^ "Ontario MPP ousted for slur against Serbs Liberal Leader won't condone 'inflammatory' statements". The Globe and Mail. April 29, 1993. p. A9.

External links

Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history

[1] Labow, Jeffrey (October 4, 1978). "New owners will change Metros name". The Globe and Mail. p. 18.

[1987_results-2] "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.

[1990_results-3] "Ontario election: Riding-by-riding voting results". The Globe and Mail. September 7, 1990. p. A12.

[4] Aggerholm, Barbara; Ries, Barry (December 6, 1991). "Toronto MPP refuses to apologize for Serbian statement". Kitchener - Waterloo Record. p. B7.

[5] "Ontario MPP ousted for slur against Serbs Liberal Leader won't condone 'inflammatory' statements". The Globe and Mail. April 29, 1993. p. A9.

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