Politics
He was first elected in a by-election in 1996 and was subsequently re-elected in the 1997. He stayed as MP until 2008 when he announced his retirement. He served through four sessions of parliament.
He was elected and served as chair of the Ontario Liberal Caucus from 1998 to 1999. In 1999 he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, and was re-appointed following the 2000 general election. In February 2004, Cullen was elected chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, and on July 20, 2004, Mr. Cullen was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness.
In June 2002, he was appointed to the Prime Minister's Task Force on Canada/U.S. Relations and to the newly-formed Standing Committee for Government Operations and Estimates. In December 2002, he was asked to co-chair the Subcommittee on Public Service Renewal. He also chaired the Liberal caucus Sub-Committee on Corporate Governance.
In the leadership contest called to replace Paul Martin as leader of the Liberal Party, he initially supported Maurizio Bevilacqua and subsequently supported Michael Ignatieff when Bevilacqua withdrew from the race.
In opposition, Cullen broke with the Liberal caucus in 2007 to vote with Stephen Harper's Conservative government in favour of extending Canada's NATO-authorized combat mission in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan for two years. In all, 30 Liberal MPs voted with the government which allowed the motion to narrowly pass 149-145. In 2008, Cullen also received publicity for allegedly stating in caucus that he would defy Liberal Party leader Stéphane Dion's whip by voting again with the Conservative Government in further extending the combat mission indefinitely. This report was denied by Cullen. Cullen announced on February 21, 2008 that he would not run in the 2008 general election.
Read more about this topic: Roy Cullen
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