Editing Jim Flaherty (section)

{{Short description|Canadian politician (1949–2014)}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Honourable]]
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|MSC|size=100%}}
| image               = Jim Flaherty 2007.JPG
| caption             = Flaherty in 2007
| office              = [[Minister of Finance (Canada)|Minister of Finance]]
| primeminister       = [[Stephen Harper]]
| term_start          = February 6, 2006
| term_end            = March 18, 2014
| predecessor         = [[Ralph Goodale]]
| successor           = [[Joe Oliver (politician)|Joe Oliver]]
| office2             = 6th [[Deputy Premier of Ontario]]
| term_start2         = February 8, 2001
| term_end2           = April 14, 2002
| premier2            = [[Mike Harris]]
| predecessor2        = [[Ernie Eves]]
| successor2          = [[Elizabeth Witmer]]
| office3             = [[Ministry of Finance (Ontario)|Ontario Minister of Finance]]
| premier3            = Mike Harris
| term_start3         = February 8, 2001
| term_end3           = April 14, 2002
| predecessor3        = Ernie Eves
| successor3          = [[Janet Ecker]]
| riding4             = [[Whitby-Oshawa]]
| parliament4         = Canadian
| term_start4         = January 23, 2006
| term_end4           = April 10, 2014
| predecessor4        = [[Judi Longfield]]
| successor4          = [[Pat Perkins]]
| parliament9         = Ontario Provincial
| riding9             = [[Whitby-Ajax]]<br />{{small|([[Durham Centre (provincial electoral district)|Durham Centre]]; 1995–1999)}}
| term_start9         = June 8, 1995
| term_end9           = January 23, 2006
| predecessor9        = [[Drummond White]]
| successor9          = [[Christine Elliott]]
| birth_name          = James Michael Flaherty
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1949|12|30|mf=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Lachine, Quebec]], Canada
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2014|04|10|1949|12|30|mf=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Ottawa]], Ontario, Canada
| party               = [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]]
| spouse              = [[Christine Elliott]] (m. 1986)
| children            = 3
| alma_mater          = [[Princeton University]] (A.B.)<br />[[Osgoode Hall Law School|York University]] (LL.B.)
}}

'''James Michael Flaherty''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|MSC}} (December 30, 1949 – April 10, 2014) was a Canadian politician who served as the federal [[Minister of Finance (Canada)|minister of finance]] from 2006 to 2014 under [[Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative]] [[Prime Minister of Canada|Prime Minister]] [[Stephen Harper]].

First elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]] in 1995 under the [[Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario|Progressive Conservative]] (PC) banner, Flaherty would sit as a [[Member of Provincial Parliament (Canada)|member of Provincial Parliament]] (MPP) until 2006, also serving in a number of [[Executive Council of Ontario|Cabinet]] positions from 1997 to 2002 during [[Premier of Ontario|Premier]] [[Mike Harris]]' government. He unsuccessfully ran for the PC leadership twice.

Flaherty entered federal politics and ran for the Conservative Party in the [[2006 Canadian federal election|2006 election]]. With his party forming government, Prime Minister Harper named Flaherty as finance minister. As finance minister, Flaherty reduced personal income taxes and corporate taxes, reduced the [[goods and services tax (Canada)|goods and services tax]] to 5%, introduced the [[tax-free savings account]], and dealt with the [[Great Recession]]; the $55.6 billion deficit in the [[2009 Canadian federal budget]] was eliminated in [[2014 Canadian federal budget|2014]] as a result of major spending cuts. Flaherty tabled nine [[Canadian federal budget|federal budgets]] and was the longest continuously serving minister in Harper's government until his resignation in 2014.

Flaherty died of a heart attack three weeks after his resignation as minister. His widow, [[Christine Elliott]], later served as the [[Deputy Premier of Ontario|deputy premier of Ontario]].