Ted Opitz, CD (born August 25, 1961) is a Canadian politician and a retired Canadian Forces Lieutenant-Colonel who was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2011 election. He represents the electoral district of Etobicoke Centre as a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

He won by a margin of 26 votes over Liberal incumbent Borys Wrzesnewskyj in the initial count, triggering an automatic judicial recount. The recount ultimately confirmed his victory; but was later declared null and void on May 18, 2012 by a judge due to alleged irregularities in the voting registration process. However, Opitz is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Opitz was born in the Parkdale area of Toronto in 1961 and is the youngest of four children. Opitz’s parents were originally from Poland and immigrated to Canada shortly after World War Two. During the war, his mother suffered in Nazi Germany as a forced labourer and his father served in the Polish 2nd Corps after being released by the Soviets as a prisoner of war in a gulag.

Blessed Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (Polish: [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛf vɔjˈtɨwa]; 18 May 1920, Wadowice, Republic of Poland – 2 April 2005, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the second-longest serving Pope in history and the first non-Italian since 1523.

John Paul II was acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He was instrumental in ending communism in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. Though criticised by progressives for upholding the Church's teachings against artificial contraception and the ordination of women, and by traditionalists for his support of the Church's Second Vatican Council and its reform, he was also widely praised for his firm, orthodox Catholic stances.

Stephen Joseph Harper, PC MP (born April 30, 1959) is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election. He is the first prime minister from the newly reconstituted Conservative Party, following a merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties.

Harper has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Calgary Southwest in Alberta since 2002. Earlier, from 1993 to 1997, he was the MP for Calgary West. He was one of the founding members of the Reform Party, but did not seek re-election, and instead joined, and shortly thereafter led, the National Citizens Coalition. In 2002, he succeeded Stockwell Day as leader of the Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party) and returned to parliament as Leader of the Opposition. In 2003, he reached an agreement with Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay for the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative Party of Canada. He was elected as the party's first non-interim leader in March 2004.