Born in the Azores, Portugal, he was first elected to city council in 1994 after defeating veteran councillor Tony O'Donohue by 15 votes. Silva received a high grade from the Toronto Environmental Alliance for his support of environmental initiatives, and has strong support from the Labour Movement. Silva is of Portuguese background and is popular in the local Portuguese Canadian community. Silva served on several boards including: Vice-Chair, Toronto Transit Commission; Chair, Exhibition Place; Board of Directors, Mount Sinai Hospital; Vice Chair, Toronto Hydro Company; Board of Directors, Canadian Opera Company; 2013 Chair, Brazil Carnival Ball and Chair of the Brazil Institute of Canada.
Federal politics
Silva's move to federal politics saw him claim the Liberal nomination in Davenport instead of Liberal incumbent Charles Caccia. An ally of new Prime MinisterPaul Martin, Silva was seen by the party as a preferable candidate to Caccia. As a Member of Parliament Silva served on several committees including the Environment Committee and the Canadian Heritage Committee. He has championed several human rights and environmental issues including being the first MP to back the Canadian Boreal Initiative, and an outspoken critic for the defence of undocumented workers. Silva chaired the inquiry panel of the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism, a multi-partisan group of MPs which conducted investigations into antisemitism in Canada. He was vice-chair of the CPCCA's steering committee, which organized an international conference on antisemitism in Ottawa in 2010. Silva was the first Portuguese-Canadian Member of Parliament. Silva retained the seat in the 2006 election and was the only GTA Liberal MP to increase his voter margin but was defeated in the 2011 election, losing his seat to Andrew Cash. Silva assumed the role of chair for the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research in 2013. Silva was also appointed by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs as a director.
Fabric of a Nation, GOLDENeight Publishers, Toronto, 2002.
"Extraordinary Rendition: A Challenge to Canadian and United States Legal Obligations Under the Convention Against Torture", California Western International Law Journal, Vol. 39, 2009.
"Somalia: Challenges to International Law from Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa", International Journal of Rights and Security, Vol. 1.1.
"Pakistan’s State Failure: Impunity and the Rise of Militancy", International Journal of Rights and Security, Vol. 1.1.
"State Legitimacy and Failure in International Law", Brill | Nijhoff Development in International Law series, Volume 67.
"Failed states: causes and consequences", Int. J. Public Law and Policy, Vol. 3, No. 1, 2013.
Co-author with Dr. Massouda Jalal, "Hanging by a Thread, Afghan Women’s Rights and Security Threats", Mosaic Press.
Tackling Hate: Combating Antisemitism and the Ottawa Protocol, co-edited with Scott Reid, Mosaic Press, 2014.
"After Partition: The Perils of South Sudan", University of Baltimore Journal of International Law, 2015.
" Failed States Impact on Human Rights and International Criminal Justice", in Globalization and Its Impact on the Future of Human Rights and International Criminal Justice, M. Cherif Bassiouni, Intersentia Publication, Cambridge, 2015
Privacy versus Security in the Age of Global Terror, Mosaic Press
"Antisemitism and Global Jihad", in Terrorism Revisited: Islamism, Political Violence and State-Sponsorship, Springer
Privacy and Security in the Age of Terror, Mosaic Press, 2018
