John Wilkinson (Canadian politician)

John Wilkinson is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, from 2003 to 2011 representing the predominantly rural ridings of Perth—Middlesex and Perth—Wellington for the Liberal Party. He served in cabinet as Minister of Research and Innovation, Revenue and Environment. He was defeated in the 2011 election by Conservative Randy Pettapiece.

John Wilkinson
Ontario MPP
In office
2007–2011
Preceded byRiding established
Succeeded byRandy Pettapiece
ConstituencyPerth—Wellington
In office
2003–2007
Preceded byBert Johnson
Succeeded byRiding abolished
ConstituencyPerth—Middlesex
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Personal details
Political partyLiberal
ProfessionFinancial planner

Background

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Before entering public life, Wilkinson was a financial planner in Stratford. He is a certified financial planner and a founder of Wilkinson & Keller Financial Planning Ltd,[1] he is also a former chair of the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation.[1] He also worked as the finance chair of his church organization for seven years. In 2002, he was awarded the Julia Award from the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Association for his volunteer work.[1] He is a member of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus Advisory Board.[2]

Politics

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Wilkinson ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1999 election, losing to Progressive Conservative incumbent Bert Johnson by over 6000 votes.[3] In the 2003 election, he defeated Johnson by about 1500 votes in a rematch.[3]

The Liberals won the election,[4] and on May 21, 2004 Wilkinson was named parliamentary assistant to Leona Dombrowsky, the Minister of the Environment.

He was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election,[5] and was named to provincial cabinet as Minister of Research and Innovation.[6] In a cabinet shuffle on June 24, 2009, he became the province's Minister of Revenue[6] and on August 18, 2010 became Minister of Environment.[6]

In the 2011 election he was narrowly defeated by Conservative Randy Pettapiece by 210 votes.

Cabinet positions

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Ontario provincial government of Dalton McGuinty
Cabinet posts (3)
Predecessor Office Successor
John Gerretsen Minister of Environment
2010–2011
Jim Bradley
Dwight Duncan Minister of Revenue
2009–2010
Sophia Aggelonitis
Dalton McGuinty Minister of Research and Innovation
2007–2009
John Milloy

Electoral record

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2011 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%[7]
Progressive Conservative Randy Pettapiece 14,845 40.1 +8.1
Liberal John Wilkinson 14,635 39.5 -7.7
New Democratic Ellen Papenburg 5,836 15.8 +5.7
Green Chris Desjardins 918 2.5 -5.3
Family Coalition Irma DeVries 627 1.7 -0.3
Freedom Robby Smink 164 0.4 0.0
Total valid votes 37,025 100.0 [7]
2007 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Wilkinson[5] 18,249 47.2%
Progressive Conservative John Rutherford 12,391 32.0%
New Democratic Donna Hansen 3,922 10.1%
Green Anita Payne 2,997 7.8%
Family Coalition Pat Bannon 760 2.0%
Independent Kevin Allman 216 0.6%
Freedom Robby Smink 143 0.4%
2003 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal John Wilkinson[3] 17,017 42.71 +6.35
Progressive Conservative Bert Johnson 15,680 39.36 -12.64
New Democratic Jack Verhulst 4,703 11.8 +4.61
Green John Cowling 1,201 3.01
Family Coalition Pat Bannon 857 2.15 -1.08
Freedom Robert Smink 384 0.96
1999 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Bert Johnson 22,065 52
Liberal John Wilkinson[3] 15,428 36.36
New Democratic Walter Edmund Vernon 3,053 7.19
Family Coalition Pat Bannon 1,369 3.23
Freedom Robert J.W. Smink 521 1.23

References

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  1. ^ a b c John Wilkinson | Biography Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Advisory Board profiles". University of Waterloo. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Ontario votes | Results of 1999 and 2003 elections
  4. ^ Mapleleaf Web | 2003 Ontario General Election
  5. ^ a b Ontario elections | 2007 results
  6. ^ a b c "Legislative Assembly of Ontario - John Wilkinson".
  7. ^ a b http://www.wemakevotingeasy.ca/media/EO_Site/unofficial_244/ED070-F0244.pdf[permanent dead link]
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