William John Vankoughnet (born January 7, 1943) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1993, and a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999.

Background

Vankoughnet was educated at

Loyalist College Loyalist College (formally Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology) is an English-language college in Belleville, Ontario, Canada. History Prior to the 1960s, only trade schools co-existed with universities in the province of Ontari ...

and Queen's University, and subsequently worked as a municipal administrator. He was also an active freemason and

shriner Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Shriners International describes itself ...

, and is a life member of the Monarchist League of Canada and the Royal Canadian Legion.

Federal politics

He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 1979 federal election, defeating

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate Ron Vastokas by about 6,500 votes in the rural riding of Hastings—Frontenac, near Kingston. He was re-elected over Vastokas by a narrower margin in the 1980 election, and by a greater margin in the 1984 election in the renamed riding of

Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington was a federal and provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 2003, and in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2 ...

. In the 1988 election, he defeated Liberal candidate Earl Smith by fewer than 1,000 votes. During his fourteen years in parliament, Vankoughnet never held an official legislative position. Unlike most Progressive Conservative MPs, Vankoughnet opposed the Meech Lake constitutional accord. The Progressive Conservatives lost all their Ontario seats in the 1993 federal election, and Vankoughnet lost to Liberal Larry McCormick by over 13,000 votes.

Provincial politics

Vankoughnet was elected to the provincial legislature two years later, defeating

candidate Peter Walker and incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as cultural ...

Fred Wilson in the riding of

Frontenac—Addington Frontenac—Addington was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1925 to 1953. It was located in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1924 from parts of Frontenac and Lennox and Addington ...

. He served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter for the next four years. Vankoughnet's prospects for career advancement all but ended on May 1, 1996, when he was caught trying to buy sexual favours from an undercover police officer who was posing as a prostitute in the Parkdale neighbourhood of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. The charges were dropped when Vankoughnet agreed to attend a "john school". After he was arrested he withdrew from the Progressive Conservative caucus and briefly sat as an independent until he returned on September 23, 1996. Vankoughnet played only a minimal role in the legislature after this incident. Ironically, he was formally accepted into the exclusive Albany Club of Toronto on the same day as his arrest. In 1996, the government of Mike Harris reduced the number of provincial ridings from 130 to 103. This forced a number of sitting MPPs to compete against one another for renomination. Vankoughnet, his reputation still damaged by the prostitute incident, lost the Progressive Conservative nomination in Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington to

Harry Danford Harry Danford (born ) is a Canadian former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999. Background Danford worked as a farmer before entering politics, and wa ...

in 1999.

Federal politics (2nd time)

Vankoughnet sought a political comeback in 2004 by challenging Scott Reid for the Conservative Party of Canada nomination in Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington. The party refused to permit his candidacy, however, and Vankoughnet challenged Reid in the general election as an independent candidate. He received only 820 votes.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vankoughnet, Bill 1943 births Canadian monarchists Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Kingston, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs