William Lawrence Grimmett (born October 4, 1956) 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, a ...

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 Ca ...

, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

from 1995 to 1999.

Background

Grimmett has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Trent University Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes.

(1978) and a law degree from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

(1981). He worked as a lawyer in

Port Carling Port Carling is an unincorporated community in the Township of Muskoka Lakes in the Canadian province of Ontario. It has been the municipal seat of the township since 1971. It has several hundred year-round residents and is a service centre for ...

from 1983 to 1995, and was a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education from 1991 to 1995. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1995 under Premier Mike Harris. Grimmett returned to his Port Carling law practice in 1999 where he remains to this day.

Politics

He was elected to the

Ontario legislature The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

in the 1995 provincial 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 ...

Ken Black Kenneth Hilton Black (March 11, 1932 – August 29, 2016) was a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990, and represented the central Ontario riding of Muskoka–Georgian Bay. He ...

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 culturall ...

Dan Waters Daniel Waters is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995. Background Waters worked at the Bracebridge Alcan plant before 1990, and operated an auto rep ...

by about 10,000 votes in the riding of Muskoka–Georgian Bay. He served as a backbench supporter of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

's government for the next four years. In the late 1990s, Grimmett introduced legislation that would suspend the driver's licences of people convicted of impaired boating. The legislation enjoyed all-party support and was passed unanimously at both first and second reading. However, the bill was never called for third and final reading by the government and it died on the Order Paper. In the years after Grimmett left Queen's Park this same legislation would be introduced again and ultimately passed into law. Beginning in late 1995, Grimmett and fellow MPP Bob Wood led the Government Task Force on Agencies, Boards and Commissions, examining the role and viability of these bodies in Ontario. The Task Force delivered a series of recommendations that were to form the basis for future agency reform in the province. Grimmett also worked on the early development of ServiceOntario. This initiative, which has since been implemented, was designed to improve customer service in the Ontario Government and make it easier for the public to access information, services and resources. In 1997, Grimmett oversaw public consultations on reforms to Ontario's Pension Benefits Act. In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of provincial ridings from 130 to 103. This change meant that a number of sitting MPPs had to compete against one another for re-nomination and re-election. Deputy Premier

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

Parry Sound riding and Grimmett's riding were merged into the new Parry Sound/Muskoka riding. Grimmett did not oppose Eves, and returned to his Port Carling law practice after the 1999 provincial election, having chaired Ernie Eves' successful campaign in the newly configured

Parry Sound-Muskoka PARRY was an early example of a chatbot, implemented in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby. History PARRY was written in 1972 by psychiatrist Kenneth Colby, then at Stanford University. While ELIZA was a tongue-in-cheek simulation of a Carl Rog ...

riding.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grimmett, Bill 1956 births Canadian people of English descent Lawyers in Ontario Living people People from Aurora, Ontario People from the District Municipality of Muskoka Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Trent University alumni University of Toronto alumni