Ernie Parsons (born June 5, 1946) 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 member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the riding of

Prince Edward—Hastings Prince Edward—Hastings was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that existed in the House of Commons of Canada from 1968 to 2015. Its population in 2006 was 113,227. It was redistributed between Bay of Quinte electoral district an ...

for the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

from 1999 to 2007. In 2007 he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace.

Background

Parsons received a

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

degree from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning Wo ...

in 1969, and was employed by the Ministry of Transportation from 1969 to 1974, and taught Technology courses 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 ...

from 1974 to 1999. He also worked as a farmer, and was a board member of the ''Hastings County Children's Aid Society'' for twenty-five years and its chair for three. Parsons was a founding member of the ''Hastings County Museum of Agricultural Heritage'', and sat on advisory committees to the Kingston Hotel Dieu, the

Kingston General Hospital The Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site is an acute-care teaching hospital affiliated with Queen's University located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Hotel Dieu Hospital (HDH) site, these hospitals deliver health care services to ...

and the Queen's University Faculty of Medicine. Parsons served on the school board of the ''Hastings—Prince Edward'' district from 1982 to 1999.

Politics

In the 1999 provincial election he defeated Progressive Conservative incumbent Gary Fox by 56 votes in

. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Parsons spent the next four years in opposition. The Liberals won the 2003 provincial election, and Parsons was re-elected in Prince Edward—Hastings by over 10,000 votes over Tory John Williams. He was named parliamentary assistant to Ontario Minister of Transportation

Harinder Takhar Harinder Jeet Singh Takhar (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Mississauga Centre (provincial e ...

on October 23, 2003, and parliamentary assistant to

Sandra Pupatello Sandra Pupatello (née Pizzolitto; born October 6, 1962) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2011 as a member of the Ontario Liberal Party, serving as a Minister in the government of ...

, the

Ontario Minister of Community and Social Services The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is the ministry in Ontario, Canada responsible for services to children and youth, social services such as welfare, the Ontario Disability Support Program, and community service programs to ad ...

on September 27, 2004. He shared the latter position with

Deb Matthews Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th deputy premier of Ontario from 2013 to 2018. A member of the Liberal Party, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 ...

. Following the death of his adopted son, Sandy, in 2004, Parsons introduced a

Private Members Bill A private member's bill is a bill (proposed law) introduced into a legislature by a legislator who is not acting on behalf of the executive branch. The designation "private member's bill" is used in most Westminster system jurisdictions, in whi ...

, that became known as Sandy's Law. The law requires establishments to display a sign warning of the dangers of consuming alcohol while pregnant. Although Private member's bills rarely pass into law, Sandy's law received unanimous support and was passed into law later in the year. On June 30, 2007, Parsons was appointed a Justice of the Peace effective July 12. The appointment has garnered accusations of patronage from the opposition parties. As the appointment occurred within six months of the 2007 provincial election, scheduled for October, there was no by-election to fill the vacancy. Parsons had already announced in late 2006 that he would not run in the 2007 election.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parsons, Ernie 1946 births Carleton University alumni Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from Belleville, Ontario 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian justices of the peace