Jerry J. Ouellette (born January 30, 1959) is a

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 Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014, representing the riding of Oshawa. He served in the cabinet in the government of

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 ...

Background

Ouellette was born in Oshawa,

. He graduated from

Durham College Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology is located in the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada, with a campus co-located with Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, a second campus in Whitby, and community employment services in Uxbridge, Por ...

in business administration. He managed a lumber operation and a national consulting firm. Ouellette is a former member of the governing board of Durham College, and a member of the Oshawa Naval Veterans Association. He is currently CEO of Chaga Health and Wellness.

Politics

Ouellette was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating 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 ...

Allan Pilkey in Oshawa by about 8,000 votes. He was re-elected by about 7,000 votes over

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 ...

Chris Topple in the 1999 provincial election, with the NDP falling to third place. He was re-elected in 2003, 2007, and 2011. Ouellette supported

in the Progressive Conservative Party's 2002 leadership convention, and on April 15, 2002, was appointed

Ontario Minister of Natural Resources The Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry is a government ministry of the Canadian province of Ontario that is responsible for Ontario's provincial parks, forests, fisheries, wildlife, mineral aggregates and the Crown land ...

. In this capacity, he was generally regarded as an ally of the province's fishing and hunting community. In the 2003 provincial election, Ouellette faced a strong challenge from provincial union representative and NDP candidate

Sid Ryan Patrick Cyril "Sid" Ryan (born 1952) is a Canadian labour union leader and politician. Ryan is the former president of the Ontario Federation of Labour. Biography Born in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and third eldest of ten children, Ryan emigrat ...

. This was Ryan's third unsuccessful bid for a provincial seat (1999, Scarborough-Centre; 2003 and 2007, Oshawa) and his fifth electoral loss having been twice defeated by

Colin Carrie Colin Carrie (born April 11, 1962) is a Canadian politician. He is a current member of the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Oshawa in the province of Ontario for the Conservative Party of Canada. Personal life Carrie was ...

, Oshawa's Conservative candidate and MP, in 2004 and 2006. Ouellette struggled to retain his seat, winning the 2003 race by 1,019 votes. But the Progressive Conservatives lost the election and Ouellette moved to the opposition benches. Four years later, during the 2007 provincial election, Ouellette defeated Ryan a second time. He was re-elected in the 2011 provincial election. In the 2014 provincial election he was defeated by New Democratic candidate Jennifer French by 7,695 votes.

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellette, Jerry 1959 births 21st-century Canadian politicians Franco-Ontarian people Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from Oshawa Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs