John Reesor Williams (born September 9, 1930) is a former politician in

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 served as a Progressive Conservative member in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, and was briefly a cabinet minister in the government of

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book writer, penciller and inker, novelist, screenwriter, film director, and producer known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'' and subsequen ...

Background

Williams was born in

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 son of Luella Mae Maud (Reesor) and Thomas John Williams. He was educated at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

and

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The law school is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the '' Osgoode Hall L ...

. He worked as a lawyer before entering political life. Comedian

Harland Williams Harland Michael Williams (born November 14, 1962) is a Canadian actor, comedian and writer. After several years of stand-up in Toronto and Los Angeles he made his film debut in ''Dumb and Dumber'' (1994) before playing starring roles in the short ...

is one of his five children. His mother was the daughter of George Reesor, a descendant of one of the German families that originally settled

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

, in 1794.

Municipal politics

Williams was an alderman in

North York, Ontario North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

, from 1963 to 1972, and was deputy

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

and Controller of the borough from 1973 to 1974. He also served on the Metro Toronto Council during this period, and was a board member of St. Matthew the Apostle

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

in 1971. From 1973 to 1975, he served on the board of governors for

Seneca College Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology is a multiple-campus public college in the Greater Toronto Area, and Peterborough, Ontario, Canada regions. It offers full-time and part-time programs at the baccalaureate, diploma, certificate an ...

Provincial politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 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 ...

candidate Bob Reid by 239 votes in the North York district of Oriole. He was re-elected with an increased majority in the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

and 1981 elections, and 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 of the

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Davis was first elected as the member of provincial Parliament for Peel in the 1959 provincia ...

government. Williams supported Frank Miller to succeed Davis as Premier of Ontario in January 1985, and was appointed as Solicitor-General when Miller became premier on February 8, 1985. His appointment was controversial in some circles. Williams was strongly anti-abortion, and had previously opposed granting any police protection to

Henry Morgentaler Henekh "Henry" Morgentaler, (March 19, 1923 – May 29, 2013), was a Polish-born Canadian physician and abortion rights advocate who fought numerous legal battles aimed at expanding abortion rights in Canada. As a Jewish youth during World War ...

's abortion clinic in Toronto. Miller's government lost several seats in the 1985 election, and was subsequently defeated in the legislature. Williams was personally defeated in Oriole by Liberal candidate

Elinor Caplan Elinor Caplan (born May 20, 1944) is a businesswoman and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1985 to 1997, and was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004 ...

. In 2005, veteran legislators

Sean Conway Sean Conway, (born July 24, 1951) is a former provincial politician in Ontario, Canada and a university professor. He served for 28 years as a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 2003, and was a high-profile cabin ...

and Bob Runciman both named Williams as the most boring speaker they had encountered in the course of their careers. His speaking style is demonstrated in the following quote: "the type of rhetoric from the opposition continues without any factual backups to substantiate those generalizations that have become nothing more than rhetoric and well-worn clichés".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John Reesor 1930 births Canadian Anglicans Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Politicians from Toronto Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs University of Western Ontario alumni