Jonathan Wilkinson (born June 11, 1965) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

politician who has served as the

minister of natural resources The minister of natural resources () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). In addition to NRCan, the minister oversees the federal government's natural resources portfolio ...

since 2021. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, Wilkinson was elected as the

member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for North Vancouver in 2015. He previously served as the

minister of fisheries, oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...

from 2018 to 2019 and

minister of environment and climate change The minister of environment and climate change (french: ministre de l'environnement et du changement climatique) is a minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada. The portfolio is responsible for the Environment and Climate Change Canada, a ...

from 2019 to 2021. Before entering politics, Wilkinson was a constitutional negotiator and businessman who spent 20 years in the private sector, mainly with green technology companies.

Early life and education

Wilkinson was born in

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is at the St. Mary's River on the Canada–US border. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay. The Ojibwe, the indigenous Anishinaabe inhabitants ...

and grew up in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

. He was the former leader of the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

's youth wing in

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. Wilkinson earned a bachelor's degree from the

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and went on to be named the Prairies

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

in 1988, reading Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

. He earned master's degrees in international relations, politics, and economics from

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

McGill McGill is a surname of Scottish and Irish origin, from which the names of many places and organizations are derived. It may refer to: People * McGill (surname) (including a list of individuals with the surname) * McGill family (Monrovia), a promin ...

Career

Wilkinson was an advisor to Saskatchewan Premier

Roy Romanow Roy John Romanow (born August 12, 1939) is a Canadian politician and the 12th premier of Saskatchewan from 1991 to 2001. Early life Romanow was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to Tekla and Michael Romanow, who were Ukrainian immigrants from Or ...

and served in the provincial civil service from 1991 to 1995, when he joined

Bain & Company Bain & Company is an American management consulting company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The firm provides advice to public, private, and non-profit organizations. One of the Big Three management consultancies, Bain & Company was fou ...

's Toronto branch. In 1999, he relocated to Vancouver to work for QuestAir Technologies, a gas purification company and he became its CEO in 2002. In 2009, he became the senior vice-president for business development in Nexterra Systems, a

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

company. In 2011, Wilkinson became the CEO of BioteQ Environmental Technologies, a water treatment company based in Vancouver.

Political career

Wilkinson defeated

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

junior minister

Andrew Saxton Andrew Saxton (born March 11, 1964) is a Canadian politician and businessman, who was elected Member of Parliament to represent the electoral district of North Vancouver in the 2008 Canadian federal election and re-elected in 2011; he was defe ...

by a nearly 2-to-1 margin amid the Liberal wave that swept through Greater Vancouver in the 2015 federal election. North Vancouver and its predecessor, North Vancouver—Burnaby, had been in the hands of a centre-right party for all but four years since 1979. He was reelected in 2019 by a reduced margin, but still bested Saxton by 16 percentage points in a rematch. On November 20, 2019, Wilkinson was appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change in the

29th Canadian Ministry The Twenty-Ninth Canadian Ministry is the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, that began governing Canada shortly before the opening of the 42nd Parliament. The original members were sworn in during a ceremony held at Rideau Ha ...

Electoral record

External links

Official Website

Bio & mandate from the Prime Minister
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Jonathan 1965 births Living people Members of the 29th Canadian Ministry Members of the House of Commons of Canada from British Columbia Members of the King's Privy Council for Canada Liberal Party of Canada MPs Businesspeople from Ontario Businesspeople from British Columbia People from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario People from North Vancouver Canadian management consultants Canadian Rhodes Scholars University of Saskatchewan alumni Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford McGill University alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians Canadian Ministers of the Environment