Kenneth Ross Stevenson (born October 1, 1942) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in 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 1981 to 1987, and was briefly a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the government of Frank Miller. He later served in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 1988 to 1993. Stevenson was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

Stevenson was born in Lindsay, Ontario. He was educated at the University of Guelph and Iowa State University, earning a Ph.D. He worked as a farmer, and was a professor at the University of Guelph before entering provincial politics.

Provincial politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election, winning an easy victory in

Durham—York Durham—York was a provincial electoral district in northern Durham Region and York Region in Ontario, Canada that elected members to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It contained the towns of East Gwillimbury, Newmarket, Ontario, Newmarket, Wh ...

. For the next four years, he 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 provincial Progressive Conservative administrations led by Bill Davis and Frank Miller. He was re-elected in the 1985 election, in which the PCs under Miller were reduced to an unstable

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

. Stevenson was named Minister of Agriculture and Food on May 17, 1985, but accomplished little in this portfolio before Miller's government was defeated in the legislature. In opposition, Stevenson served as his party's critic for Agriculture and Food. He was defeated in the 1987 election, losing to Liberal Party candidate

Bill Ballinger :''See Bill S. Ballinger for the author and screenwriter'' William George Ballinger (born December 17, 1945) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 1990 who represen ...

by 482 votes.

Cabinet positions

Federal politics

He then turned to federal politics, and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for Durham in the 1988 federal election. He served as a backbench supporter of the

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney ( ; born March 20, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studied political sci ...

and Kim Campbell administrations over the next five years. The Progressive Conservatives were badly defeated in the 1993 federal election, and Stevenson finished third in his bid for re-election behind Liberal candidate

Alex Shepherd Alexander James Shepherd (born October 13, 1946) was a Canadian member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2004. Shepherd was a Chartered Accountant based in Port Perry, Ontario, when he became the Liberal party candidate for Durh ...

Later life

Stevenson later became director of strategic programs at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. In 2003, he supported the federal Progressive Conservative Party's merger with the Canadian Alliance to create the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...

. He is currently a Professor within the School of Science and Engineering Technology at Durham College.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, K. Ross 1942 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Kawartha Lakes Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs