Pat Hoy (born September 21, 1950) 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 Ca ...
, Canada. He was a
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 ...
member of 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 1995 to 2011 representing the riding of
Chatham-Kent—Essex
Chatham-Kent—Essex (formerly known as Kent—Essex) was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015.
Federal riding
The federal riding was created in 1996 as "Kent ...
.
Background
Hoy was born in 1950 in
Chatham-Kent, Ontario
Chatham-Kent ( 2021 population: 104,316) Hoy was a farmer in the
Merlin
Merlin ( cy, Myrddin, kw, Marzhin, br, Merzhin) is a mythical figure prominently featured in the legend of King Arthur and best known as a mage, with several other main roles. His usual depiction, based on an amalgamation of historic and le ...
area. He served as President of the Kent Federation of Agriculture from 1984 to 1985, and was a member of the Crop Insurance Commission of Ontario from 1987 to 1995 (serving as its Vice-Chair in 1992 and 1993). He is also a founder of the Kent County Agricultural Hall of Fame, and has been a director of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. In 1972, he married Debbie Murphy. Hoy is known to hold some
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
views, including being
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
Essex—Kent
Essex—Kent was a federal electoral district in Ontario that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1979 to 1997.
It was created in 1976 from parts of Essex—Windsor, Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent ridings, and initially ...
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 ...
incumbent
Pat Hayes
Patrick John Hayes AAAI Fellow, FAAAI (born 21 August 1944) is a British computer scientist who lives and works in the United States. , he is a Senior Research Scientist at the IHMC, Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Flori ...
by a plurality of about 2,000 votes. The Progressive Conservatives won the election, and Hoy served as his party's agriculture critic for the next four years. He endorsed
Dwight Duncan
Dwight Duncan (born 3 January 1959) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2013 who represented ridings of Windsor—Walkerville, Windsor—St. Clair and Windso ...
's bid to lead the Ontario Liberal Party in 1996.
Because of redistribution, Hoy was forced to face another incumbent, Progressive Conservative Jack Carroll, in new riding of
Chatham-Kent—Essex
Chatham-Kent—Essex (formerly known as Kent—Essex) was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015.
Federal riding
The federal riding was created in 1996 as "Kent ...
in the 1999 provincial election. Hoy scored a convincing victory, winning by 8,001 votes. The Tories again won the election, and Hoy continued to serve as his party's agriculture critic until 2000, when he was transferred to transportation.
Hoy was easily re-elected in the provincial election of 2003, which the Liberals won. He became Chair of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in December of that year. He retained the chair position until 2011.
Hoy was elected for a fourth term in the provincial election of 2007. In March 2011, Hoy announced that he was retiring from the legislature and would not run in 2011.