Rob Sampson (born October 27, 1955) is a former

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, a ...

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 Progressive Conservative 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 2003 and was 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 Mike Harris.

Background

Sampson has a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree and an MBA from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

. Sampson worked at the

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 ancho ...

branch of the

Toronto Dominion Bank Toronto-Dominion Bank (french: links=no, Banque Toronto-Dominion), doing business as TD Bank Group (french: links=no, Groupe Banque TD), is a Canadian multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. ...

from 1980 to 1987, and at the Toronto branch of Chase Manhattan from 1987 to 1995. He also worked for Brays Lane Consulting in 1995, and is a Fellow in the Institute of Canadian Bankers. In 1992-93, he was an Executive Member of the Planning Advisory Committee for the City of Toronto.

Politics

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

Steve Mahoney (later a federal cabinet minister under

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...

) by about 3,000 votes in the riding of

Mississauga West Mississauga West was a federal electoral district represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1988 to 2003. It was located in the city of Mississauga in the province of Ontario. This riding was created in 1987 from Mississauga North riding ...

. This was considered an upset; the Tories performed extremely well in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

in this election, but most observers expected that Mahoney would retain his seat. He was named a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is either a government minister with no specific responsibilities or a minister who does not head a particular ministry. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet w ...

in Mike Harris's government on 16 August 1996, with responsibility for privatization. During his time as Minister of Privatization, he was best known for sale of the 407-ETR Major Highway for $3.1 billion. The highway was sold to a consortium including the Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial and its subsidiary Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, SNC-Lavalin, and Capital d'Amerique CDPQ, a subsidiary of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec. The sale was heavily criticized as being well below value. It was estimated that the cost of acquiring the land exceeded $100 billion since the 1970s. Sampson was re-elected in the new riding of

Mississauga Centre Mississauga Centre (french: Mississauga-Centre) is a federal electoral district in the Peel Region of Ontario, Canada, that has represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2004 and since 2015. Geography The riding contains th ...

in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal George Winter by over 4,000 votes. He was promoted to Minister of Correctional Services on 17 June 1999. He stepped down from this position on 4 December 2000 to demonstrate ministerial responsibility after a backbench Tory named

Doug Galt Doug Galt (born 1937 or 1938) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and an unsuccessful contender ...

listed the names of several young offenders in the legislature; he was returned to his position on March 8, 2001. Sampson is a committed Neo-conservative, and supported numerous right-wing economic policy initiatives during his time in government, including the controversial privatization of

Highway 407 The following highways are numbered 407: Canada * Manitoba Provincial Road 407 * Newfoundland and Labrador Route 407 * Ontario Highway 407 Costa Rica * National Route 407 Iceland * Route 407 (Iceland) Italy * State road 407 Japan * Japa ...

. As Correctional Services minister, he promoted the privatization of Ontario's prison system despite warnings that this could result in decreased safety. Sampson was dropped from cabinet when Ernie Eves succeeded Mike Harris as party leader in 2002. In the provincial election of 2003, he was defeated by Liberal

Harinder Takhar Harinder Jeet Singh Takhar (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Ontario Liberal Party, Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Mississauga Centre (provincial e ...

by fewer than 3,000 votes, amid a general decline in support for the Tories in Mississauga.

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Rob 1955 births Living people 21st-century Canadian politicians Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from Kingston, Ontario Politicians from Mississauga Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs