Gerry Phillips (born September 11, 1940) 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, ...

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 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Member of Provincial ...

who represented the eastern

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 ...

riding of Scarborough—Agincourt from 1987 to 2011. He served as a cabinet minister in the governments of

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Backgr ...

and Dalton McGuinty.

Background

Phillips 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 ...

's School of Business, and worked as a managing consultant before entering public life. He worked in the marketing department of

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

, and joined the Canadian Marketing Associates organization in 1970 (becoming its President in 1977). Phillips founded the Sales Development Group in 1979 and the Retail Resource Group in 1982, and also served on the Board of Governors of the Scarborough General Hospital during this period. He served as a school trustee for eleven years on the Scarborough Board of Education and the Metropolitan Toronto School Board eventually becoming chair of both organizations.

Politics

He ran for the Ontario legislature as a Liberal in the provincial election of 1975, but lost to Progressive Conservative Tom Wells in Scarborough North by about 3,000 votes.

Peterson government

Phillips tried again in the provincial election of 1987 in the riding of Scarborough—Agincourt this time defeating his nearest opponent, David Kho of the

Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...

(NDP) by over 12,000 votes. The Liberals won a landslide majority in this election under

. On September 29, 1987, Phillips was appointed Minister of Citizenship, with responsibility for race relations, multiculturalism and the

Ontario Human Rights Commission The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) was established in the Canadian province of Ontario on March 29, 1961, to administer the Ontario Human Rights Code. The OHRC is an arm's length agency of government accountable to the legislature through ...

. In August 1989, he was transferred to the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

In opposition

The Liberals were defeated by the NDP in the provincial election of 1990, although Phillips was re-elected without difficulty in his own riding. Tory Keith MacNab finished second. In opposition, he held critic portfolios in Health, Finance and Native Affairs. In 1992, he supported

Lyn McLeod Lyn McLeod (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1987 to 2003. McLeod was a cabinet minister in the Liberal government of David Peterson from 1987 to 1990, and served as leader ...

's successful campaign to become party leader. The 1995 provincial election was won by the Progressive Conservatives, and Phillips only narrowly won re-election in Agincourt, defeating Keith MacNab by about 2,000 votes. Many suspected that Phillips would run for the party's leadership when

resigned in 1996, but he declined and supported

Gerard Kennedy Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...

, who lost to Dalton McGuinty on the final ballot. Phillips was appointed as the party's Deputy Leader in 1998. He was re-elected in 1999 by nearly 3,000 votes defeating Tory MPP

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a former American football player, sports analyst and actor. He played as a fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) from 1957 through 1965. Considered to be one ...

whose own nearby riding of

Scarborough West Scarborough Southwest is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1968. Geography It covers the southwestern part of the Scarborough part of Toronto. It str ...

was abolished in the lead-up to the election. The Progressive Conservatives won re-election across the province, and Phillips remained in opposition serving in critic roles such as Native Affairs. Phillips helped lead the fight for a public inquiry into the 1995 shooting death of protester

Dudley George The Ipperwash Crisis was a dispute over Indigenous land that took place in Ipperwash Provincial Park, Ontario, in 1995. Several members of the Stoney Point Ojibway band occupied the park to assert claim to nearby land which had been expropriated ...

by members of the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

McGuinty government

The Liberal Party won a majority in the 2003 election, and Phillips was re-elected with 61% support in his riding. Phillips was appointed as Chair of the Management Board. After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, Phillips's portfolio was restructured as the

Minister of Government Services Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governmen ...

. The new Ministry took on most of the core services of the former Management Board Secretariat, Consumer and Business Services, and a large part of the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for supporting the prime minister and Cabinet. It is composed of various units that support Cabinet committees and which co-ordinate the delivery of government object ...

. He was re-elected in the 2007 election, and was appointed

Minister of Energy An energy minister is a position in many governments responsible for energy production and regulation, developing governmental energy policy, scientific research, and natural resources conservation. In some countries, environmental responsibilitie ...

. In a cabinet shuffle on June 20, 2008, the Energy portfolio was given to

George Smitherman George Smitherman (born February 12, 1964) is a former Canadian politician and broadcaster. He represented the provincial riding of Toronto Centre in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1999 to 2010, when he resigned to contest the mayora ...

. Phillips was appointed

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 ...

and chair of cabinet. Phillips was appointed Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure on November 9, 2009 after Smitherman resigned to enter municipal politics. On January 18, 2010, he was appointed as

and chair of cabinet, and also became Minister responsible for Seniors. In September 2010, the responsibility for seniors was transferred to

Sophia Aggelonitis Sophia Aggelonitis (born ) is a Canadian businesswoman and former politician. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who represented the riding of Hamilton Mountain from 2007 to 2011. She served as the province's Minis ...

. In 2011, he announced he would not run for re-election in the 2011 provincial election.

Electoral record

1995 Ontario general election The 1995 Ontario general election was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada. The writs for the election were dropped on April 28, 1995. The governing New Democratic Party, led ...

: *(x)Gerry Phillips (L) 13,472 *Keith MacNab (PC) 11,337 *Christine Fei (NDP) 4,112 *Daphne Quance (NLP) 313

1990 Ontario general election Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 ''Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

: *(x)Gerry Phillips (L) 13,347 *Keith MacNab (PC) 8,640 *Ayoub Ali (NDP) 6,763 *Bill Galster (Lbt) 1,368

1987 Ontario general election The 1987 Ontario general election was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by Premier David Peterson, was returned to power with their first majority ...

: *Gerry Phillips (L) 19,101 *David Kho (NDP) 7,021 *Adrienne Johnson (PC) 6,284 *Barry Coyne (Lbt) 794

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Gerry 1940 births Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from London, Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians