Jerry Ouellette

Jerry J. Ouellette (born January 30, 1959 in Oshawa, Ontario^[1]) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1995, representing the riding of Oshawa for the Progressive Conservative Party. Ouellette was Minister of Natural Resources in the government of Ernie Eves.^[2]

Ouellette graduated from Durham College in Business Administration. Before entering public life, he managed a lumber operation and a national consulting firm. Ouellette is a former member of the Governing Board of Durham College, and a member of the Oshawa Naval Veterans Association.^[1]

Ouellette was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating incumbent New Democrat Allan Pilkey in Oshawa by about 8,000 votes.

Ouellette's victory was seen as indicative of a broader provincial shift, with a number of working-class ridings shifting from the NDP to the Tories. Ouellette was re-elected by about 7,000 votes over Liberal Chris Topple in the 1999 provincial election, with the NDP falling to third place.

Ouellette supported Ernie Eves in the Progressive Conservative Party's 2002 leadership convention, and on April 15, 2002 was appointed Ontario Minister of Natural Resources. In this capacity, he was generally regarded as an ally of the province's fishing and hunting community.

In the 2003 provincial election, Ouellette faced a strong challenge from provincial union radical and NDP candidate Sid Ryan. This was Ryan's third unsuccessful bid for a provincial seat (1999, Scarborough-Centre; 2003 and 2007, Oshawa) and his fifth electoral loss having been twice defeated by Colin Carrie, Oshawa's Conservative candidate and MP, in 2004 and 2006. Ouellette struggled to retained his seat, winning the 2003 race by 1019 votes. But the Progressive Conservatives lost the election and Ouellette moved to the opposition benches. Four years later, during the 2007 provincial election, Ouellette defeated Ryan a second time.

Since 2007, Ouellette has served as the Official Opposition Critic for both the Ministers of Northern Development and Mines, and Natural Resources.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} O'Handley, Kathryn (2005). Canadian Parliamentary Guide 2005. ISBN 1-4144-0141-8. 
2. ^ "Jerry J. Ouellette - Parliamentary History". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/members/members_detail.do?locale=en&ID=76&detailPage=members_detail_career. Retrieved 2010-02-04. 

External links

• Official Jerry Ouellette Campaign Website
• Official Jerry Ouellette MPP Website

Persondata
Name	Ouellette, Jerry
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 30, 1959
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death