- Bill Saunderson
William J. Saunderson is a former
politician inOntario ,Canada . He was a Progressive Conservative member of theLegislative Assembly of Ontario from1995 to1999 , and served as acabinet minister in the government ofMike Harris .Saunderson was educated at the
University of Trinity College in theUniversity of Toronto , receiving aBachelor of Arts degree and subsequently becoming acertified accountant . He continued his education as an adult, and received aPh.D. from theUniversity of Ottawa in1994 . After graduation, he worked as an accountant with Clarkson and Gordon. He co-founded Spectre Investment Counsel Ltd. in1971 , and worked with the Ontario Pension Commission from1972 to1983 . Saunderson also had financial ties to thecigarette industry, which became controversial after he entered political life.Saunderson was active in political organization before running for office himself. He took part in fundraising activities for several municipal, provincial and federal campaigns for such figures as
Brian Mulroney ,Joe Clark ,David Crombie andArt Eggleton , and was the financial comptroller for theProgressive Conservative Party of Canada 's national election campaigns in1984 and1988 .He ran in the riding of Elginton in the 1995 provincial election, and defeated Liberal incumbent
Dianne Poole by about 4,500 votes. FromJune 26 ,1995 toOctober 10 ,1997 , he served in the Harris government as Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism. In 1997, Saunderson announced that the government would be cutting its spending on Ontario's seven "centres of excellence" by 13%. After leaving cabinet, he was named to chair the Ontario International Trade Corporation.By some accounts, Saunderson was not especially respected in cabinet, and was regarded as ideologically closer to the more centrist Progressive Conservative government of
Bill Davis (1971 -1985 ) than to Harris's right-wing ministry.
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