Ernie Hardeman

Ernie Hardeman (born December 4, 1947) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the rural riding of Oxford for the Progressive Conservative Party.

The Honourable Ernie Hardeman MPP
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office June 29, 2018
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Jeff Leal
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Oxford
Incumbent
Assumed office June 8, 1995
Preceded by	Kim Sutherland
Personal details
Born	(1947-12-04) December 4, 1947
Political party	Progressive Conservative Party
Relations	John Vanthof (nephew)
Residence	Salford, Ontario
Occupation	Business owner

Background

Hardeman was the owner and operator of Hardeman Feed Limited, established in Salford, Ontario from 1966 to 1995.[1] Hardeman's nephew, John Vanthof, is a current sitting MPP for the New Democratic Party and behind his uncle in the legislature.[2]

Politics

He served as Mayor of the Township of Southwest Oxford from 1988 to 1994.[3] He was chair of the Wardens' Association of Ontario in 1990–91, and served as a Board Member on the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.[1]

Hardeman was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating incumbent New Democrat Kimble Sutherland by about 8000 votes.[4][5] The Progressive Conservatives under Mike Harris won the election, and Hardeman was a government backbench supporter for the next four years. In 1996, he was commissioned by the government to conduct a survey on the possible amalgamation of Hamilton, Ontario into a united municipality.

He was easily re-elected in the 1999 provincial election.[6] He was appointed to cabinet by Mike Harris as Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on June 17, 1999.[4][7] As Minister, he replaced agricultural offices with the Agricultural Information Contact Centre. He was removed from cabinet on February 7, 2001.[8] On February 25, 2003, he returned to cabinet under Ernie Eves in the new position of Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, with Responsibility for Rural Affairs.[9]

Hardeman was re-elected in the 2003 election.[10] He supported Jim Flaherty's unsuccessful bid for the Progressive Conservative party's leadership in 2004.[11] On June 13, 2005 Hardeman's private members bill, Farm Implements Amendment Act, received third reading and royal assent.

In 2007 Hardeman was re-elected for a fourth consecutive term.[12] He served as Deputy House Leader and was then promoted to Chair of the Standing Committee on Government Agencies. He is also the PC critic for Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

On June 16, 2008 Hardeman introduced a private member's bill which allows farmers to post seasonal, directional signage along provincial highways to advertise their Ontario grown produce and direct consumers to the farm. The bill was supported by many agricultural groups and unanimously passed first, second and third reading. On December 10, 2008 Signage to Promote Ontario Produced Agricultural Products Act received royal assent and became law.[13]

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Ernie Hardeman	29,152	55.73	+9.49
	New Democratic	Tara King	15,917	30.43	+4.66
	Liberal	James Howard	3,620	6.92	-14.41
	Green	Albert De Jong	2,254	4.31	-0.53
	Ontario Party	Robert Van Ryswyck	447	0.85
	Libertarian	Chris Swift	370	0.71	-0.18
	Independent	David Sikal	335	0.64
	Freedom	Tim Hodges	216	0.41	-0.53
Total valid votes			52,311	100.0
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots
Turnout				60.20
Eligible voters			86,877
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+2.42
Source: Elections Ontario[14]

Cabinet positions

Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Jeff Leal	Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs June 29, 2018–present	Incumbent
Ontario Provincial Government of Ernie Eves
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Brian Coburn	Associate Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing 2003 (February–October) Also Responsible for Rural Affairs	Position eliminated
Ontario Provincial Government of Mike Harris
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Noble Villeneuve	Minister of Agriculture and Food 1999-2001	Brian Coburn

References

1. "Oxford". The Kitchener Record. April 11, 1995. p. A5.
2. Steve Paikin (November 23, 2011). "Ernie Hardeman and John Vanthof: All in the Family". The Agenda: TV Ontario. Archived from the original on March 2, 2013. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
3. "Mayoral candidates faced voters across Ontario". Kitchener - Waterloo Record. November 13, 1991. p. D6.
4. "Ontario Votes 2007". CBC. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
6. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
7. "Ontario Cabinet". The Spectator. Hamilton, Ont. June 18, 1999. p. C8.
8. "Flaherty to be new Ontario finance chief". Sudbury Star. February 8, 2001. p. A5.
9. "A list of Ontario's cabinet following Tuesday's shuffle". Canadian Press NewsWire. February 25, 2003. p. 1.
10. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
11. Wallace, James (January 24, 2004). "Ontario PCs stuck between a Tory and a hard place". Sudbury Star. p. A9.
12. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 11 (xx). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
13. "Hardeman's Bill to Promote Ontario Agriculture Becomes Law". erniehardemanmpp.com. Retrieved 30 January 2011.
14. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Retrieved 20 January 2019.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)