John Gerretsen

John Philip Gerretsen (born June 9, 1942) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014 who represented the eastern Ontario riding of Kingston and the Islands. He served as a Minister in the Cabinets of Premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.

John Gerretsen
Ontario MPP
In office 1995–2014
Preceded by	Gary Wilson
Succeeded by	Sophie Kiwala
Constituency	Kingston and the Islands
90th Mayor of Kingston, Ontario
In office 1980–1988
Preceded by	Ken Keyes
Succeeded by	Helen Cooper
Personal details
Born	John Philip Gerretsen (1942-06-09) June 9, 1942 Hilversum, Netherlands
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Assunta
Relations	Mark Gerretsen, son
Profession	Lawyer

Early life

Gerretsen was born in Hilversum, Netherlands during World War II, and moved to Canada with his parents in 1954. He was educated at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, receiving a BA degree in 1964 and an LL.B in 1967. He subsequently worked as a solicitor, serving with Manulife Insurance Company in Toronto from 1969 to 1970. His son Mark Gerretsen served as a Kingston, Ontario city councillor and was elected mayor in 2010.[1]

Municipal politics

Gerretsen's political career began in the early 1970s, at the municipal level. He was elected as a Kingston Alderman in 1972, and remained on the City Council until 1980 (serving as Deputy Mayor from 1976 to 1980). Gerretsen was elected Mayor of the city in 1980, and was re-elected twice before stepping down in 1988. He was also President of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario from 1986 to 1987, and a trustee of Queen's University from 1981 to 1992.

After retiring from municipal politics, Gerretsen served as the Chair of the Ontario Housing Corporation (1989–1992) and was a Deputy Judge in the province's Small Claims Court (1993–1995). He also became active in politics at the provincial and federal levels. Gerretsen was an Executive Member of the Ontario Liberal Party's Kingston and the Islands riding association from 1989 to 1993, and was President of the Liberal Party of Canada's federal riding association from 1993 to 1995.

Provincial politics

Gerretsen was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Sally Barnes and incumbent New Democrat Gary Wilson in Kingston and the Islands. This was a close three-way race—Gerretsen received 10,314 votes, Barnes 8,571, and Wilson 8,052.[2]

The general election was won by the Progressive Conservatives and Gerretsen entered parliament as a member of the opposition, serving as Opposition Critic on Municipal Affairs and Housing and Chief Opposition Whip.

In 1996, he ran to succeed Lyn McLeod as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party. Gerretsen was generally regarded as being on the right-wing of the party, and achieved some support in his home base of eastern Ontario. He placed fifth out of seven candidates on the first ballot, and dropped out after the second ballot. After withdrawing, he gave his support to Dalton McGuinty, the eventual winner.[3]

Gerretsen was easily re-elected in the 1999 provincial election, although the Progressive Conservatives were again victorious across the province.[4] Gerretsen continued as Opposition Whip, and remained a vocal Liberal MPP for the next four years.

McGuinty government

The Liberal Party won the 2003 election with 72 seats out of 103, and Gerretsen was re-elected with over 60% support.[5] On October 23, 2003, he was named Minister of Municipal Affairs, with responsibility for Seniors.[6] In March 2004, his portfolio was renamed the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Gerretsen was the primary spokesperson for the McGuinty government in its controversial decision to permit further housing expansion on the Oak Ridges Moraine, despite an election promise not to do so. The Liberals claimed that they lacked the legal authority to prevent further development in the area. His main legislative success has been in leading in the enactment of a 1.8 million acre (7,300 km²) green belt surrounding the City of Toronto in 2005.

After a cabinet shuffle on June 29, 2005, the responsibility for Seniors issues was transferred to another government minister. Gerretsen was retained as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.[7]

In the 2007 election of October 10, 2007, Gerretsen won re-election with just under 50 per cent support.[8] On October 29, 2007, Gerretsen was appointed as Minister of the Environment.[9]

On August 18, 2010, Gerretsen was moved to the post of Minister of the Consumer Services.[10]

He won re-election in the October 6, 2011 election. He was appointed Attorney General of Ontario and was re-appointed when Kathleen Wynne became premier in early 2013.[11]

On October 25, 2013, Gerretsen announced that he would not run in the next election.[12] Just before his retirement at the June 2014 election, Gerretsen was moved from the Attorney-General portfolio to that of Chair of Cabinet.[13]

Cabinet positions

Ontario Provincial Government of Kathleen Wynne
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Linda Jeffrey	Chair of Cabinet 2014	Jim Bradley
Ontario Provincial Government of Dalton McGuinty
Cabinet posts (5)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Chris Bentley	Attorney General of Ontario 2011–2014	Madeleine Meilleur
Sophia Aggelonitis	Minister of Consumer Services 2010–2011	Margarett Best
Jim Watson	Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing 2010 (January 12–18)	Jim Bradley
Laurel Broten	Minister of the Environment 2007–2010	John Wilkinson
David Young	Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing 2003–2007 Also responsible for Seniors	Jim Watson

Electoral record

2011 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Gerretsen	21,040	48.24	+1.64
	New Democratic	Mary Rita Holland	10,229	23.74	+3.14
	Progressive Conservative	Rodger James	9,613	22.5	+0.2
	Green	Robert Kiley	1,590	3.69	-5.11
	Family Coalition	David Caracciolo	359	0.8
	Libertarian	Jamie Shaw	120	0.28
	Freedom	Paul Busch	73	0.2
	Republican	David Best	57	0.1

2007 Ontario general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Gerretsen	23,273	47.2
	Progressive Conservative	John Rapin	10,994	22.3
	New Democratic	Rick Downes	10,126	20.6
	Green	Bridget Doherty	4,321	8.8
	Family Coalition	Chris K. Beneteau	418	0.9
	Freedom	Mark Fournier	137	0.3

2003 Ontario general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	John Gerretsen	28,877	60.28	+5.58
	Progressive Conservative	Hans Westenberg	9,640	20.12	-9.95
	New Democratic	Janet C. Collins	5,514	11.51	+0.23
	Green	Eric B. Walton	3,137	6.55	+4.11
	Family Coalition	Chris K. Beneteau	735	1.53	+0.40

1999 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Gerretsen	26,355	54.70
	Progressive Conservative	Bob Pickering	14,487	30.07
	New Democratic	Beth Pater	5,436	11.28
	Green	Chris Walker	1,174	2.44
	Family Coalition	Chris K. Beneteau	546	1.13
	Natural Law	Gerard Morris	182	0.38

1995 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	John Gerretsen	10,314	36.95
	Progressive Conservative	Sally Barnes	8,571	30.71
	New Democratic	Gary Wilson	8,052	28.85
	Family Coalition	John Pacheco	858	3.07
	Natural Law	Ronald Dunphy	115	0.41

Personal life

On March 19, 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, Gerretsen tested positive for COVID-19, with his wife Assunta testing positive earlier that week, after they were both repatriated to Canada from the Grand Princess cruise ship; they were quarantined at CFB Trenton.[14]

References

1. "New mayor, new faces on council". Kingston Whig-Standard. October 28, 2010. Archived from the original on November 1, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
2. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
3. David Mutimer, ed. (2002). Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs (1996). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. pp. 120–1.
4. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
6. "Premier Dalton McGuinty and his 22-member cabinet were sworn in Thursday". Canadian Press NewsWire. October 23, 2003. p. 1.
7. "Cabinet shuffle focuses on health care, education; McGuinty to head new Research and Innovation ministry". The Record. Kitchener, Ont. June 30, 2005. p. A5.
8. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 6 (xv). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009.
9. Ferguson, Rob; Benzie, Robert (October 31, 2007). "Premier goes for new blood; Expanded 28-member cabinet has eight ministers from Toronto, three from 905 area". Toronto Star. p. A13.
10. Aveling, Nick (August 18, 2010). "McGuinty moves 6, brings in 2 new faces in Ontario cabinet shuffle". Postmedia News.
11. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
12. "Attorney General John Gerretsen set to retire from politics". Toronto Star. October 25, 2013.
13. "Kathleen Wynne shuffles Liberal cabinet". Toronto Star. March 25, 2014. Retrieved March 25, 2014.
14. "Former Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen diagnosed with COVID-19 at CFB Trenton". globalnews.ca. March 19, 2020.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history