John Weston (politician)

John D. Weston, MP (born April 19, 1958) is a former Canadian politician, who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2015, representing the electoral district of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country.[1][2] He is a member of the Conservative Party.

John Weston MP
Member of the Canadian Parliament for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
In office 2008–2015
Preceded by	Blair Wilson
Succeeded by	Pamela Goldsmith-Jones
Personal details
Born	(1958-04-19) April 19, 1958 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Political party	Conservative
Residence	West Vancouver, British Columbia
Profession	Lawyer

Weston studied International Relations at Harvard University, law at Osgoode Hall Law School, and is able to speak Mandarin as well as French and English.[3] He then worked as a lawyer in Canada and in Taiwan. He is a founder of Pan Pacific Law Corporation and Access Law Group, as well as the Canadian Constitution Foundation.[4]

Weston ran in the 2006 Canadian federal election but was defeated, by Blair Wilson.[5] Weston lost by 1.5%, or 976 votes.

During the 40th Parliament, he served as a member of the Aboriginal Affairs, Fisheries, and Library of Parliament Standing Committees, and as the Government Liaison to the Persian and Iranian Community, and as the Vice Chair of the Conservative Community Relations Committee.

After being re-elected in the 2011 Canadian federal election, Weston has served on the Citizenship and Immigration Committee and as a member of the Official Languages Committee.[6]

Weston introduced bill C-475, which amended the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to make it illegal to possess, produce, sell or import chemicals with the knowledge they will be used to create street drugs, though it was later tabled.[7]

Weston created a National Health and Fitness Day bill, saying "On a personal level I just saw when I reached Ottawa how unhealthy was the lifestyle that MPs lead — so much time on airplanes and in committees and sitting in Parliament. I just resolved that if I was going to remain productive and useful to the people who voted me in, I needed to work at staying healthy."[8]

In his column in The Tyee, political commentator Rafe Mair has been extremely critical of Weston's approach to environmental issues and his role as a Member of Parliament.[9] Mair has repeatedly accused Weston of blindly adhering to Conservative Party policy on all issues.[10] In an article dated January 19, 2015, Mair alleged that in Weston's time as an MP he had "never uttered a single word of criticism of any statement or action by the [Conservative] government".[11] Weston and Mair are former colleagues from Mair's time as a BC MLA, and his role as minister responsible for constitutional reform during that period.[12] Weston has responded to Mair by claiming that he carefully considers his position on environmental issues and comes to his own decision.[12] In a responding letter to the editor, Weston also stated that Mair's critique had ignored the role of the democratic process and denigrated MPs' role in it.[13]

In the 2015 federal election, he was defeated by Liberal candidate Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.

Electoral record

2015 Canadian federal election: West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Pamela Goldsmith-Jones	36,300	54.62	+30.81	$180,025.50
	Conservative	John Weston	17,411	26.20	-19.59	$199,351.34
	New Democratic	Larry Koopman	6,554	9.86	-11.61	–
	Green	Ken Melamed	5,907	8.89	+1.26	$129,042.88
	Marijuana	Robin Kehler	180	0.27	–	$176.40
	Marxist–Leninist	Carol-Lee Chapman	106	0.16	–	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			66,458	100.00		$241,170.76
Total rejected ballots			173	0.26	–
Turnout			66,631	74.48	–
Eligible voters			89,459
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing		+25.20
Source: Elections Canada[14][15][16]

2011 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	John Weston*	28,614	45.53	+0.96
	New Democratic	Terry Platt	14,828	23.59	+9.16
	Liberal	Daniel Veniez	14,123	22.47	-4.10
	Green	Brennan Wauters	4,436	7.06	-7.37
	Progressive Canadian	Roger Lagassé	293	0.47	–
	Libertarian	Tunya Audain	250	0.40	–
	Western Block	Allan Holt	156	0.25	–
	Marxist–Leninist	Carol Lee Chapman	87	0.14	–
	Canadian Action	Doug Hartt	64	0.10	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			62,851	100.00
Total rejected ballots			221	0.35	+0.01
Turnout			63,072	64.17	-0.28
Eligible voters			98,293	–	–

2008 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Conservative	John Weston	26,949	44.57	+8.60	$94,785
	Liberal	Ian Sutherland	16,069	26.57	-10.93	$74,135
	New Democratic	Bill Forst	8,728	14.43	-5.63	$18,762
	Green	Blair Wilson*	8,723	14.43	+8.20	$95,067
Total valid votes/Expense limit			60,469	100.00	$100,350
Total rejected ballots			208	0.34	+0.12
Turnout			60,677	64.45	-4.1
	Conservative gain from Green		Swing		+9.8

2006 Canadian federal election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Blair Wilson	23,867	37.50	+4.99	$82,304
	Conservative	John Weston	22,881	35.97	+0.68	$86,639
	New Democratic Party	Judith Wilson	12,766	20.06	-1.66	$50,621
	Green	Silvaine Zimmermann	3,966	6.23	-3.49	$3,532
	Marxist–Leninist	Anne Jamieson	155	0.22	+0.02	$0
Total valid votes			63,635	100.00
Total rejected ballots			144	0.23	0.0
Turnout			63,635	68.6	+2.6
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing	+2.2

References

1. West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country: 2008 Results
2. Conservatives make gains in B.C.
3. Aaron Wherry (April 1, 2009). "The Crimson in their midst". Beyond the Commons. Macleans.ca. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
4. New MP profile: West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky's John Weston Archived 2010-07-29 at the Wayback Machine
5. Parliament of Canada. "Member of Parliament Profile - Elections". House of Commons. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
6. Parliament of Canada. "Member of Parliament Profile - Committees". House of Commons. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
7. Weldon, James. "The North Shore News - Weston tables bill for [http://www.nationalhealthandfitnessday.com national health and fitness day]". The North Shore News. The North Shore News. Retrieved October 1, 2012. External link in |title= (help)
8. Ingram, Ben. "The Coast Reporter -". The Coast Reporter. The Coast Reporter. Missing or empty |url= (help)
9. Mair, Rafe (9 June 2014). "Help Rafe Mair Lift His Gloom Today". The Tyee.
10. Mair, Rafe (15 September 2014). "Mulroney Knocks Harper? Oh This Is Rich!". The Tyee.
11. Mair, Rafe (19 January 2015). "Mair Predicts: Greens Will Hold Balance of Power". The Tyee.
12. Weston, John (23 June 2014). "Dear Rafe Mair: I'm Not Giving Up". The Tyee.
13. Weston, John (1 October 2014). "'The Environment Is the Economy': MP Weston". The Tyee.
14. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, 30 September 2015
15. Elections Canada – Final Candidates Election Expenses Limits
16. Elections Canada – Forty-Second General Election 2015 - Poll-by-poll results

External links

• Official Website
• Parliamentary Website