Peter Milczyn

Peter Milczyn (born c. 1965) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2014 to 2018 who represented the west Toronto riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore. He was a member of cabinet in the government of Kathleen Wynne. He was Minister of Housing from 2017 to 2018.[1] Previously, he was a city councillor in Toronto, Ontario from 2000 to 2014.

Peter Milczyn
Ontario MPP
In office 2014–2018
Preceded by	Doug Holyday
Succeeded by	Christine Hogarth
Constituency	Etobicoke—Lakeshore
Toronto City Councillor for Ward 5 (Etobicoke—Lakeshore)
In office December 1, 2000 – July 7, 2014
Preceded by	Blake Kinahan
Succeeded by	James Maloney
Etobicoke City Councillor
In office December 1, 1994 – January 1, 1998
Preceded by	Alex Faulkner
Succeeded by	Position Abolished
Constituency	Ward 2
Personal details
Born	1965 (age 54–55) Etobicoke, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Rose
Occupation	Urban Planner

Background

Milczyn was born in Etobicoke. His parents, Wes Milczyn and Maria Graf, emigrated from Poland in 1963. His mother worked as a journalist in Poland.[2] He attended Etobicoke Collegiate Institute and the University of Toronto where he obtained a degree in architecture. He set up his own design firm, but his interest in urban planning issues propelled him into politics.

Politics

Municipal

Milczyn ran for a seat on the Etobicoke city council in 1991. He came third behind winner Alex Faulkner.[3] He ran again in 1994 and beat out eight other contenders in Ward 2 after Faulkner retired from politics.[4]

In 1993, he became president of Etobicoke—Lakeshore Liberal Party riding association.[5] He quit this position, however, when then Liberal Party leader Jean Chrétien appointed Jean Augustine to run as the party's candidate in the riding in the 1993 Canadian federal election. This decision overrode his association's recommendation of Mary Sopta as the candidate. The Liberal party felt that Sopta's Serbo-Croatian background would create tension. Milczyn characterized that as "racist". Milczyn complained that Augustine was being appointed as the Liberal candidate only because she was black. He said, "It's only a factor with me inasmuch as it upsets me that they're using it (color) as a factor."[5]

With the merger of Etobicoke and other municipalities to form the new City of Toronto, he ran, but failed to win a seat on Toronto city council in 1997. In the 2000 municipal election he ran again and this time defeating incumbent Blake Kinahan in a close race. He backed John Tory for Mayor of Toronto in the 2003 municipal election.

Provincial

Milczyn ran as the Liberal candidate in the Etobicoke—Lakeshore provincial by-election, caused by the resignation of Laurel Broten, which was held August 1, 2013.[6] He was defeated by fellow Toronto councillor Doug Holyday, running for the Progressive Conservatives,.[7] In the 2014 general election he faced Holyday again this time defeating him by 6,548 votes.[8][9]

He served as a Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

On July 31, 2017, Milczyn was promoted to cabinet and appointed as Minister of Housing.[1]

Cabinet positions

Ontario Provincial Government of Kathleen Wynne
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Chris Ballard	Minister of Housing 2017 - 2018	Steve Clark

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Etobicoke—Lakeshore
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Christine Hogarth	22,626	38.35	+4.00
	New Democratic	Phil Trotter	19,401	32.89	+20.46
	Liberal	Peter Milczyn	14,305	24.25	-23.23
	Green	Chris Caldwell	2,138	3.62	-0.41
	Libertarian	Mark Wrzesniewski	360	0.61	-0.05
	Ontario Moderate Party	Ian Lytvyn	163	0.28
Total valid votes			58,993	100.0
	Progressive Conservative gain		Swing
Source: Elections Ontario[10]

2014 Ontario general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Milczyn	23,950	47.14	+4.84
	Progressive Conservative	Doug Holyday	17,402	34.25	-12.50
	New Democratic	P. C. Choo	6,348	12.50	+5.09
	Green	Angela Salewsky	2,083	4.10	+1.85
	Libertarian	Mark Wrzesniewski	345	0.68	+0.24
	Freedom	Jeff Merklinger	298	0.59	+0.46
	Socialist	Natalie Lochwin	230	0.45
	Ontario Moderate Party	Ian Lytvyn	148	0.29
Total valid votes			50,804	100.0
	Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative		Swing		+8.67
Source: Elections Ontario[11]

Ontario provincial by-election, August 1, 2013 Resignation of Laurel Broten
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Doug Holyday	16,034	46.75	+17.51
	Liberal	Peter Milczyn	14,506	42.30	-8.72
	New Democratic	P. C. Choo	2,542	7.41	-8.04
	Green	Angela Salewsky	771	2.25	-0.43
	Special Needs	Dan King	157	0.46	+0.07
	Libertarian	Hans Kunov	152	0.44	+0.05
	People's	Kevin Clarke	87	0.25
	Freedom	Wayne Simmons	46	0.13	-0.27
Total valid votes			34,295	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			214	0.62
Turnout			34,509	37.95
Eligible voters			90,927
	Progressive Conservative gain		Swing		+13.12
Source: Elections Ontario[12]

2010 Toronto election, Ward 5[13]
Candidate	Votes	%
Peter Milczyn	9,778	41.2
Justin Di Ciano	9,669	40.7
Morley Kells	2,725	11.5
John Chiappetta	1,245	5.2
Rob Therrien	339	1.4
Total	23,756	100

2006 Toronto election, Ward 5[14]
Candidate	Votes	%
Peter Milczyn	8,501	55.8
Arthur Roszak	3,856	25.3
John Chiappetta	1,668	10.9
Joseph Mignone	1,021	6.7
Bojidar Tchernev	191	1.3

References

1. "Chris Ballard Ontario's New Minister of the Environment and Climate Change" (Press release). Government of Ontario. July 31, 2017. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
2. Lavoie, Joanna (13 November 2005). "Councillor's mother dies; Maria Teresa Milczyn was a groundbreaking journalist". Etobicoke Guardian.
3. "Etobicoke: Results". Toronto Star. 13 November 1991. p. E8.
4. "Municipal Council - Final Results". Toronto Star. 16 November 1994. p. A8.
5. Stewart, Edison (19 March 1993). "Chretien to name woman for Metro race". Toronto Star. p. A2.
6. "Wynne set to call five Ontario byelections for Aug. 1". Toronto Star. July 2, 2013. Archived from the original on July 5, 2013. Retrieved July 2, 2013.
7. "Doug Holyday lands coveted Toronto seat for Tories". CBC News. August 1, 2013. Archived from the original on August 21, 2013. Retrieved August 2, 2013.
8. "Milczyn's win over Holyday ends Tory toehold in Toronto". Toronto Star. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
9. "General Election by District: Etobicoke-Lakeshore". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014.
10. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
11. "General Election Results by District, 024 Etobicoke—Lakeshore". Elections Ontario. 2014. Archived from the original on 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
12. "Official return from the records - Etobicoke—Lakeshore" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-05-05. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
13. "2010 election results: Councillor Ward 5". City of Toronto. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014.
14. "2006 General Election Results: Councillor" (PDF). City of Toronto. November 13, 2006. pp. 12–15. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2014. Retrieved September 2, 2014.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)