Steve Clark (politician)

Steve Clark (born November 7, 1960) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He represents the riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes and has served as an MPP since 2010. On September 10, 2015 he was named co-deputy leader with Sylvia Jones.

The Honourable Steve Clark MPP
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
Incumbent
Assumed office June 29, 2018
Premier	Doug Ford
Preceded by	Bill Mauro Peter Milczyn
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes Leeds—Grenville (2010-2018)
Incumbent
Assumed office March 4, 2010
Preceded by	Bob Runciman
Mayor of Brockville
In office 1982–1991
Personal details
Born	(1960-11-07) November 7, 1960 Brockville, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Residence	Brockville, Ontario

Background

Clark was born in Brockville, Ontario on November 7, 1960.[1] He lives in Brockville with his wife Deanna and their five children.[2]

Politics

Clark served as mayor of Brockville from 1982 to 1991.[3] First elected at age 22, he was the youngest mayor in Canada at the time.[4] He later worked as an advertising salesman for the Brockville Recorder and Times, as an administrative assistant to Bob Runciman, and as the chief administrative officer of the township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands.[5]

He was elected in a by-election on March 4, 2010 held to replace Bob Runciman who resigned to accept a position in the Canadian Senate.[3] He was easily re-elected in 2011 and in 2014 both with large pluralities.[6][7]

In September 2018 as Municipal Affairs Minister, he introduced controversial legislation intended to slash the size of Toronto city council. When this legislation was ruled unconstitutional, he supported the unprecedented step of invoking the notwithstanding clause to nullify the offended sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[8] Clark was additionally a source for derision when the example he gave of the problems in Toronto city council and the need for Bill 5/31 was that city council spent 15 hours debating the city's budget, failing to mention that it was an 11 billion dollar budget.

Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Steve Clark	30,002	61.27	+5.20
	New Democratic	Michelle Taylor	9,688	19.78	+2.67
	Liberal	David Henderson	6,543	13.36	-7.13
	Green	Derek Morley	2,347	4.79	-0.10
	Libertarian	Bill Buckley	389	0.79
Total valid votes			48,969	100.00
Turnout				61.9
Eligible voters			79,115
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing
Source: Elections Ontario[9]

2014 Ontario general election: Leeds—Grenville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Steve Clark	23,253	56.07	−7.53
	Liberal	Christine Milks	8,499	20.49	+3.06
	New Democratic	David Lundy	7,219	17.41	+2.18
	Green	Stephen Bowering	2,030	4.89	+1.44
	Libertarian	Harold Gabriel	471	1.14	–
Total valid votes			41,472	100.0	+8.43
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		−5.30
Source(s) Elections Ontario (2014). "Official result from the records, 042 Leeds-Grenville" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2015.

2011 Ontario general election: Leeds—Grenville
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Steve Clark	24,314	63.60	−3.08	$ 52,598.00
	Liberal	Ray Heffernan	6,663	17.43	−2.65	17,512.99
	New Democratic	David Lundy	5,822	15.23	+10.12	13,274.26
	Green	Charlie Taylor	1,319	3.45	−4.22	3,731.20
	Socialist	Lance Fulsom	111	0.29		0.00
Total valid votes / Expense limit			38,229	100.0	+37.72	$ 90,198.43
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			155	0.40	+0.09
Turnout			38,384	50.64	+14.03
Eligible voters			75,797		−0.34
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		−0.22
Source(s) "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Leeds—Grenville" (PDF). "2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved June 8, 2014.

Ontario provincial by-election, March 4, 2010: Leeds—Grenville Resignation of Bob Runciman
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Steve Clark	18,510	66.68	+10.44	$ 27,511.00
	Liberal	Stephen Mazurek	5,573	20.08	−8.59	65,190.41
	Green	Neil Kudrinko	2,130	7.67	+0.49	14,799.66
	New Democratic	Steve Armstrong	1,417	5.10	−1.87	17,118.89
	Libertarian	Anthony Giles	129	0.46		297.56
Total valid votes			27,759	100.0	−39.61
Total rejected ballots			87	0.31	−0.07
Turnout			27,846	36.61	−24.57
Eligible voters			76,053		+5.35
Source(s) "Leeds—Grenville By-Election – March 4, 2010". Elections Ontario. Retrieved June 8, 2014. "2010 By-Election Returns – Ottawa West-Nepean – Candidate (CR-1) & Association (CR-3) Returns". "Ontario's Runciman among 5 new senators". Toronto Star. January 29, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2014.

Cabinet posts

Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Bill Mauro (Municipal Affairs) Peter Milczyn (Housing)	Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing June 29, 2018–present	Incumbent

References

1. Rafter, Jack (November 16, 1991). "Kid councillor becomes kid Reeve". The Kingston Whig - Standard. p. 1.
2. Gardiner, Nick (March 2, 2010). "Boy-wonder mayor back to his roots". Brockville Recorder and Times.
3. "McGuinty Liberals win narrow victory in Ottawa by-election". The Globe and Mail. March 4, 2010.
4. "Former politician scores upset win in Hamilton vote". The Globe and Mail, November 9, 1982.
5. "Steven Clark named new CAO of TLTI". Gananoque Reporter. July 14, 2009.
6. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
7. "General Election by District: Leeds—Grenville". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014.
8. "Municipal Affairs and Housing minister must stand up for charter | The Star". thestar.com. Retrieved 2019-04-30.
9. "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 6. Retrieved 16 January 2019.

External links

• Official website
• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history (archived)