Provincial Politics
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election, defeating incumbent New Democrat Gary Malkowski by 3,263 votes in the riding of York East. He served in Mike Harris's government for the next four years. During that time he was parliamentary assistant to Native Affairs.
In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of provincial ridings from 130 to 103. This change resulted in some sitting MPPs having to compete against one another in the 1999 provincial election. Parker ran against Liberal Mike Colle in the newly-created riding of Eglinton—Lawrence, and was defeated by 11,307 votes. Colle received 56.85 percent of the popular vote compared to Parker's 29.72 percent.
Read more about this topic: John Parker (Canadian Politician)
Famous quotes containing the words provincial and/or politics:
“With respect to a true culture and manhood, we are essentially provincial still, not metropolitan,—mere Jonathans. We are provincial, because we do not find at home our standards; because we do not worship truth, but the reflection of truth; because we are warped and narrowed by an exclusive devotion to trade and commerce and manufacturers and agriculture and the like, which are but means, and not the end.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Politics are for foreigners with their endless wrongs and paltry rights. Politics are a lousy way to get things done. Politics are, like God’s infinite mercy, a last resort.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)