Jerry Pickard, PC

Queen's Privy Council for Canada

The Queen's Privy Council for Canada ), sometimes called Her Majesty's Privy Council for Canada or simply the Privy Council, is the full group of personal consultants to the monarch of Canada on state and constitutional affairs, though responsible government requires the sovereign or her viceroy,...

, MP

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (born November 14, 1940 in Chatham

Chatham, Ontario

Chatham is the largest community in the municipality of Chatham-Kent, Ontario. Formerly serving as the seat of Kent County, the governments of the former city of Chatham, the county of Kent, and its townships were merged into one entity known as the Municipality of Chatham-Kent in 1998.Located on...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

) is a former Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1988 until his retirement in 2005 representing the riding

Electoral district (Canada)

An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...

 of Chatham-Kent—Essex

Chatham-Kent—Essex

Chatham-Kent—Essex is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997.-Federal riding:...

 for the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 in his later terms in office.

Pickard has Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 and Master of Education

Master of Education

The Master of Education is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in a large number of countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum and instruction, counseling, and administration. It is often conferred for educators advancing in...

 degrees from the University of Windsor

University of Windsor

The University of Windsor is a public comprehensive and research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has a student population of approximately 15,000 full-time and part-time undergraduate students and over 1000 graduate students...

, and worked as a teacher in the Kent County

Kent County, Ontario

Kent County, area 2,458 sq km is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario. Population in 2006 was 108,589.The county was created in 1792 and named by John Graves Simcoe in honour of the English County. The county is in an alluvial plain between Lake St...

 and Essex County

Essex County, Ontario

Essex County is a county and census division located in Southwestern Ontario and covers an area at the southernmost tip of Canada. The administrative seat is Essex...

 boards of education following his graduation. He was elected to the Kingsville

Kingsville, Ontario

The Town of Kingsville is located in Essex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, and is Canada's southernmost municipality with town status. According to the 2006 census, the population of Kingsville is 20,908.-Geography:...

 municipal council in 1974 and remained in municipal politics for the next fourteen years, including tenures as deputy reeve and mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 (1984–1988).

He was first elected to parliament in the federal election of 1988

Canadian federal election, 1988

The Canadian federal election of 1988 was held November 21, 1988, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 34th Parliament of Canada. It was an election largely fought on a single issue: the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement ....

, defeating Progressive Conservative

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....

 incumbent Jim Caldwell

James Eber Caldwell

James Eber "Jim" Caldwell was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a broadcaster by career and host of the locally broadcast "Agriscope"....

 by about 6,500 votes in the riding of Essex—Kent

Essex—Kent

Essex—Kent was a federal electoral district in Ontario that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 1997.It was created in 1976 from parts of Essex—Windsor, Kent—Essex and Lambton—Kent ridings, and initially consisted of the Townships of Colchester South, Gosfield North,...

. He was re-elected in the 1993 election

Canadian federal election, 1993

The Canadian federal election of 1993 was held on October 25 of that year to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 35th Parliament of Canada. Fourteen parties competed for the 295 seats in the House at that time...

, and in the redistributed riding of Kent—Essex

Kent—Essex

Kent—Essex was a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 1979.It was created in the redistribution of 1966 from parts of Essex South and Kent ridings....

 in the 1997 election

Canadian federal election, 1997

The Canadian federal election of 1997 was held on June 2, 1997, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 36th Parliament of Canada. Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's Liberal Party of Canada won a second majority government...

.

Pickard's riding was renamed (but not redistributed) as Chatham-Kent—Essex in 1998. In the 2000 election

Canadian federal election, 2000

The 2000 Canadian federal election was held on November 27, 2000, to elect 301 Members of Parliament of the Canadian House of Commons of the 37th Parliament of Canada....

, he defeated a candidate of the Canadian Alliance

Canadian Alliance

The Canadian Alliance , formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance , was a Canadian conservative political party that existed from 2000 to 2003. The party was the successor to the Reform Party of Canada and inherited its position as the Official Opposition in the House of Commons and held...

 by over 7,000 votes.

He faced his first difficult re-election in 2004

Canadian federal election, 2004

The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...

, defeating Conservative

Conservative Party of Canada

The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...

 candidate Dave Van Kesteren

Dave Van Kesteren

David "Dave" E. Van Kesteren is the Conservative Member of the Parliament of Canada in the riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex....

 by only 407 votes. Former Liberal MP Rex Crawford

Rex Crawford

Rex Crawford was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 1997. By career, he was a farmer.Born in Detroit, Michigan, he first campaigned for a seat in Canadian Parliament during the 1988 federal election, as a candidate for the Liberal party at the Kent electoral district...

 campaigned for the Conservative candidate in this election, and some local residents were upset that the federal government had cut down more than 80,000 ash trees to stop a devastating beetle infestation.

Pickard served as Parliamentary Secretary

Parliamentary Secretary

A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...

 to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food from 1996 to 1997, and to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Minister of Public Works and Government Services (Canada)

The Minister of Public Works and Government Services is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's "common service organization" , an expansive department responsible for the internal servicing and administration of the federal...

 from 1997 to 1998. In December 2003, he was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness (Canada)

The Minister of Public Safety is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's domestic security department, Public Safety Canada...

, with special emphasis on border transit. He was transferred from this position in July 2004, and named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry

Minister of Industry (Canada)

The Minister of Industry is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government's economic development and corporate affairs department, Industry Canada. The Minister of Industry is also the minister responsible for Statistics Canada...

. Pickard did not run in the January 2006 election.