Rick Johnson is a 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. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario

Legislative Assembly of Ontario

The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 in a by-election

By-election

A by-election is an election held to fill a political office that has become vacant between regularly scheduled elections....

 on March 5, 2009, defeating Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leader John Tory

John Tory

John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...

 in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock

Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock (provincial electoral district)

Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock is a provincial electoral district in Central Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario....

. He is a member of the Liberal Party

Ontario Liberal Party

The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

.

Background

Before entering politics, Rick was well known for his writing, and performance of children's music. He is married to his wife of 35 years, Terri. They have two children, Michael and Tricia.

Politics

Johnson previously served as a public school trustee

Trustee

Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...

 for, and chair of, the Trillium Lakelands District School Board and as president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association. In his term on the OPSBA, Johnson introduced breakfast, co-operative education and literacy programs for his district. He has also served on the Lindsay

Lindsay, Ontario

Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough...

 Chamber of Commerce

Chamber of commerce

A chamber of commerce is a form of business network, e.g., a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to advocate on behalf of the business community...

.

Johnson was the Liberal candidate in Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock in the 2007 provincial election

Ontario general election, 2007

The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...

, losing to Laurie Scott. On January 9, 2009 Scott took a position with the Conservative Party and $100,000 in severance pay in exchange for resigning and causing a by-election in an effort to get Conservative Leader John Tory a seat in the legislature. Johnson capitalized on public anger from Scott's move and his own record as a consistent local politician to defeat Tory in the subsequent by-election.

Johnson serves as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure, Bob Chiarelli. He previously served as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Social Policy.

Electoral record

Note: the 2011 election will be held on October 6, 2011.


|-

|Rick Johnson
|align="right"|15,482
|align="right"|43.73
|align="right"|+14.22
|-

|John Tory

John Tory

John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...

|align="right"|14,576
|align="right"|41.17
|align="right"|-8.73
|-

|Mike Schreiner

Mike Schreiner

Mike Schreiner is the leader of the Green Party of Ontario . Professionally, he is a small business advocate, entrepreneur and food policy expert. Schreiner was the party's candidate in the Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock by-election on March 5, 2009...

|align="right"|2,352
|align="right"|6.64
|align="right"|-0.56
|-

|Lyn Edwards
|align="right"|2,117
|align="right"|5.98
|align="right"|-5.92
|-

|Jason Taylor
|align="right"|320
|align="right"|0.90
|align="right"|
|-

|Jake Pothaar
|align="right"|258
|align="right"|0.73
|align="right"|-0.07
|-

|Bill Denby
|align="right"|140
|align="right"|0.40
|align="right"|-0.4
|-

|John C. Turmel

John C. Turmel

John C. Turmel is a perennial candidate for election in Canada, and according to the Guinness Book of Records holds the records for the most elections contested and for the most elections lost having contested 75 elections and lost 74...

|align="right"|92
|align="right"|0.26
|align="right"|
|-

|Paolo Fabrizio
|align="right"|71
|align="right"|0.20
|align="right"|
|-
|}


|-

|Laurie Scott
|align="right"|24,272
|align="right"|49.9
|align="right"|
|-

|Rick Johnson
|align="right"|14,324
|align="right"|29.5
|align="right"|
|-

|Joan Corrigan
|align="right"|5,773
|align="right"|11.9
|align="right"|
|-

|Douglas Smith
|align="right"|3,475
|align="right"|7.2
|align="right"|
|-

|Bill Denby
|align="right"|391
|align="right"|0.8
|align="right"|
|-

|Jake Pothaar
|align="right"|364
|align="right"|0.8
|align="right"|
|}

External links