Steve Gilchrist
Encyclopedia
Steve Gilchrist is a politician
in Ontario, Canada
. He was a Progressive Conservative
member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris
.
, was a Progressive Conservative
member of the Canadian House of Commons
.
Gilchrist was educated at Queen's University, receiving a Bachelor of Commerce
degree in 1975. Prior to entering elected office, he operated a number of Canadian Tire
franchise stores from 1971 to 1995, including one of the largest stores in the chain.
in the riding
of Scarborough East
, but placed third behind incumbent Liberal
Ed Fulton
and the winner, New Democrat Bob Frankford. Later that year, he was elected third vice president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. Two years later, he was elected, unanimously, as president of party and served from 1992 to 1994, succeeding Tony Clement
. From 1990 to 1994, Gilchrist hosted various cable television shows on Trillium Cable in Scarborough.
The Tories won a majority government in the 1995 election
under Mike Harris. In a rematch from 1990, Gilchrist easily defeated Frankford by almost 12,000 votes, the highest plurality of any Toronto riding. He was immediately elected chair of the Standing Committee on Resources Development and he was named a parliamentary assistant to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in 1997.
Gilchrist was re-elected again in the provincial election of 1999
, defeating Liberal candidate Peter Vanderyagt by about 3,500 votes. On June 17, 1999, Gilchrist was named Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, but stepped aside to defend himself from allegations by the development industry in October 1999. The allegations were proved to be unfounded and he was exonerated, but was not returned to cabinet. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as co-chair of the Red Tape Commission and the Board of Internal Economy, the all-party committee that oversees the operation of the Ontario Parliament building).
While serving as a cabinet minister, Gilchrist was responsible for co-ordinating the forced amalgamation of municipal governments in Ottawa
, Hamilton
and Sudbury. The political debate on the future of the Oak Ridges Moraine
also began during his tenure. He remained active on the file after his resignation until the passage of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act
in 2001.
Gilchrist was elected as Chair of the Standing Committee on General Government and, on April 25, 2002, he was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy.
On June 28, 2001, Gilchrist was put in charge of a commission looking into alternative fuel sources. In the same year, he backed Jim Flaherty
's unsuccessful bid to succeed Mike Harris as party leader. In 2002, he was appointed as the first commissioner of alternative energy for the province of Ontario, a position he held until December 2003.
During his time in office, Gilchrist introduced three private member's bill
s which were passed into law, including the Good Samaritans Act of 2001. This act guarantees protects anyone who competently attempts to give first aid or render other medical assistance is protected from any legal liability. In December 2001, Gilchrist's youngest sister underwent a successful heart transplant and, in response to the significant waiting times faced by patients hoping for organ donation, on May 5, 2003, Gilchrist introduced Bill 17, the "Organ or Tissue Donation Statute Law Amendment Act, 2003". The bill would have required anyone obtaining a provincial license or health card to complete an organ donation form and would have prevented any other person from overturning the decision of the donor, after death.
He lost his seat in the provincial election of 2003
, falling to Liberal Mary Anne Chambers
by almost 7,000 votes.
In addition to his public activism within the PC Party and as a Member of Provincial Parliament, Gilchrist was very active in the community, serving as a governor of the Central Ontario YMCAs for 11 years; vice-chair of the Rouge Park Alliance; director of the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation; director of the Oak Ridge Moraine Land Trust; director of the East Scarborough Boys & Girls Club and a member of a number of local ratepayers associations in Scarborough. For over twenty years, Gilchrist annually funded "Gilchrist Science Scholarships" at the University of Toronto at Scarborough and various local high schools.
companies. Since October 2005, he is the alternate host of Politically Speaking on Rogers Television
in Durham Region. Since 2005, Gilchrist has also served as a director of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians.
In June 2007, Gilchrist was nominated as the Conservative Party of Canada
's candidate in Ajax-Pickering for the next federal election. In March 2008, Gilchrist announced that he was stepping down as the candidate in order to pursue his business interests consisting of alternative energy projects including a proposed waste-to-energy
facility in Ghana
and an advanced recycling technology for municipalities in Canada.
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
in Ontario, Canada
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...
. He was a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario , is a right-of-centre political party in Ontario, Canada. The party was known for many years as "Ontario's natural governing party." It has ruled the province for 80 of the years since Confederation, including an uninterrupted run from 1943 to 1985...
member of 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...
from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
.
Background
His father, Gordon GilchristGordon Gilchrist
James Gordon Gilchrist was a Progressive Conservative party member of the Canadian House of Commons. In the private sector, Gilchrist had held senior positions at Domtar Ltd...
, was a 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....
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...
.
Gilchrist was educated at Queen's University, receiving a Bachelor of Commerce
Bachelor of Commerce
A Bachelor of Commerce is an undergraduate degree in commerce and related subjects. The degree is also known as the Bachelor of Commerce and Administration, or BCA...
degree in 1975. Prior to entering elected office, he operated a number of Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
franchise stores from 1971 to 1995, including one of the largest stores in the chain.
Political career
Active in the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party since 1970, Gilchrist first ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....
in 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 Scarborough East
Scarborough East
Scarborough East was a Canadian electoral district represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1968 to 2003, and was represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to 2007, and on Toronto City Council....
, but placed third behind incumbent Liberal
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...
Ed Fulton
Ed Fulton
Edward A. Fulton is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1985 to 1990, and was a cabinet minister in the government of David Peterson....
and the winner, New Democrat Bob Frankford. Later that year, he was elected third vice president of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party. Two years later, he was elected, unanimously, as president of party and served from 1992 to 1994, succeeding Tony Clement
Tony Clement
Tony Peter Clement, PC, MP is a Canadian federal politician, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario and member of the Conservative Party of Canada....
. From 1990 to 1994, Gilchrist hosted various cable television shows on Trillium Cable in Scarborough.
The Tories won a majority government in the 1995 election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...
under Mike Harris. In a rematch from 1990, Gilchrist easily defeated Frankford by almost 12,000 votes, the highest plurality of any Toronto riding. He was immediately elected chair of the Standing Committee on Resources Development and he was named a parliamentary assistant to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing in 1997.
Gilchrist was re-elected again in the provincial election of 1999
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, defeating Liberal candidate Peter Vanderyagt by about 3,500 votes. On June 17, 1999, Gilchrist was named Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, but stepped aside to defend himself from allegations by the development industry in October 1999. The allegations were proved to be unfounded and he was exonerated, but was not returned to cabinet. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed as co-chair of the Red Tape Commission and the Board of Internal Economy, the all-party committee that oversees the operation of the Ontario Parliament building).
While serving as a cabinet minister, Gilchrist was responsible for co-ordinating the forced amalgamation of municipal governments in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Sudbury. The political debate on the future of the Oak Ridges Moraine
Oak Ridges Moraine
The Oak Ridges Moraine is an ecologically important geological landform in the Mixedwood Plains of south-central Ontario, Canada. The moraine covers a geographic area of between Caledon and Rice Lake, near Peterborough...
also began during his tenure. He remained active on the file after his resignation until the passage of the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act
Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act
The Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, officially known as the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Act, 2001, is a conservation plan for land situated on or near the Oak Ridges Moraine in Ontario, Canada...
in 2001.
Gilchrist was elected as Chair of the Standing Committee on General Government and, on April 25, 2002, he was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy.
On June 28, 2001, Gilchrist was put in charge of a commission looking into alternative fuel sources. In the same year, he backed Jim Flaherty
Jim Flaherty
James Michael "Jim" Flaherty, PC, MP is Canada's Minister of Finance and he has also served as Ontario's Minister of Finance. From 1995 until 2005, he was the Member of Provincial Parliament for Whitby—Ajax, and a member of the Progressive Conservative Party caucus...
's unsuccessful bid to succeed Mike Harris as party leader. In 2002, he was appointed as the first commissioner of alternative energy for the province of Ontario, a position he held until December 2003.
During his time in office, Gilchrist introduced three private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
s which were passed into law, including the Good Samaritans Act of 2001. This act guarantees protects anyone who competently attempts to give first aid or render other medical assistance is protected from any legal liability. In December 2001, Gilchrist's youngest sister underwent a successful heart transplant and, in response to the significant waiting times faced by patients hoping for organ donation, on May 5, 2003, Gilchrist introduced Bill 17, the "Organ or Tissue Donation Statute Law Amendment Act, 2003". The bill would have required anyone obtaining a provincial license or health card to complete an organ donation form and would have prevented any other person from overturning the decision of the donor, after death.
He lost his seat in the provincial election of 2003
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....
, falling to Liberal Mary Anne Chambers
Mary Anne Chambers
Mary Anne Veronica Chambers is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 until 2007, and served in the cabinet in the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty.-Background:...
by almost 7,000 votes.
In addition to his public activism within the PC Party and as a Member of Provincial Parliament, Gilchrist was very active in the community, serving as a governor of the Central Ontario YMCAs for 11 years; vice-chair of the Rouge Park Alliance; director of the Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation; director of the Oak Ridge Moraine Land Trust; director of the East Scarborough Boys & Girls Club and a member of a number of local ratepayers associations in Scarborough. For over twenty years, Gilchrist annually funded "Gilchrist Science Scholarships" at the University of Toronto at Scarborough and various local high schools.
Career after politics
After the election, Gilchrist became the vice-president of Canadian Hydrogen Energy Company, the world's largest manufacturer of hydrogen-based emissions reduction and fuel saving devices. He was also elected as a director of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians and he serves as a special advisor to the board of Skypower Ltd., one of Canada's largest wind and solar powerSolar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
companies. Since October 2005, he is the alternate host of Politically Speaking on Rogers Television
Rogers Television
Rogers TV, are community channels owned by Rogers Communications Inc. Many of these channels share common programs. Rogers TV broadcasts into the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario. Rogers TV is available only in communities served by Rogers' cable and...
in Durham Region. Since 2005, Gilchrist has also served as a director of the Ontario Association of Former Parliamentarians.
In June 2007, Gilchrist was nominated as the Conservative Party of Canada
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...
's candidate in Ajax-Pickering for the next federal election. In March 2008, Gilchrist announced that he was stepping down as the candidate in order to pursue his business interests consisting of alternative energy projects including a proposed waste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy
Waste-to-energy or energy-from-waste is the process of creating energy in the form of electricity or heat from the incineration of waste source. WtE is a form of energy recovery...
facility in Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
and an advanced recycling technology for municipalities in Canada.