Gary Stewart (politician)

Gary Stewart
Ontario MPP
In office June 8, 1995 – October 2, 2003
Preceded by	Jenny Carter
Succeeded by	Jeff Leal
Constituency	Peterborough
Personal details
Born	(1938-03-23) March 23, 1938 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Occupation	Business Owner

Richard Gary Stewart (born March 23, 1938) is a former Canadian politician in Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003 and briefly served as a cabinet minister under Mike Harris.

Background

Stewart was educated at Banting Institute, receiving a Mortician Certificate, and worked for a time at Comstock Funeral Home in Peterborough. In 1974, he became president of G. Stewart Travel Services in Peterborough, which he continued to operate throughout his political career. He also served as a director of the Peterborough Civic Hospital.

Politics

Stewart became deputy reeve of the Township of Otonabee in 1985 and was a warden of Peterborough County from 1992 to 1994.

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal candidate Sylvia Sutherland and incumbent New Democrat Jenny Carter by a significant margin. He was a backbench supporter of Mike Harris for the next four years.

In the provincial election of 1999, Stewart was elected over Liberal Jeff Leal by about 2,500 votes. He served as chief government whip and minister without portfolio from July 31, 2001 to April 14, 2002. When Ernie Eves became premier in 2002, he was dropped from cabinet. In 2003, Stewart recommended that provincial governments stop enforcing the federal gun registry.

In the 2003 provincial election, Stewart lost to Leal by over 6,000 votes in a rematch from 1999.

Gary’s son Scott Stewart lost to Leal in the general election of 2014.

Electoral record

2003 Ontario general election: Peterborough
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Jeff Leal	24,626	44.74	+4.54	$59,358
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Stewart	18,418	33.46	−11.53	$83,317
	New Democratic	Dave Nickle	9,796	17.80	+4.80	$22,783
	Green	Tim Holland	1,605	2.92	+1.82	$6,817
	Family Coalition	Max Murray	414	0.75	–	$212
	Independent	Bob Bowers	178	0.32	+0.05	not listed
Total valid votes			55,037	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			245
Turnout			55,282	62.76	−0.01
Electors on the lists			88,080

1999 Ontario general election: Peterborough
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Stewart	24,422	44.99		$66,248
	Liberal	Jeff Leal	21,820	40.20	–	$45,608
	New Democratic	Dave Nickle	7,058	13.00		$26,105
	Green	Larry Tyldsley	598	1.10	–	$1,651
	Independent	Bob Bowers	151	0.28		$862
	Independent	Kenneth T. Burgess	125	0.23		not listed
	Natural Law	Robert Mayer	106	0.20		$0
Total valid votes			54,280	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			297
Turnout			54,577	62.77
Electors on the lists			86,951

1995 Ontario general election: Peterborough
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Gary Stewart	22,735	52.66		$45,102
	Liberal	Sylvia Sutherland	10,326	23.92	–	$42,101
	New Democratic	Jenny Carter	7,581	17.56		$26,275
	Family Coalition	Paul Morgan	2,064	4.78	–	$12,225
	Libertarian	Vic Watts	251	0.58		$1,047
	Natural Law	Peter Leggat	213	0.49		$0
Total valid votes			43,170	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			329
Turnout			43,499	66.23
Electors on the lists			65,678

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history