Kenneth Ross Stevenson (born October 1, 1942) is a former politician in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. He served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA; ) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by the Legislative Assembly are given royal as ...

from 1981 to 1987, and was briefly a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

in the government of

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

. He later served in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

from 1988 to 1993. Stevenson was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.

Background

Stevenson was born in

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22,367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is located in the City of Kawartha Lakes, and is the hub for ...

. He was educated at the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

and

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

, earning a Ph.D. He worked as a farmer, and was a professor at the University of Guelph before entering provincial politics.

Provincial politics

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1981 provincial election, winning an easy victory in Durham—York. For the next four years, he served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

supporter of the provincial Progressive Conservative administrations led by

Bill Davis William Grenville Davis, (July 30, 1929 – August 8, 2021) was a Canadian politician who served as the 18th premier of Ontario from 1971 to 1985. Behind Oliver Mowat, Davis was the List of premiers of Ontario by time in office, second-longes ...

and Frank Miller. He was re-elected in the 1985 election, in which the PCs under Miller were reduced to an unstable

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

. Stevenson was named Minister of Agriculture and Food on May 17, 1985, but accomplished little in this portfolio before Miller's government was defeated in the legislature. In opposition, Stevenson served as his party's critic for Agriculture and Food. He was defeated in the 1987 election, losing to

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

candidate Bill Ballinger by 482 votes.

Cabinet positions

Federal politics

He then turned to federal politics, and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons for

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

in the 1988 federal election. He served as a backbench supporter of the

Brian Mulroney Martin Brian Mulroney (March 20, 1939 – February 29, 2024) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, and politician who served as the 18th prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993. Born in the eastern Quebec city of Baie-Comeau, Mulroney studi ...

and

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician who was the 19th prime minister of Canada from June to November 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the f ...

administrations over the next five years. The Progressive Conservatives were badly defeated in the 1993 federal election, and Stevenson finished third in his bid for re-election behind Liberal candidate

Alex Shepherd Alexander James Shepherd (born October 13, 1946) was a Canadian member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2004. Shepherd was a Chartered Accountant based in Port Perry, Ontario, when he became the Liberal party The Liberal Party ...

Later life

Stevenson later became director of strategic programs at the

University of Ontario Institute of Technology The University of Ontario Institute of Technology, branded as Ontario Tech University or Ontario Tech, is a public research university located in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is located on approximately of land in northe ...

. In 2003, he supported the federal Progressive Conservative Party's merger with the

Canadian Alliance The Canadian Alliance (), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed under that name from 2000 to 2003. The Canadian Alliance was the new name of the ...

to create the

Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...

. He is currently a Professor within the School of Science and Engineering Technology at

Durham College Durham College is a public college in Ontario, Canada, with two main campuses in Oshawa and Whitby. Durham College offers over 145+ academic programs, including six bachelor degrees and eleven apprenticeship programs, to around 13,700 full-ti ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, K. Ross 1942 births Living people Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario People from Kawartha Lakes Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century members of the House of Commons of Canada