Mavis Wilson (born ) is a former

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

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. She was a Liberal member of 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 1987 to 1990 who represented the riding of Dufferin—Peel. She served as 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

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Back ...

Background

Wilson and her husband Bruce manage a potato farm in the

Orangeville, Ontario Orangeville (Canada 2021 Census population of 30,167) is a town in south-central Ontario, Canada, and the seat of Dufferin County. History The first patent of land was issued to Ezekiel Benson, a land surveyor, on August 7, 1820. That was fol ...

region. Together they raised three children Vanessa Wilson, Taylor Wilson and Hunter Wilson.

Politics

Wilson began her political career as a school trustee, served on the

Dufferin County Dufferin County is a county and census division located in Central Ontario, Canada. The county seat is Orangeville, and the current Warden is Janet Horner. The current chief administrative officer is Sonya Pritchard. Dufferin covers an area of ...

Board of Education for eleven years (including three as chair). She was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1987 provincial election, defeating her Progressive Conservative opponent by almost 6,000 votes in the riding of Dufferin—Peel.

's Liberals won a landslide majority in this election, and Wilson was appointed as a

Minister without Portfolio A minister without portfolio is a government minister without specific responsibility as head of a government department. The sinecure is particularly common in countries ruled by coalition governments and a cabinet with decision-making authorit ...

responsible for Senior Citizen's Affairs on September 10, 1987. On August 2, 1989, she was appointed Minister responsible for Women's Issues, a post she held until her defeat in the September 1990 election. The Liberals were defeated by the

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

in the 1990 provincial election. Wilson lost her seat by 572 votes to

David Tilson David Allan Tilson (born March 19, 1941) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2002, and served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Duff ...

of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC; ), often shortened to the Ontario PC Party, or simply the PCs, colloquially known as the Tories, is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Ontario, Canada. During its uninterr ...

. She attempted to regain the seat in the 1995 provincial election, but lost by almost 15,000 votes amid a Progressive Conservative majority government victory.

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Mavis 1949 births Women government ministers of Canada Living people Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Ontario school board trustees People from Orangeville, Ontario Women MPPs in Ontario 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 20th-century Canadian women politicians