Chris Ballard (politician)
Chris Ballard | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Newmarket—Aurora | |
| Assumed office June 12, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Frank Klees |
| Personal details | |
| Born | King City, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Audrey |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence | Aurora, Ontario |
| Occupation | Businessman; journalist |
Chris Ballard is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2014. He represents the riding of Newmarket—Aurora.
Background
Ballard was a journalist with the Newmarket Era, the Aurora Banner, the Orillia Packet and Times, Canadian Press and the Toronto Star. He has run his own business consultancy firm CSB Communications with clients in the business, education, association sectors in Ontario. He was also the Executive Director for a consumers advocacy group.[1] He lives in Aurora with his wife Audrey where they raised three children.
Ballard was presented with an honorary lifetime member award by Speaker of the Ontario Legislature, Michael A. Brown, on behalf of the Public Affairs Association of Canada. Ballard is a former president of the association and was recognized for his years of dedication to the association.
Politics
Ballard was elected as a town councillor in Aurora in 2010.[2]
He ran in the 2014 provincial election as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Newmarket-Aurora, a long-time PC held riding north of Toronto. In a surprising upset, he defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Jane Twinney by 3,432 votes.[3][4] Ballard's win was part of a strong showing by the Ontario Liberals in the York Region, where the party had a historically strong showing in many traditionally PC and swing ridings.
He previously served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. In June 2016, he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Housing and Minister Responsible for the Poverty-Reduction Strategy.
Election results
| 2014 Ontario general election: Newmarket—Aurora | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Liberal | Chris Ballard | 22,942 | 43.8 | +8.2 | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Jane Twinney | 19,510 | 37.25 | -10.0 | ||||
| New Democratic | Angus Duff | 6,092 | 11.63 | -2.7 | ||||
| Green | Andrew Roblin | 2,167 | 4.14 | +1.4 | ||||
| Canadians' Choice | Dorian Baxter | 925 | 1.77 | |||||
| Libertarian | Jason Jenkins | 579 | 1.11 | |||||
| Trillium | Bob Yaciuk | 164 | 0.31 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 52,379 | 100.00 | ||||||
| Liberal gain from Progressive Conservative | Swing | +9.1 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Ontario[5] | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Meet the candidates: Newmarket-Aurora". Newmarket Era - Banner. May 15, 2014. p. 1.
- ^ Pearce, Sean (October 25, 2010). "Dawe humbled by victory". Newmarket Era - Banner. p. 1.
- ^ "General Election by District: Newmarket-Aurora". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-06-14.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Liberals win Newmarket-Aurora, PCs win York-Simcoe". Toronto Star. June 13, 2014.
- ^ Elections Ontario (2014). "Candidates for Newmarket—Aurora". Retrieved 23 May 2014.