Joe Dickson (March 26, 1940 – April 6, 2022) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2018 who represented the riding of Ajax—Pickering.

Joe Dickson
Dickson in 2018
Ontario MPP
In office
2007–2018
Preceded byNew riding
Succeeded byRiding abolished
ConstituencyAjax—Pickering
Personal details
Born
Louis Joseph Dickson[1]

(1940-03-26)March 26, 1940[1]
Ajax, Ontario
DiedApril 6, 2022(2022-04-06) (aged 82)
Political partyLiberal
SpouseDonna
Children2
ResidenceAjax, Ontario
OccupationBusinessowner

Background

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Dickson was born and raised in Ajax, Ontario.[2] He was the owner of a printing business, Dickson Printing Ltd.[3] Dickson was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[4][5] He supports 22 Ajax-Pickering area sports teams.[6] He lived in Ajax with his wife Donna. They have two adult children and five grandchildren.[7] He died April 7, 2022.

Politics

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Dickson began his career and community involvement as a trustee of the local Catholic District School Board. Dickson was a councillor for the town of Ajax, Ontario from 1983 to 1990 and then from 1992 to 2006. He also served as a regional councillor for Durham. and also served as a trustee on the Ajax Catholic School Board.[3][8]

Dickson ran for the Liberal Party in the 1995 election in the riding of Durham West but lost to Janet Ecker by 15,258 votes.[9]

In the 2007 provincial election he ran for the Liberals again in the candidate in the riding of Ajax—Pickering. He defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Kevin Ashe by 5,959 votes.[10] He was re-elected in 2011[11] and 2014.[12]

Dickson served as a deputy government whip from 2007 to 2011. In September 2013, he was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and he served in that capacity until the Legislature was dissolved May 2, 2014. In July 2014 he was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.

In the 2018 provincial election he ran in the redistributed riding of Ajax. He came in third behind Progressive Conservative winner Rod Phillips and runner-up New Democrat Monique Hughes.[13]

Electoral record

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2018 Ontario general election: Ajax
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Rod Phillips 19,078 39.05%
New Democratic Monique Hughes 15,130 30.97%
Liberal Joe Dickson 12,607 25.80%
Green Stephen Leahy 1,244 2.51%
Libertarian Marsha Haynes 312 0.64%
None of the Above Frank Lopez 289 0.59%
Independent Kevin J. Brackley 220 0.45%
Total valid votes 48,860 99.14%  
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 421 0.86%
Turnout 49,281 56.21%
Eligible voters 87,672
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source: Elections Ontario[14]


2014 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joe Dickson 26,257 51.06 +3.72
Progressive Conservative Todd McCarthy 14,999 29.17 −6.17
New Democratic Jermaine King 8,274 16.09 +1.72
Green Adam Narraway 1,589 3.09 +1.06
Libertarian Kyle Stewart 301 0.59 −0.13
Total valid votes 51,420 100.0 +23.94
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 580 1.12 +0.71
Turnout 52,000 50.18 +5.38
Eligible voters 103,629   +11.74
Liberal hold Swing +4.95
Source(s)
Elections Ontario. "Official Return from the Records, 001 Ajax—Pickering" (PDF). Retrieved March 21, 2015.
2011 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Joe Dickson 19,606 47.34 −1.74
Progressive Conservative Todd McCarthy 14,718 35.54 +1.19
New Democratic Evan Wiseman 5,952 14.37 +6.28
Green Steven Toman 843 2.04 −5.54
Libertarian Andrew Delis 299 0.72
Total valid votes 41,418 100.0 +2.36
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 172 0.41 −0.07
Turnout 41,590 44.8   −4.5  
Eligible voters 92,745   +12.53
Liberal hold Swing −1.47
Source(s)
"Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. November 18, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
"Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" (  XLS Spreadsheet). Elections Ontario. October 1, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
2007 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering
Party Candidate Votes %
Liberal Joe Dickson 19,857 49.07
Progressive Conservative Kevin Ashe 13,898 34.35
New Democratic Bala Thavarajasoorier 3,275 8.09
Green Cecile Willert 3,067 7.58
Family Coalition Andrew Carvalho 368 0.91
Total valid votes 40,465 100.0  
Total rejected ballots 197 0.48
Turnout 40,662 49.3  
Eligible voters 82,416  
1995 Ontario general election: Durham West
Party Candidate Votes %
Progressive Conservative Janet Ecker 29,232 54.6
Liberal Joe Dickson 13,974 26.1
New Democratic Jim Wiseman 9,444 17.6
Independent Neil Fonseka 904 1.7
Source:[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Louis Joseph "Joe" Dickson | Obituary | Sharing Memories".
  2. ^ Vyhnak, Carola (October 11, 2007). "Second time the charm for Dickson; Well-known councillor who lost 1995 bid was clear winner yesterday". Toronto Star. p. A15.
  3. ^ a b Szekely, Reka (May 18, 2011). "Liberals and Tories ready for election battle in Ajax-Pickering". The Ajax News Advertiser. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Golden Jubilee Commemorative Medal Recipients". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  5. ^ "Diamond Jubilee Commemorative Medal Recipients". Governor General of Canada. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  6. ^ "2013 Renaissance Conference". Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  7. ^ Szekely, Reka (October 7, 2011). "Comfortable victory for Joe Dickson in Ajax-Pickering". The Ajax News Advertiser. p. 1.
  8. ^ "Dickson seeks Liberal nod". Toronto Star. January 20, 1994. p. SD1.
  9. ^ a b "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from the original on May 12, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  10. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 1 (x). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  11. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  12. ^ "General Election by District: Ajax-Pickering". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2014.
  13. ^ Gilligan, Keith (June 13, 2018). "Hard work paid off, Phillips said of Ajax win". Ajax News Advertiser. Metroland Media Group Ltd.
  14. ^ "Election Night Results". Elections Ontario. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
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