Helen Johns

This article is about the Ontario politician. For the Olympic swimmer, see Helen Johns (swimmer). For the photojournalist, see Helen Johns Kirtland.

Helen Johns (born April 24, 1953) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003 and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Harris and Ernie Eves.

Helen Johns
Ontario MPP
In office 1995–2003
Preceded by	Paul Klopp
Succeeded by	Carol Mitchell
Constituency	Huron (1995–99) & Huron—Bruce (1999–2003)
Personal details
Born	(1953-04-24) April 24, 1953 Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Alma mater	York University University of Windsor Simon Fraser University

Background

Johns was born in Toronto, Ontario. She attended York University, the University of Windsor and Simon Fraser University where she majored in business and commerce. She worked as a controller of small and medium-sized businesses for fifteen years before entering public life, and was also the Director and Treasurer of the Huron United Way.

Politics

Johns was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal John Jewitt and incumbent New Democrat Paul Klopp in the riding of Huron. For the next four years, she served as a backbench government member.

Prior to the 1999 election, the number of seats was reduced from 130 to 103. Johns and fellow MPP Barb Fisher (riding of Bruce) competed for the Tory nomination in the redistributed riding of Huron—Bruce. Johns won the nomination battle. In the ensuing election campaign, she narrowly defeated Liberal candidate Ross Lamont. On June 17, 1999, she was named Citizenship, Culture and Recreation. Following a cabinet shuffle on February 8, 2001, she was named Associate Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, under Tony Clement.

When Ernie Eves replaced Harris as Premier on April 15, 2002, he named Johns as his Minister of Agriculture and Food. and also served as interim Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in early 2003.

In the 2003 provincial election she was defeated by Liberal Carol Mitchell by about 3,000 votes.

Electoral record

2003 Ontario general election: Huron—Bruce
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Carol Mitchell	19,879	45.79	+3.96	$ 43,587.07
	Progressive Conservative	Helen Johns	16,594	38.23	−7.53	68,667.03
	New Democratic	Grant I. Robertson	4,973	11.46	+2.33	18,246.88
	Green	Shelley Hannah	934	2.15		3,146.98
	Family Coalition	Dave Joslin	902	2.08	−1.21	7,273.45
	Freedom	Robert Sabharwal	127	0.29		0.00
Total valid votes/expense limit			43,409	100.0	−4.39	$ 63,013.44
Total rejected ballots			212	0.49	−0.80
Turnout			43,621	66.46	−0.32
Eligible voters			65,639		−4.70
Source(s) "General Election of October 2, 2003 — Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. "General Election of October 2, 2003 — Statistical Summary". Retrieved June 13, 2014. "2003 Election and Annual Returns - Candidate and Constituency Association Returns".

1999 Ontario general election: Huron—Bruce
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Helen Johns	20,772	45.75	$ 60,434.00
	Liberal	Ross Lamont	18,993	41.83	36,010.47
	New Democratic	Tony McQuail	4,142	9.12	19,753.75
	Family Coalition	Linda Freiburger	1,494	3.29	6,769.68
Total valid votes/expense limit			45,401	100.0	$ 66,118.08
Total rejected ballots			591	1.29
Turnout			45,992	66.78
Eligible voters			68,873
Source(s) "General Election of June 3 1999 — Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. "General Election of June 3 1999 — Statistical Summary". Retrieved June 13, 2014. "1999 Election and Annual Returns - Candidate and Constituency Association Returns".

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history