Name John Yakabuski Spouse(s) Vicky Role Politician | Children 4 Residence Barry's Bay, Canada Profession Businessman | |
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Party Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario Profiles | ||
John Yakabuski Elected
John Yakabuski (born June 14, 1957) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in the eastern Ontario riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke in 2003. His father, Paul Yakabuski, was also a Tory Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the area from 1963 to 1987.
Contents
- John Yakabuski Elected
- Interview with mpp patrick brown and mpp john yakabuski
- Background
- Politics
- Constituency
- References
Interview with mpp patrick brown and mpp john yakabuski
Background
Yakabuski is a former real estate sales representative, and was for twenty years the owner and operator of Yakabuski's Home Hardware in Barry's Bay, Ontario. At the time of his election, he was a member of the steering committee of St. Francis Memorial Hospital's Capital Equipment Campaign. He is also active in the local Lutheran church. His late brother, Kim Yakabuski, was the life partner of former Liberal Attorney-General Ian Scott. He and his wife Vicky have four children.
Politics
Yakabuski was elected to the Barry's Bay municipal council in 1997, and was responsible for overseeing various issues concerning the region's amalgamation. He did not seek re-election in 2000.
Yakabuski was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 2003 provincial election, defeating Liberal Derek Nighbor by 595 votes. This result was regarded by some as an upset, as it was the only formerly Liberal seat to be won by the Tories in an election that saw the Liberals elected to a strong majority government. Moreover, the seat had been held for many years by Liberal Sean Conway (Yakabuski's second cousin). However, Yakabuski benefited from a growing social conservative trend in the region. He won the election despite publicizing of his earlier convictions by the opposition press.
In the 2007 provincial election, he was easily re-elected, defeating Liberal candidate Sean Kelly by over 15,000 votes. He was re-elected in 2011 provincial election, and 2014 provincial election.
Yakabuski is the Labour and Training Critic in the Official Opposition and the Whip of the Official Opposition. He stood for the position of interim leader of the party following the resignation of Tim Hudak but was passed over in favour of Jim Wilson.
Constituency
John Yakabuski wrote a letter of support for a mayor accused of sexual and physical assault. This was in contradiction to the Office of the Integrity Commissioner of Ontario's position which warns that letters of this type could be construed as interference in the law: “Any involvement might be interpreted as an attempt to interfere with and/or influence the legal process,” This letter was written even though Yakabuski had personally said in Queen's Park that society should “not tolerate any form of abuse or violence against women.”