Kevin Flynn (politician)

Kevin Flynn
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Oakville
In office
October 2, 2003 – June 7, 2018
Preceded byGary Carr
Succeeded byStephen Crawford
Personal details
Born
Kevin Daniel Flynn

1955 (age 68–69)
Liverpool, England
Political partyLiberal
SpouseJanice
Children1
Residence(s)Oakville, Ontario, Canada

Kevin Daniel Flynn (born c. 1955) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the riding of Oakville. He served in the cabinet of the government of Kathleen Wynne.

Background

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Flynn was born in Liverpool, England. He immigrated to Canada with his family at the age of 12.[1] Prior to entering politics he was a small business owner and served as Chair of the Financial Department for the Royal Botanical Gardens.[2] He and his wife Janice live in Oakville, Ontario.[3]

Politics

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Flynn ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1985, as a New Democrat. He finished a distant third in Oakville, where the NDP has a limited base of support.[4] Later in the year, he was elected as an Oakville Town Councillor and a Halton Regional Councillor.[5]

He ran for election to the Legislative Assembly in the riding of Oakville, this time as a Liberal, in the provincial election of 1999. He was defeated by incumbent Progressive Conservative Gary Carr.[6]

Carr retired in 2003, and later joined the federal Liberal Party. In 2003, Flynn ran for the seat again and this time defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Kurt Franklin by about 3500 votes.[7] The Premier appointed Flynn as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Labour in 2004. Subsequently, Flynn served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, the Minister of the Environment, the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, and the Minister of Education.[8]

In the 2007 election, Flynn ran for re-election and increased his margin of victory to 7096 votes over the Progressive Conservative challenger, Rick Byers.[9]

Flynn has worked to ensure the protection of environmentally-sensitive land in his riding and his town, which is larger than his riding. In November 2004, he was applauded by the local media for his work in reserving 1286 acres (5 km²) of land in North Oakville as public greenspace. [10]

On November 18, 2010, Flynn was nominated as the Liberal party candidate in Oakville for the 2011 provincial election.[11] In the 2011 election, which saw the Liberals reduced to a minority government, Flynn increased his percentage of victory, although his margin of victory was reduced to 4580 votes over the Progressive Conservative challenger, Larry Scott.[12]

Following the election, Flynn unsuccessfully ran to become Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, losing to fellow Liberal Dave Levac, MPP for Brant.[13] In June 2013, he was named Chief Government Whip.[8]

He was re-elected in the 2014 election.[14]

On June 24, 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne appointed him as Minister of Labour.[15]

On June 7, 2018, he was defeated by Progressive Conservative candidate Stephen Crawford in the 42nd Ontario general election.

Ahead of the 2019 federal election, Flynn sought the federal Liberal nomination in Oakville. On June 12, 2019 Flynn lost the nomination to Anita Anand, who went on to win the general election.[16][17]

Cabinet positions

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Ontario provincial government of Kathleen Wynne
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor Office Successor
Yasir Naqvi Minister of Labour
2014–2018
Laurie Scott

Electoral record

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2018 Ontario general election: Oakville
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Stephen Crawford 24,837 43.67 +5.90
Liberal Kevin Flynn 20,327 35.74 −13.69
New Democratic Lesley Sprague 9,424 16.57 +8.63
Green Emily De Sousa 1,986 3.49 −0.31
Libertarian Spencer Oklobdzija 297 0.52 −0.27
Total valid votes 56,871 100.0  
Source: Elections Ontario[18]
2014 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Kevin Flynn 24,729 49.43 +1.34
Progressive Conservative Larry Scott 18,895 37.77 -0.18
New Democratic Che Marville 3,973 7.94 -2.30
Green Andrew Chlobowski 1,902 3.80 +1.86
Libertarian David Clement 393 0.79
Freedom Silvio Ursomarzo 137 0.27 +0.02
Total valid votes 50,029 100.0  
Liberal hold Swing +0.76
Source: Elections Ontario[19]
2011 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Kevin Flynn 21,711 48.09 +0.62
Progressive Conservative Larry Scott 17,131 37.95 +3.08
New Democratic Lesley Sprague 4,625 10.24 +3.59
Green Andrew Chlobowski 878 1.94 -6.25
Independent Mike Harris 498 1.10
Family Coalition Jonathan Banzuela 188 0.42 -0.17
Freedom Steve Hunter 115 0.25
Total valid votes 45,146 100.00
2007 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Kevin Flynn 23,757 49.71% -0.10%
Progressive Conservative Rick Byers 16,666 34.87% -7.31%
Green Marion Schaffer 3,912 8.19%
New Democratic Tony Crawford 3,178 6.65% +0.30%
Family Coalition Michael James Toteda 281 0.59% -1.08%
Total valid votes 47,794 100.00%
2003 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Kevin Flynn 22,428 49.81% +17.06%
Progressive Conservative Kurt Franklin 18,991 42.18% -19.72%
New Democratic Anwar Abbas Naqvi 2,858 6.35% +2.63%
Family Coalition Theresa Tritt 751 1.67% +0.49%
1999 Ontario general election
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Progressive Conservative Gary Carr 27,767 61.90%
Liberal Kevin Flynn 14,689 32.75%
New Democratic Sean Cain 1,667 3.72%
Family Coalition Adrian Ratelle 530 1.18%
Natural Law Linda Antonichuk 202 0.45%

References

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  1. ^ Blackburn, Angela (November 30, 2005). "Oakville's cultural makeup is changing". Oakville Beaver. p. A1.
  2. ^ Tait, Eleanor (November 28, 2003). "Halton salutes five councillors, 51 years of service". Hamilton Spectator. p. A6.
  3. ^ "Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn gets to work as Minister of Labour". Oakville Beaver. June 24, 2014. p. 1.
  4. ^ "Results of vote in Ontario election". The Globe and Mail. May 3, 1985. p. 13.
  5. ^ Steen, David (November 13, 1985). "Lawyer Perras, 35, replaces Barrett as Oakville mayor". Toronto Star. p. B8.
  6. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  7. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Kevin Daniel Flynn, MPP". Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  9. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 10 (xix). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  10. ^ Safieddine, Hicham (November 6, 2004). "Halton's green space grows; Province pledges to curb sprawl Environmentalists express caution". Toronto Star. p. B1.
  11. ^ Kurek, Dominic (November 19, 2010). "Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn will run again for Liberals". Inside Halton.
  12. ^ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
  13. ^ Lea, David (November 21, 2011). "Kevin Flynn not speaker". Inside Halton. Retrieved June 4, 2018.
  14. ^ "General Election by District: Oakville". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014.
  15. ^ Richard Brennan; Robert Benzie; Rob Ferguson (June 24, 2014). "Kathleen Wynne warns financial cupboard is bare". Toronto Star.
  16. ^ "'Honoured to win the support': The Oakville Liberal candidate has been chosen for federal election". InsideHalton.com. June 13, 2019. Archived from the original on June 15, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  17. ^ Canada, Elections. "Election Night Results - Electoral Districts". enr.elections.ca. Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  18. ^ "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 28, 2018. Retrieved January 20, 2019.
  19. ^ "General Election Results by District, 060 Oakville". Elections Ontario. 2014. Archived from the original on June 17, 2014. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
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