Phil Gillies

Phil Gillies
Ontario MPP
In office 1981–1987
Preceded by	Mac Makarchuk
Succeeded by	Dave Neumann
Constituency	Brantford
Personal details
Born	May 7, 1954 Hertfordshire, England
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Residence	Brantford, Ontario
Profession	Advertising executive

Philip Andrew Gillies (born May 7, 1954) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1981 to 1987 as a Progressive Conservative, and was a cabinet minister in the government of Frank Miller.

Background

Gillies was educated at Queenborough in Kent, England. After moving to Ontario, he completed his education at the University of Western Ontario and worked as an advertising executive.

Politics

He ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1977 provincial election, but lost to New Democratic Party candidate Mac Makarchuk in the riding of Brantford.^[1] In 1977 and 1978, Gillies worked as research assistant to Ontario Premier Bill Davis.^[2] He ran again in the 1981 election, and defeated Makarchuk by over 3,000 votes.^[3]

Gillies served as a backbench supporter of the Davis government, and endorsed Larry Grossman for the party leadership in January 1985. When Miller became the Premier of Ontario on February 8, 1985, he named Gillies as a minister without portfolio.^[4]

The Progressive Conservative Party was reduced to a tenuous minority government following the 1985 provincial election. Gillies himself was narrowly re-elected in Brantford, defeating NDP candidate Jack Tubman by 1,141 votes.^[5] He was promoted to Minister of Skills Development on May 17, 1985^[2][6] but accomplished little before the Tories were defeated in a non-confidence motion in the house two months later.

In opposition, Gillies served as his party's critic for skills development, labour and the environment. Gillies took an interest in labour and human rights issues, and was one of the first PC MPPs to work for LGBT rights in Ontario.^[7] He was defeated in the 1987 provincial election, finishing third against Liberal candidate Dave Neumann.^[8]

Gillies ran communications and advertising for the Ontario Progressive Conservatives in the 1990 provincial election in support of new party leader Mike Harris.

Cabinet positions

Later life

After leaving politics, Gillies became a vice-president of the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton.^[2] He later worked as a consultant for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the Royal Bank of Canada and other corporations and non-profit organizations,^[2] and came out as gay.^[9] He has served as a director of Orchestra London, the Brant Social Development Council, the Brantford Symphony Orchestra, and the Enos Foundation, and serves on the advisory council of Proud Politics. Gillies has also served on committees for Autism Speaks Canada and TV Ontario.

Gillies worked on endangered species issues for the WildAid Conservation Society in 2011 and 2012. In 2013 and 2014, he provided consulting services to the Patey Law Group, Accident Resolution Group, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the Carpenters Union, Clean Prosperity and Toronto Expo 2025. In 2011, Gillies helped spearhead a national campaign to have shark fin banned in Canada. He led his hometown of Brantford to become the first municipality in North America to ban the trade and possession of shark fin through a by-law passed on May 24, 2011.^[10] This led to the introduction of similar legislation in Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga and other Canadian cities.

Gillies ran as the Progressive Conservative candidate in Brant in the 2014 election,^[11] but was not re-elected to the legislature. In the summer of 2014, Gillies became Associate Director of Policy on the campaign of Toronto mayoralty candidate John Tory.

In January 2015, Toronto mayor John Tory named Gillies as secretary of the Mayor's Task Force on Toronto Community Housing, under the chairmanship of Senator Art Eggleton.

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 2014
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Dave Levac	19,346	37.14	+0.06
	Progressive Conservative	Phil Gillies	16,041	30.80	-3.85
	New Democratic	Alex Felsky	13,992	26.86	+2.66
	Green	Ken Burns	2,095	4.02	+1.92
	Libertarian	Rob Ferguson	374	0.72	+0.30
	Freedom	Brittni Mitchell	179	0.34	+0.04
	Pauper	John Turmel	61	0.12	-0.07
Total valid votes			52,088	100.00
	Liberal hold		Swing		+1.96
Source: Elections Ontario[12]

Ontario general election, 1987: Brantford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Dave Neumann	14,919	41.29	–	$35,227
	New Democratic	Jack Tubman	12,112	33.52		$33,914
	Progressive Conservative	Phil Gillies	9,104	25.19		$42,033
Total valid votes/Expenditure limit			36,135	100.00	–	$46,944
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			219
Turnout			36,354	68.88
Electors on the lists			52,776

Ontario general election, 1985: Brantford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Phil Gillies	13,444	41.65		$40,482
	New Democratic	Jack Tubman	12,303	38.11		$23,157
	Liberal	Herb German	6,533	20.24	–	$14,378
Total valid votes			32,280	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			162
Turnout			32,442	64.87
Electors on the lists			50,013

Ontario general election, 1981: Brantford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive Conservative	Phil Gillies	12,847	45.35
	New Democratic	Mac Makarchuk	9,588	33.84
	Liberal	Herb German	5,896	20.81
Total valid votes			28,331	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			129
Turnout			28,460	59.43
Electors on the lists			47,887

Ontario general election, 1977: Brantford
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Mac Makarchuk	13,376	46.79		$17,720
	Progressive Conservative	Phil Gillies	9,081	31.77		$26,618
	Liberal	Arne Zabell	6,130	21.44	–	$8,868
Total valid votes			28,587	100.00
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			156
Turnout			28,743	64.87
Electors on the lists			44,311

References

1. "Ontario provincial election results riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 10, 1977. p. D9.
2. "Tory picks Gillies to run campaign". Brantford Expositor. June 7, 2011.
3. Canadian Press (1981-03-20). "Winds of change, sea of security". The Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario). p. 22. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
4. "The Ontario Cabinet". The Globe and Mail. February 9, 1985. p. 4.
5. "Results of vote in Ontario election". The Globe and Mail. May 3, 1985. p. 13.
6. "The new Cabinet". The Globe and Mail. May 18, 1985. p. 11.
7. "25 years later, a world of change for LGBT". Brantford Expositor. November 27, 2012.
8. "Results from individual ridings". The Windsor Star. September 11, 1987. p. F2.
9. "PC party running three gay candidates in Ontario election". Xtra!. May 26, 2014.
10. "Brantford is first city to ban shark fin". CTV News. June 4, 2011.
11. "Hudak backed Gillies from get-go". Brantford Expositor. April 4, 2013.
12. Elections Ontario. "General Election Results by District, 009 Brant". Retrieved 13 June 2014.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History