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John Weston (Canadian politician)

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For other politicians of this name, see John Weston (disambiguation).
John Weston
Member of Parliament
for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
In office
October 14, 2008 – October 19, 2015
Preceded byBlair Wilson
Succeeded byPamela Goldsmith-Jones
Personal details
Born (1958-04-19) April 19, 1958 (age 66)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Political partyConservative
ResidenceWest Vancouver, British Columbia
ProfessionLawyer

John D. Weston, (born April 19, 1958) is a former Canadian politician, who was a Member of Parliament from 2008 to 2015, representing the electoral district of West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country.[1][2] He is a member of the Conservative Party.

Weston studied International Relations at Harvard University, law at Osgoode Hall Law School, and is able to speak Mandarin as well as French and English.[3] He then worked as a lawyer in Canada and in Taiwan. He is a founder of Pan Pacific Law Corporation and Access Law Group, as well as the Canadian Constitution Foundation.[4]

Weston ran in the 2006 Canadian federal election but was defeated, by Blair Wilson.[5] Weston lost by 1.5%, or 976 votes.

During the 40th Parliament, he served as a member of the Aboriginal Affairs, Fisheries, and Library of Parliament Standing Committees, and as the Government Liaison to the Persian and Iranian Community, and as the Vice Chair of the Conservative Community Relations Committee.

After being re-elected in the 2011 Canadian federal election, Weston has served on the Citizenship and Immigration Committee and as a member of the Official Languages Committee.[6]

Weston introduced bill C-475, which amended the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, to make it illegal to possess, produce, sell or import chemicals with the knowledge they will be used to create street drugs, though it was later tabled.[7]

Weston created a National Health and Fitness Day bill, commenting: "On a personal level I just saw when I reached Ottawa how unhealthy was the lifestyle that MPs lead — so much time on airplanes and in committees and sitting in Parliament. I just resolved that if I was going to remain productive and useful to the people who voted me in, I needed to work at staying healthy."[8]

In his column in The Tyee, political commentator Rafe Mair has been extremely critical of Weston's approach to environmental issues and his role as a Member of Parliament.[9] Mair has repeatedly accused Weston of blindly adhering to Conservative Party policy on all issues.[10] In an article dated January 19, 2015, Mair alleged that in Weston's time as an MP he had "never uttered a single word of criticism of any statement or action by the [Conservative] government".[11] Weston and Mair are former colleagues from Mair's time as a BC MLA, and his role as minister responsible for constitutional reform during that period.[12] Weston has responded to Mair by claiming that he carefully considers his position on environmental issues and comes to his own decision.[12] In a responding letter to the editor, Weston also stated that Mair's critique had ignored the role of the democratic process and denigrated MPs' role in it.[13]

In the 2015 federal election, he was defeated by Liberal candidate Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.

In the 2021 Canadian federal election, he was once again defeated, this time by incumbent Liberal MP Patrick Weiler

Electoral record

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2021 Canadian federal election: West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Liberal Patrick Weiler 21,500 33.9 $107,414.31
Conservative John Weston 19,062 30.0 $123,189.13
New Democratic Avi Lewis 16,265 25.6 $117,546.51
Green Mike Simpson 4,108 6.5 $35,992.60
People's Doug Bebb 2,299 3.6 $26,851.53
Rhinoceros Gordon Jeffrey 98 0.2 $0.00
Independent Chris MacGregor 77 0.1 $0.00
Independent Terry Grimwood 50 0.1 $0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit 63,459 – – $131,270.20
Total rejected ballots 279
Turnout 64.6%
Eligible voters 98,256
Source: Elections Canada[14]
2011 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative John Weston* 28,614 45.53 +0.96
New Democratic Terry Platt 14,828 23.59 +9.16
Liberal Daniel Veniez 14,123 22.47 -4.10
Green Brennan Wauters 4,436 7.06 -7.37
Progressive Canadian Roger Lagassé 293 0.47 –
Libertarian Tunya Audain 250 0.40 –
Western Block Allan Holt 156 0.25 –
Marxist–Leninist Carol Lee Chapman 87 0.14 –
Canadian Action Doug Hartt 64 0.10 –
Total valid votes 62,851 100.00
Total rejected ballots 221 0.35 +0.01
Turnout 63,072 64.17 -0.28
Eligible voters 98,293 – –
2008 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
Conservative John Weston 26,949 44.57 +8.60 $94,785
Liberal Ian Sutherland 16,069 26.57 -10.93 $74,135
New Democratic Bill Forst 8,728 14.43 -5.63 $18,762
Green Blair Wilson* 8,723 14.43 +8.20 $95,067
Total valid votes/Expense limit 60,469 100.00 $100,350
Total rejected ballots 208 0.34 +0.12
Turnout 60,677 64.45 -4.1
Conservative gain from Green Swing +9.8
2006 Canadian federal election
Party Candidate Votes % ±% Expenditures
  Liberal Blair Wilson 23,867 37.50 +4.99 $82,304
Conservative John Weston 22,881 35.97 +0.68 $86,639
  New Democratic Party Judith Wilson 12,766 20.06 -1.66 $50,621
Green Silvaine Zimmermann 3,966 6.23 -3.49 $3,532
Marxist–Leninist Anne Jamieson 155 0.22 +0.02 $0
Total valid votes 63,635 100.00
Total rejected ballots 144 0.23 0.0
Turnout 63,635 68.6 +2.6
  Liberal gain from Conservative Swing +2.2

References

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  1. ^ West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country: 2008 Results
  2. ^ Conservatives make gains in B.C.
  3. ^ Aaron Wherry (1 April 2009). "The Crimson in their midst". Beyond the Commons. Macleans.ca. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  4. ^ New MP profile: West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea-to-Sky's John Weston Archived July 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Parliament of Canada. "Member of Parliament Profile - Elections". House of Commons. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  6. ^ Parliament of Canada. "Member of Parliament Profile - Committees". House of Commons. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  7. ^ Weldon, James. "The North Shore News - Weston tables bill for [http://www.nationalhealthandfitnessday.com national health and fitness day]". The North Shore News. The North Shore News. Retrieved 1 October 2012. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  8. ^ Ingram, Ben. "The Coast Reporter -". The Coast Reporter. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |url= (help)
  9. ^ Mair, Rafe (9 June 2014). "Help Rafe Mair Lift His Gloom Today". The Tyee.
  10. ^ Mair, Rafe (15 September 2014). "Mulroney Knocks Harper? Oh This Is Rich!". The Tyee.
  11. ^ Mair, Rafe (19 January 2015). "Mair Predicts: Greens Will Hold Balance of Power". The Tyee.
  12. ^ a b Weston, John (23 June 2014). "Dear Rafe Mair: I'm Not Giving Up". The Tyee.
  13. ^ Weston, John (1 October 2014). "'The Environment Is the Economy': MP Weston". The Tyee.
  14. ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
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