Toby Barrett

Theobald Butler "Toby" Barrett^[1] (born November 3, 1945) is a former Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the district of Haldimand—Norfolk for the Progressive Conservative Party from 1995 until 2022.

Toby Barrett
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (Agriculture and Food)[a]
In office June 26, 2019 – May 3, 2022
Minister	Ernie Hardeman
In office April 25, 2002 – September 2, 2003
Minister	Helen Johns
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Haldimand—Norfolk[b]
In office June 8, 1995 – May 3, 2022
Preceded by	Norm Jamison
Succeeded by	Bobbi Ann Brady
Personal details
Born	(1945-11-03) November 3, 1945 (age 79) Port Dover, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Alma mater	University of Guelph
Occupation	Business administrator

Background

Barrett was born in Port Dover, Ontario in 1945.^[2] His grandfather was Theobald Butler Barrett, Member of the Canadian Parliament for Norfolk from 1945 to 1949.^[3] Barrett received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Guelph in 1968, and a Master of Science degree from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1974. He later worked as a teacher of High School agriculture, and has been a partner in Farmleigh Farms since 1980. He is a past president of the Norfolk Farm Safety Association, and a member of the Norfolk Federation of Agriculture.

Politics

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal Rudy Stickl and incumbent New Democrat Norm Jamison in the riding of Norfolk.^[4] He was re-elected in 1999 in the redistributed riding of Haldimand—Norfolk—Brant.^[5] In 2003 he was re-elected again defeating Liberal candidate Rob Esselment by about 3,000 votes.^[6]

Barrett supported Jim Flaherty's unsuccessful bid to succeed Ernie Eves as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party in 2004.

In the 2007 Ontario general election, Barrett was easily re-elected, defeating Liberal candidate Lorraine Bergstrand by 26,100 votes to 9,500 votes in the newly redrawn riding of Haldimand-Norfolk.^[7] He was re-elected in the 2011 and 2014 elections.^[8][9]

Barrett served as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry under Premier Doug Ford.^[10]

Barrett did not run in the 2022 election.^[11] When he announced his retirement, his longtime executive assistant Bobbi Ann Brady planned to run for the nomination to replace him as the PC candidate, but after the party's central office directly appointed Haldimand County mayor Ken Hewitt as its new candidate without consulting the local electoral district association,^[12] Brady opted to run against Hewitt as an independent, with Barrett's endorsement and participation in her campaign.^[13] Brady ultimately won the election, and was the only independent to win a seat.

Notes

1. Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Food (2002–2003)
2. Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Norfolk (1995-1999)

References

1. @ONPARLeducation (13 July 2022). "Within the halls of the Legislature are walls that contain the names of every Member of Provincial Parliament elected to Ontario's Legislature since 1867. The names for the 42nd Parliament were recently added. For the first time a Member's name was inscribed in Oji-Cree syllabics" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
2. O'Handley, Kathryn (2005). Canadian Parliamentary Guide 2005. ISBN 1-4144-0141-8.
3. Hill, Stephen. "Barrett's local roots ran deep". Haliburton Echo. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
4. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
5. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 3, 1999. Archived from the original on December 15, 2019. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
6. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. October 2, 2003. Archived from the original on August 3, 2014. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
7. "Haldimand - Norfolk". Ontario Votes 2007. CBC News. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
8. "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
9. "General Election by District: Haldimand-Norfolk". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014.
10. "Premier Ford Announces Parliamentary Assistant Assignments as Part of Ontario's Government for the People". Office of the Premier. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
11. "Long-time Haldimand-Norfolk MPP says he won't run again". CBC News. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
12. Antonacci, J.P. (May 25, 2022). "'Slap in the face to voters'". Simcoe Reformer. Retrieved June 4, 2022.
13. Ball, Vincent (April 27, 2022). "Brady enters provincial election race". Simcoe Reformer. Retrieved June 4, 2022.

External links

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history