Noble Villeneuve
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Noble Villeneuve (born August 1, 1938 in Cornwall, Ontario) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1983 to 1999, and served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Frank Miller and Mike Harris.
Villeneuve did not attend university, and worked as a farmer and real estate appaiser after graduating from high school. He served as First Vice-President of the Ontario Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers.
He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election held on December 15, 1983, called after the death of Osie Villeneuve, a distant cousin. Running in the riding of Stormont—Dundas—Glengarry, he defeated Liberal candidate Johnny Whitteker by more than 4,000 votes. He was re-elected by about the same margin in the 1985 provincial election. He endorsed Dennis Timbrell for the party leadership in 1985.
The Progressive Conservative government of Frank Miller was re-elected in the 1985 election, but was reduced to minority status. Villeneuve was appointed to cabinet as a minister without portfolio on May 17, 1985, but accomplished little in this position before the PC government was defeated in the house a month later. For the party's November 1985 leadership convention, he shifted his support from Timbrell to Larry Grossman (Toronto Star, 15 October 1985). In the 1987 election, Villeneuve defeated his Liberal opponent by only 607 votes. He was re-elected by a greater margin in the 1990 election, and won a landslide victory in the 1995 election as his party returned to power with a majority government.
Villeneuve was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs on June 26, 1995. He held these positions until the 1999 election, and generally avoided the controversies which affected other ministries. Villeneuve was not regarded as one of the more right-wing figures in the Harris cabinet, though his government presided over considerable funding cutbacks in the agriculture department and the elimination of local representatives. (It may be noted that there were targeted funding increases in some areas.)
In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of provincial ridings from 130 to 103. This change meant that a number of sitting Members of Provincial Parliament had to compete against one another for re-election. Villeneuve faced incumbent Liberal John Cleary in the new riding of Stormont—Dundas—Charlottenburgh, and lost by only 562 votes in a closely-watched contest.
Villeneuve has generally remained out of the public eye since his defeat. In 2002, he suffered a non-fatal stroke.
