Allan Pilkey

Allan Pilkey is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as mayor of Oshawa, and was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

Background

Pilkey's father, Cliff Pilkey, was also a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and a prominent organizer for the party.^[1] Pilkey served as mayor of Oshawa in the late 1980s. He resigned after being elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1990 provincial election, easily winning in the riding of Oshawa.

Politics

The NDP won a majority government in this election under the leadership of Bob Rae, and Pilkey was appointed to cabinet on October 1, 1990 as Minister of Industry, Trade and Technology. Following a cabinet shuffle on July 31, 1991, Pilkey became Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services. As Solicitor-General, Pilkey promoted legislation requiring police officers to file a report every time they unholstered their weapons. Despite protests from police officers, this bill became law on January 1, 1993.

Notwithstanding his success on this front, Pilkey's performance as a cabinet minister was criticized by others within the NDP. On February 3, 1993, he was demoted to a minister without portfolio responsible for Minister responsible for Municipal Affairs. He held this position until 1995.

In 1994, Pilkey was one of twelve NDP MPPs to vote against Bill 167, a government bill which would have extended spousal benefits to same-sex couples. This decision cost him considerable support within the NDP.

The NDP were defeated in the 1995 provincial election, and Pilkey lost the Oshawa riding to Progressive Conservative Jerry Ouellette by over 8,000 votes.

Later life

Pilkey is now the assistant to the executive director of administration at the Ontario Workers Health and Safety Centre.

References