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James A. Taylor | |
---|---|
Ontario MPP | |
In office 1971–1987 | |
Preceded by | Norris Whitney |
Succeeded by | Keith MacDonald |
Constituency | Prince Edward—Lennox |
Personal details | |
Born | James Allan Taylor May 2, 1928 Timmins, Ontario, Canada |
Died | September 1, 2020 Belleville, Ontario, Canada | (aged 92)
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Spouse |
Mary Marguerite Robinson
(m. 1950) |
Alma mater | University of Toronto, Osgoode Hall Law School |
Occupation | Lawyer |
James Allan Taylor (May 2, 1928 – September 1, 2020) was a lawyer and politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1971 to 1987 and was a cabinet minister in the government of Bill Davis. Taylor was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party.[1]
Taylor campaigned for the House of Commons of Canada in the 1968 federal election, as a candidate of the federal Progressive Conservative Party. He finished third in Scarborough East, against Liberal candidate Martin Patrick O'Connell.[2]
He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1971 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate Barry Young by 3,404 votes in Prince Edward—Lennox.[3] He served as a backbench supporter of Bill Davis's government for the next four years, and was re-elected with a reduced majority in the 1975 election.[4] On October 7, 1975, Taylor was appointed to Davis's cabinet as Minister of Community and Social Services.[5]
Taylor was named as Davis's Minister of Energy on February 3, 1977,[6] and was re-elected with a greatly increased majority in the 1977 election.[7] He was dropped from cabinet on January 21, 1978, and again served as a government backbencher.[8] He was re-elected in the elections of 1981[9] and 1985.[10]
After serving in government for forty-two years, the Progressive Conservatives were reduced to a tenuous minority government in the 1985 election, and were subsequently defeated in the legislature on a motion of non-confidence. Taylor served in opposition as his party's Energy Critic, and did not run for re-election in 1987.
Taylor served as the first mayor of the amalgamated Prince Edward County from 1997 to 2003.[11] Taylor died on September 1, 2020, aged 92.[12]