# Joe Dickson

Joe Dickson (March 26, 1940 – April 6, 2022) was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2018 who represented the riding of Ajax—Pickering.

## Background

Dickson was born and raised in Ajax, Ontario. He was the owner of a printing business, Dickson Printing Ltd. Dickson was a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. He supports 22 Ajax-Pickering area sports teams. He lived in Ajax with his wife Donna. They have two adult children and five grandchildren. He died April 7, 2022.

## Politics

Dickson began his career and community involvement as a trustee of the local Catholic District School Board. Dickson was a councillor for the town of Ajax, Ontario from 1983 to 1990 and then from 1992 to 2006. He also served as a regional councillor for Durham. and also served as a trustee on the Ajax Catholic School Board.
Dickson ran for the Liberal Party in the 1995 election in the riding of Durham West but lost to Janet Ecker by 15,258 votes.
In the 2007 provincial election he ran for the Liberals again in the candidate in the riding of Ajax—Pickering. He defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Kevin Ashe by 5,959 votes. He was re-elected in 2011 and 2014.
Dickson served as a deputy government whip from 2007 to 2011. In September 2013, he was appointed as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration and he served in that capacity until the Legislature was dissolved May 2, 2014. In July 2014 he was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines.
In the 2018 provincial election he ran in the redistributed riding of Ajax. He came in third behind Progressive Conservative winner Rod Phillips and runner-up New Democrat Monique Hughes.

## Electoral record

2018 Ontario general election: Ajax :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Rod Phillips | 19,078 | 39.05% | |
| | New Democratic | Monique Hughes | 15,130 | 30.97% | |
| | Liberal | Joe Dickson | 12,607 | 25.80% | |
| | Green | Stephen Leahy | 1,244 | 2.51% | |
| | Libertarian | Marsha Haynes | 312 | 0.64% | |
| | None of the Above | Frank Lopez | 289 | 0.59% | |
| | Independent | Kevin J. Brackley | 220 | 0.45% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 48,860 | 99.14% |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 421 | 0.86% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,281 | 56.21% |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 87,672 |
| | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | Progressive Conservative pickup new district. |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
vte2014 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Joe Dickson | 26,257 | 51.06 | +3.72 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Todd McCarthy | 14,999 | 29.17 | −6.17 |
| | New Democratic | Jermaine King | 8,274 | 16.09 | +1.72 |
| | Green | Adam Narraway | 1,589 | 3.09 | +1.06 |
| | Libertarian | Kyle Stewart | 301 | 0.59 | −0.13 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 51,420 | 100.0 | +23.94 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 580 | 1.12 | +0.71 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 52,000 | 50.18 | +5.38 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 103,629 | | +11.74 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | +4.95 |
| Source(s) Elections Ontario. "Official Return from the Records, 001 Ajax—Pickering" (PDF). Retrieved March 21, 2015. |||||||
vte2011 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Joe Dickson | 19,606 | 47.34 | −1.74 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Todd McCarthy | 14,718 | 35.54 | +1.19 |
| | New Democratic | Evan Wiseman | 5,952 | 14.37 | +6.28 |
| | Green | Steven Toman | 843 | 2.04 | −5.54 |
| | Libertarian | Andrew Delis | 299 | 0.72 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 41,418 | 100.0 | +2.36 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 172 | 0.41 | −0.07 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,590 | 44.8 | −4.5 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 92,745 | | +12.53 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | Swing | −1.47 |
| Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. November 18, 2011. Retrieved May 9, 2014."Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( XLS Spreadsheet). Elections Ontario. October 1, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2014. |||||||
vte2007 Ontario general election: Ajax—Pickering :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Joe Dickson | 19,857 | 49.07 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Kevin Ashe | 13,898 | 34.35 |
| | New Democratic | Bala Thavarajasoorier | 3,275 | 8.09 |
| | Green | Cecile Willert | 3,067 | 7.58 |
| | Family Coalition | Andrew Carvalho | 368 | 0.91 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 40,465 | 100.0 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 197 | 0.48 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 40,662 | 49.3 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 82,416 | |
| Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF). Elections Ontario. August 14, 2008. Retrieved May 9, 2014."Statistical Summary – General Elections 2007" (PDF). Elections Ontario. May 8, 2008. Retrieved May 9, 2014. |||||||
1995 Ontario general election: Durham West :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Progressive Conservative | Janet Ecker | 29,232 | 54.6 |
| | Liberal | Joe Dickson | 13,974 | 26.1 |
| | New Democratic | Jim Wiseman | 9,444 | 17.6 |
| | Independent | Neil Fonseka | 904 | 1.7 |
| Source: |||||