Jack Johnson

Who was Jack Johnson?

John McLellan Johnson is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Progressive Conservative from 1975 to 1990.

Johnson was educated at Ryerson Polytechnical School in Toronto, and worked as a retail merchant. He was a councillor in the Town of Mount Forest from 1968 to 1973, and mayor from 1973 to 1975.

He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1975 provincial election, defeating Liberal candidate Ted Sibbald by 712 votes in the constituency of Wellington—Dufferin—Peel. He was re-elected by greater margins in the elections of 1977, 1981 and 1985. In the 1987 provincial election, he defeated Liberal challenger Bill Benson by only 463 votes in the redistributed constituency of Wellington.

Johnson served as a backbench supporter of the governments of Bill Davis and Frank Miller from 1975 to 1985. He was never appointed to cabinet, but served as Chair of Caucus 1986-1990 and Deputy Opposition Whip. He did not seek re-election in 1990.

Johnson was appointed to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario Board of Directors in 2003, during the administration of Conservative Premier Ernie Eves.