Jonathan D. Wilkinson[1] PC MP (born June 11, 1965) is a Canadian politician who has served as the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources since 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, Wilkinson was elected as the member of Parliament (MP) for North Vancouver-Capilano in 2015.[2][3] He previously served as the minister of fisheries, oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard from 2018 to 2019 and minister of environment and climate change from 2019 to 2021. He has been Minister of Natural Resources since 2021, styled Minister of Energy and Natural Resources since 2023. Before entering politics, Wilkinson was a constitutional negotiator and businessman who spent 20 years in the private sector, mainly with green technology companies.
Jonathan Wilkinson | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Wilkinson in 2022 | |
| Minister of Energy and Natural Resources | |
| Assumed office October 26, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Seamus O'Regan |
| Minister of Environment and Climate Change | |
| In office November 20, 2019 – October 26, 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Catherine McKenna |
| Succeeded by | Steven Guilbeault |
| Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard | |
| In office July 18, 2018 – November 20, 2019 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Dominic LeBlanc |
| Succeeded by | Bernadette Jordan |
| Member of Parliament for North Vancouver | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Andrew Saxton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 11, 1965 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Other political affiliations | New Democratic (formerly) |
| Residence(s) | North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of Saskatchewan (B.A.) University of Oxford, McGill University (M.A) |
| Profession | Businessman |
Early life and education
Wilkinson was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, and grew up in Saskatoon.[4] He was the former leader of the New Democratic Party's youth wing in Saskatchewan.[4][5]
Wilkinson earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Saskatchewan and went on to be named the Prairies Rhodes Scholar in 1988, reading Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Exeter College, Oxford.[6] He earned master's degrees in international relations, politics, and economics from Oxford and McGill.[4]
Career
Wilkinson was an advisor to Saskatchewan Premier Roy Romanow and served in the provincial civil service from 1991 to 1995, when he joined Bain & Company's Toronto branch.[4] In 1999, he relocated to Vancouver to work for QuestAir Technologies, a gas purification company and he became its CEO in 2002.[4] In 2009, he became the senior vice-president for business development in Nexterra Systems, a biomass company.[4] In 2011, Wilkinson became the CEO of BioteQ Environmental Technologies, a water treatment company based in Vancouver.[4]
Political career
Wilkinson defeated Conservative parliamentary secretary Andrew Saxton by a nearly 2-to-1 margin amid the Liberal wave that swept through Greater Vancouver in the 2015 federal election. North Vancouver and its predecessor, North Vancouver—Burnaby, had been in the hands of a centre-right party for all but four years since 1979. He was reelected in 2019 by a reduced margin, but still bested Saxton by 16 percentage points in a rematch. He increased his vote share in the 2021 snap election by over 2%, representing his third election victory.
Since being elected Member of Parliament for North Vancouver, Wilkinson has taken a leadership role in representing the Iranian-Canadian community. This included responding to the downing of Flight PS752 in January 2020 and being a vocal critic of the Iranian Regime throughout his tenure. In response to the death of Mahsa Amini and the subsequent crackdown on protesters in Iran in 2022 and 2023, Wilkinson personally sponsored and called for the release of Dr. Hamid Ghare- Hassanlou and his wife Farzaneh Ghare- Hassanlou, Mohammed Rakhshani and rap artist Toomaj Salehi, all of whom were charged, imprisoned, or condemned to death by the Iranian Regime.
On July 18, 2018, Wilkinson was appointed to cabinet for the first time as Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. He had previously spent nearly three years as Parliamentary Secretary to then Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Catherine McKenna.
On November 20, 2019, Wilkinson was appointed Minister of Environment and Climate Change in the 29th Canadian Ministry. A year later, he released Canada's plan to reach its then 2030 emissions targets, entitled "A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy."
On October 26, 2021, Wilkinson was shuffled to replace Seamus O'Regan as Minister of Natural Resources. On July 26, 2023, Wilkinson's title was amended to become Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.
Electoral record
| 2021 Canadian federal election: North Vancouver | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Jonathan Wilkinson | 26,756 | 45.1 | +2.2 | $95,112.00 | |||
| Conservative | Les Jickling | 16,671 | 28.1 | +1.2 | $113,640.04 | |||
| New Democratic | Tammy Bentz | 11,750 | 19.8 | +3.4 | $20,351.82 | |||
| Green | Archie Kaario | 2,598 | 4.4 | -8.1 | $11,600.97 | |||
| People's | John Galloway | 1,545 | 2.6 | +1.3 | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 59,320 | 99.4 | – | $118,692.36 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 383 | 0.6 | ||||||
| Turnout | 59,703 | 66.1 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 90,326 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.5 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[7] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election: North Vancouver | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Jonathan Wilkinson | 26,979 | 42.87 | -13.78 | $98,189.08 | |||
| Conservative | Andrew Saxton | 16,908 | 26.87 | -0.02 | none listed | |||
| New Democratic | Justine Bell | 10,340 | 16.43 | +8.64 | $40,432.73 | |||
| Green | George Orr | 7,868 | 12.50 | +4.19 | $39,810.86 | |||
| People's | Azmairnin Jadavji | 835 | 1.33 | – | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 62,930 | 99.45 | ||||||
| Total rejected ballots | 349 | 0.55 | +0.21 | |||||
| Turnout | 63,279 | 71.20 | -4.57 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 88,874 | |||||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | -6.88 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[8][9] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election: North Vancouver | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Jonathan Wilkinson | 36,458 | 56.65 | +26.94 | $149,970.51 | |||
| Conservative | Andrew Saxton | 17,301 | 26.88 | -20.67 | $149,776.24 | |||
| Green | Claire Martin | 5,350 | 8.31 | +3.08 | $135,108.48 | |||
| New Democratic | Carleen Thomas | 5,015 | 7.79 | -9.06 | $21,413.99 | |||
| Libertarian | Ismet Yetisen | 136 | 0.21 | – | $1,942.47 | |||
| Independent | Payam Azad | 94 | 0.15 | – | $22.40 | |||
| Total valid votes/Expense limit | 64,354 | 100.00 | $220,823.27 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 218 | 0.34 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 64,572 | 76.79 | – | |||||
| Eligible voters | 84,093 | |||||||
| Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +23.80 | ||||||
| Source: Elections Canada[10][11][12] | ||||||||