Allan Pilkey

Allan Pilkey (born c. 1945) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada.

At age 23, Pilkey was elected as an alderman to Oshawa council in late 1968.

In 1978, Pilkey challenged Walter Beath for the position of chairman to Durham Regional Council.

The council held a vote, the result being a 15–15 tie between Pilkey and Beath.

In his position as chairman, Beath voted for himself to break the tie and thus retained the position of chairman.

In 1980, he ran for mayor of Oshawa against the incumbent James Potticary and won.

He ran on a platform of bringing more industry to Oshawa.

As mayor he also sat on Durham Regional Council.

He was acclaimed in the 1982 election, but in 1985 he faced stiff opposition.

A ratepayer group called Ward System Now successfully lobbied to change the elect-at-large system for councillors to a ward system, a change that Pilkey opposed.

William Longworth, the founder of the group intended to run against Pilkey but in the end he was faced by a rookie, Mary Smith who jumped into the race at the last minute.

She said "[she wanted] to give the voters a choice".

Pilkey won the election by 16,651 to 7,186 votes.

Prior to the election there were four councillors and the mayor.

The new council consisted of the mayor, 10 councillors from 10 wards who would also sit on the regional council plus an additional five councillors elected from a combined two wards each.

In 1988, he was easily reelected by a 3 to 1 margin over challenger Mike Labaj.

During his time as mayor, Pilkey oversaw a period of economic growth in Oshawa.

While this was mirrored generally across the country, Pilkey also managed to reduce debt by controlling municipal budgets through reduced hiring and prudent spending.

He had this to say about Oshawa, "People here have a good grasp on reality. Unemployment is low—around 5%—and business is booming. We all agree on one thing: for us to succeed, industry has to succeed."

He served as alderman and mayor of Oshawa, and was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995.

Pilkey was born in Oshawa, Ontario.

He attended O'Neill Collegiate and went on to study business administration at the University of Toronto and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

He graduated with a degree in municipal administration.

Pilkey's father, Cliff Pilkey, was also a New Democratic Party Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) and a prominent organizer for the party.

He is married to Heather and they have two children.

In early 1990 there were rumours that Pilkey would seek the nomination for the federal riding of Oshawa after NDP leader Ed Broadbent announced his retirement.

In the end local MPP Mike Breaugh sought and won the nomination.

In the summer of 1990, Pilkey ran as the NDP candidate in the riding of Oshawa.

He easily beat his Liberal and Conservative challengers by taking nearly 61% of the votes.

Oshawa council appointed councillor Allan Mason to replace him after he resigned as mayor.

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.

During his time in this ministry he presided over a time of general downturn in the economy that saw many plant closings and job layoffs.

Pilkey was criticised for failing to establish proper communication between the business community and the government.

On July 31, 1991, Pilkey was named Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services and replaced by the more experienced Ed Philip.

Pilkey was involved in a controversy with the Bell Cairn Training Centre for Prison Guards in Hamilton.

He was criticised for reacting too slowly to allegations of sexual assault and intimidation of female prison guards at the facility.

As a consequence, his role as Minister of Correctional Services was transferred to David Christopherson on September 24, 1992.

The allegations were never proven but the centre eventually closed in 1993.

One of the first issues that Pilkey confronted was the issue of Sunday shopping.

While the party had campaigned for the need for a 'common pause day' which Pilkey said was "not up for negotiation", court case decisions and increasing public demand led to a reversal of this policy.