# Rob Sampson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rob_Sampson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rob_Sampson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Sampson > Source revision: 1347336462 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Canadian politician (born 1955)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = [The Honourable](/source/The_Honourable) | honorific_suffix = [ECO](/source/Executive_Council_of_Ontario) | name = Rob Sampson | image = | caption = | office1 = [Ontario MPP](/source/Member_of_Provincial_Parliament_(Ontario)) | term_start1 = 1999 | term_end1 = 2003 | predecessor1 = Riding established | successor1 = [Harinder Takhar](/source/Harinder_Takhar) | constituency1 = [Mississauga Centre](/source/Mississauga_Centre_(federal_electoral_district)) | term_start2 = 1995 | term_end2 = 1999 | predecessor2 = [Steve Mahoney](/source/Steve_Mahoney) | successor2 = Riding dissolved | constituency2 = [Mississauga West](/source/Mississauga_West_(provincial_electoral_district)) | party = [Progressive Conservative](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Ontario) | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|10|27}} | birth_place = [Kingston, Ontario](/source/Kingston%2C_Ontario) | spouse = | children = | occupation = Businessman }} '''Rob Sampson''' (born October 27, 1955) is a former [politician](/source/politician) in [Ontario](/source/Ontario), Canada. He was a [Progressive Conservative](/source/Progressive_Conservative_Party_of_Ontario) member of the [Legislative Assembly of Ontario](/source/Legislative_Assembly_of_Ontario) from 1995 to 2003 and was a [cabinet minister](/source/cabinet_minister) in the government of [Mike Harris](/source/Mike_Harris). ==Background== Sampson has a [Bachelor of Arts](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts) degree and an [MBA](/source/MBA) from [Queen's University](/source/Queen's_University_at_Kingston). Sampson worked at the [Toronto](/source/Toronto) branch of the [Toronto Dominion Bank](/source/Toronto_Dominion_Bank) from 1980 to 1987, and at the Toronto branch of [Chase Manhattan](/source/Chase_(bank)) from 1987 to 1995. He also worked for Brays Lane Consulting in 1995, and is a Fellow in the Institute of Canadian Bankers. In 1992-93, he was an Executive Member of the Planning Advisory Committee for the City of Toronto. ==Politics== He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the [provincial election of 1995](/source/1995_Ontario_general_election), defeating [Liberal](/source/Ontario_Liberal_Party) [Steve Mahoney](/source/Steve_Mahoney) (later a federal cabinet minister under [Jean Chrétien](/source/Jean_Chr%C3%A9tien)) by about 3,000 votes in the [riding](/source/electoral_district_(Canada)) of [Mississauga West](/source/Mississauga_West_(provincial_electoral_district)).{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1995_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=36&rec=0&district=Mississauga+West&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 8, 1995 |accessdate=2014-03-02}} This was considered an upset; the Tories performed extremely well in [Mississauga](/source/Mississauga%2C_Ontario) in this election, but most observers expected that Mahoney would retain his seat. He was named a [Minister without Portfolio](/source/Minister_without_Portfolio) in [Mike Harris](/source/Mike_Harris)'s government on 16 August 1996, with responsibility for privatization.{{cite news |title=Tsubouchi demoted in Harris shuffle |first=William |last=Walker |newspaper=Toronto Star |date=August 16, 1996 |page=A1}} During his time as Minister of Privatization, he was best known for sale of the 407-ETR Major Highway for $3.1 billion. The highway was sold to a consortium including the Spanish company Grupo Ferrovial and its subsidiary Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, SNC-Lavalin, and Capital d'Amerique CDPQ, a subsidiary of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.{{cite news |title=Province sells Highway 407 for 3.1 Billion US dollars |url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=54540 |publisher=PR Newswire |date=April 13, 1999}} The sale was heavily criticized as being well below value. It was estimated that the cost of acquiring the land exceeded $100 billion since the 1970s. Sampson was re-elected in the new riding of [Mississauga Centre](/source/Mississauga_Centre_(federal_electoral_district)) in the [provincial election of 1999](/source/1999_Ontario_general_election), defeating Liberal George Winter by over 4,000 votes.{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/1999_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=37&rec=0&district=Mississauga+Centre&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=June 3, 1999 |accessdate=2014-03-02}} He was promoted to [Minister of Correctional Services](/source/Ministry_of_Correctional_Services_(Ontario)) on 17 June 1999.{{cite news |title=Ontario Cabinet |newspaper=The Spectator |location=Hamilton, Ont |date=June 18, 1999 |page=C8}} He stepped down from this position on 4 December 2000 to demonstrate ministerial responsibility after a backbench Tory named [Doug Galt](/source/Doug_Galt) listed the names of several young offenders in the legislature; he was returned to his position on March 8, 2001.{{cite news |title=Minister resigns after MPP names young offenders |last=Stevenson |first=James |newspaper=The Kitchener Record |date=December 5, 2000 |page=A1}}{{cite news |title=Ontario: Sampson cleared, back in cabinet |newspaper=Kingston Whig - Standard |date=March 7, 2001 |page=11}} Sampson is a committed Neo-conservative, and supported numerous right-wing economic policy initiatives during his time in government, including the controversial privatization of [Highway 407](/source/Ontario_Highway_407). As Correctional Services minister, he promoted the privatization of Ontario's prison system despite warnings that this could result in decreased safety. Sampson was dropped from cabinet when [Ernie Eves](/source/Ernie_Eves) succeeded Mike Harris as party leader in 2002. In the [provincial election of 2003](/source/2003_Ontario_general_election), he was defeated by Liberal [Harinder Takhar](/source/Harinder_Takhar) by fewer than 3,000 votes, amid a general decline in support for the Tories in Mississauga.{{cite web |url=http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=Mississauga+Centre&flag=E&layout=G |title=Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 2, 2003 |accessdate=2014-03-02 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903212807/http://results.elections.on.ca/results/2003_results/valid_votes.jsp?e_code=38&rec=0&district=mississauga+centre&flag=E&layout=G |archivedate=September 3, 2014 }} ===Cabinet positions=== {{s-start}} {{Canadian cabinet member navigational box header |ministry=Mike_Harris}} {{ministry box cabinet posts |num=2 | post1preceded = [Bob Runciman](/source/Bob_Runciman) | post1 = [Minister of Correctional Services](/source/Ministry_of_Correctional_Services) | post1years = 1999–2000, 2001–2002 | post1note = | post1followed = [Bob Runciman](/source/Bob_Runciman) }} {{ministry box sub-cabinet posts | post1preceded = | post1 = [Minister without portfolio](/source/Minister_without_portfolio) | post1years = 1996–1999 | post1note = Responsible for Privatization | post1followed = }} {{s-end}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * {{Ontario MPP biography|id=rob-sampson}} {{Harris Ministry}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Rob}} Category:1955 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario Category:Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Category:Politicians from Kingston, Ontario Category:Politicians from Mississauga Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rob Sampson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Sampson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Sampson?action=history)). 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