David Zimmer

This article is about the Canadian public official. For other uses, see David Zimmer (disambiguation).

The Honourable David Zimmer MPP
David Zimmer
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Willowdale
Incumbent
Assumed office October 2, 2003
Preceded by	David Young
Minister of Aboriginal Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office February 11, 2013
Preceded by	Christopher Bentley
Personal details
Born	(1944-04-07) April 7, 1944 Kitchener, Ontario
Political party	Ontario Liberal Party
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Occupation	Lawyer

David Zimmer (born April 7, 1944) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2003. He represents the riding of Willowdale in Toronto. He is a member of cabinet in the government of Kathleen Wynne.

Background

Zimmer was born in the town of Kitchener, Ontario. While associated with the Toronto law firm of Ledrew Laishley Reed, he also served as an administrative law instructor in the Law Society's Bar Admission Course. From 1982 to 1984 he was Director of the Humane Society and from 1993 to 1995 was President of the Alzheimer Society of Canada. He served as chairperson of the city's public housing provider, the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. Upon the start of campaigning for elective office, he relinquished the public post of assistant deputy chair of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.

Zimmer was awarded the Greatest Local Hero Award by the North York Town Crier for his volunteer and community work in Willowdale. In 2005, he received a "Social Work Doctors’ Colloquium" Award of Merit for his work toward a just and caring society. He has also been cited for work on Ontario Municipal Board reform and the new City of Toronto Act, which gives Toronto greater power to manage its own affairs.

Politics

Zimmer first sought elected office as an alderman in Kitchener, Ontario in the 1970s but was not successful. In the 2003 Ontario provincial election, he ran as the Liberal candidate in the riding of Willowdale, defeating Progressive Conservative incumbent and sitting Attorney General David Young by 1,866 votes. He was re-elected in 2007, 2011, and 2014, increasing his share of vote and margin of victory each time.

Between 2003 and 2011, Zimmer served as Parliamentary Assistant to Attorney Generals Michael Bryant and Christopher Bentley. Between 2011 and 2013, Zimmer served as Parliamentary Assistant to Kathleen Wynne, then Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. He was a member of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (2003–06, 2007–11, 2012), Standing Committee on Estimates (2006–07), Standing Committee on Justice Policy (2006–11), Standing Committee on General Government (2012), Select Committee on Elections (2008–09), and Select Committee on the proposed transaction of the TMX Group and the London Stock Exchange Group (2011)

In 2004, his motion to create an "Elder Abuse Awareness Day" was passed with support from all parties. He also assisted former Ontario Attorney General Michael Bryant with legislation to ban pit bulls in Ontario. In 2006, he sponsored a Private Member’s Bill which will suspend the driver’s license of anyone who is convicted of impaired boating. It passed with unanimous consent of all parties in the Ontario Legislature.

During Ontario Liberal Party's 2012-13 leadership election, Zimmer along with Linda Jeffrey, Reza Moridi and Mario Sergio, were the first four caucus supporters of Kathleen Wynne's candidacy, declaring their support at Wynne's campaign launch on November 5, 2012.

In February 2013 he was appointed to the cabinet of Kathleen Wynne as the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

Cabinet posts

Provincial Government of Kathleen Wynne
Cabinet Post (1)
Predecessor	Office	Successor
Christopher Bentley	Minister of Aboriginal Affairs 2013-Present	Incumbent

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 2014
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	David Zimmer	24,294	52.62	+1.78
	Progressive Conservative	Michael Ceci	15,422	33.40	-0.20
	New Democratic	Alexander Brown	4,697	10.17	-2.68
	Green	Teresa Pun	1,758	3.81	+1.79
Total valid votes			46,171	100.0
	Liberal hold		Swing		+0.99
Source: Elections Ontario

Ontario general election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	David Zimmer	22,034	51.00
	Progressive Conservative	Vince Agovino	14,428	33.39
	New Democratic	Alexander Brown	5,522	12.78
	Green	Michael Vettese	930	2.15
	Freedom	Amy Brown	293	0.68
Source: Elections Ontario

Ontario general election, 2007

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Zimmer	21,065	47.7
	Progressive Conservative	David Shiner	15,418	34.9
	New Democratic	Rini Ghosh	3,755	8.5
	Green	Torbjorn Zetterlund	2,920	6.6
	Libertarian	Heath Thomas	469	1.1
	Family Coalition	Kristin Monster	405	0.9
	Independent	Charles Roddy Sutherland	121	0.3
Source: Elections Ontario

Ontario general election, 2003

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Zimmer	21,823	46.97	4.69
	Progressive Conservative	David Young	19,957	42.95	-7.57
	New Democratic	Yvonne Bobb	3,084	6.64	2.38
	Green	Sharolyn Vettese	933	2.01	1.26
	Family Coalition	Rina Morra	442	0.95	0.02
	Freedom	Vaughan Byrnes	227	0.49	0.14
Source: Elections Ontario

External links

• Official website
• Ontario Legislative Assembly Parliamentarian History