Rick Dykstra
Encyclopedia
Richard "Rick" Dykstra (born April 10, 1966 in Grimsby, Ontario
) is a Canadian
politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
in the 2006 federal election
, for the Ontario
riding of St. Catharines
. Dykstra is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada
. He was re-elected in the 2008 federal election
and is the current Parliamentary Secretary
to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
.
degree in Political Science
from Brock University
, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from York University
. He served for twelve years as president of Dykstra Landscaping, a family business.
His brother, Larry Dykstra, was a Niagara Regional Council
lor from 1994 to 1997.
from 1991 to 1997, representing St. Patrick's ward. In 1992, he encouraged the provincial government of Bob Rae
to lower its gas tax to combat cross-border shopping, which was adversely affecting Ontario businesses.
He served as chair of the Standing Committee on Finance for five of the six years he served on Council. He was responsible for the first budget to decrease spending in a budget year. He also served six years on the Library Board and chaired the board in 1997. In 1996, he attempted to have a book entitled Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams banned from the city library. The book detailed the crimes of Paul Bernardo
and Karla Homolka
. Bernardo and Homolka were former residents of St. Catharines, and Dykstra argued that he was acting to protect the interests of their victims. The board voted to keep the book in circulation, but ruled that patrons could not remove it from the library.
Dykstra ran for mayor
of St. Catharines in 1997, and finished second against Tim Rigby
.
's administration, and served in two Ministries and in the Office of the Premier
. He worked at Management Board as a senior policy advisor, served as chief of staff to Minister of Community and Social Services John Baird
, and was director of caucus and public relations. While working for John Baird, Dykstra was among a group of political staff members who were criticized for excessive expense spending. Between January 2000 and March 2001, Dykstra billed over $7,000 while serving as Baird's executive assistant. Including $200 dinners at Toronto's Bier Market and Fiddlers Green pub.
Dykstra was appointed to the Niagara Parks Commission in 2003.
Dykstra co-chaired Conservative candidate Dean Allison
's campaign in Niagara West—Glanbrook
for the 2004 federal election
.
incumbent Walt Lastewka
by 244 votes, one of the closest races in the country. The Conservative Party won a minority government
in the election, and Dykstra sat in parliament as a government backbencher and serves as a member of the Standing Committees on Justice and Finance. In 2007, he co-authored the "Dissenting Opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada" to a document entitled "Taxing Income Trusts: Reconcilable or Irreconcilable differences?" which agreed with the government's decision to implement a 31.5% tax on income trusts.
In April 2007, Dykstra and his colleague Dean Allison
introduced a private member's bill
proposing to eliminate the so-called faint-hope clause. In November 2007, he introduced a private member's bill seeking to end the practice of giving double-credit for time served in custody prior to sentencing.
In April 2008, Dykstra introduced a motion to have the Finance Committee study the abolishment of the penny. He later brought forward a motion to have the Justice Committee study the investigative approach of the Canadian Human Rights Commission
.
On November 7, 2008, Dykstra was appointed by the Prime Minister as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Parliamentary Secretaries are charged with coordinating government policy through the committee process, and responding to questions in the House of Commons when the Minister is on official business.
On November 11, 2009, Dykstra received criticism when he was photographed using his BlackBerry
during a remembrance day ceremony in St. Catharines. Dykstra stated that he was writing a brief note about the event to be uploaded to his blog and using the device's camera to photograph the wreaths. The photograph was taken by Renate Hodges, the campaign manager for former Liberal candidate Walt Lastewka.
On September 7, 2010, the federal Ethics Commissioner
, issued a report in which the Commissioner found that “Mr. Dykstra personally solicited funds from individuals with whom he had official dealings shortly before and after the fundraising event”. While the Commissioner determined that this soliciting was not in breach of the Conflict of Interest Act, the Commissioner did note that, in this case, the Act was a lesser standard than under the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders which applied before the Stephen Harper
government came to power.
All federal election information is taken from Elections Canada
. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed total are not available.
The 1997 municipal results are taken from the Hamilton Spectator, 11 November 1997, B9. The final official results were not significantly different.
Grimsby, Ontario
Grimsby is a town on Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada. Grimsby is a part of the Hamilton Census Metropolitan Area. The majority of residents reside in the area bounded by Lake Ontario and the Niagara escarpment...
) is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in the 2006 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2006
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes:...
, for the Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
riding of St. Catharines
St. Catharines (electoral district)
St. Catharines is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1968.It consists of the part of the City of St. Catharines lying north of a line drawn from west to east along St. Paul Street West, St...
. Dykstra is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada , is a political party in Canada which was formed by the merger of the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003. It is positioned on the right of the Canadian political spectrum...
. He was re-elected in the 2008 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2008
The 2008 Canadian federal election was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 to elect members to the Canadian House of Commons of the 40th Canadian Parliament after the previous parliament had been dissolved by the Governor General on September 7, 2008...
and is the current Parliamentary Secretary
Parliamentary Secretary
A Parliamentary Secretary is a member of a Parliament in the Westminster system who assists a more senior minister with his or her duties.In the parliamentary systems of several Commonwealth countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it is customary for the prime minister to...
to the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (Canada)
The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for overseeing the federal government department responsible for immigration, refugee and citizenship issues, Citizenship and Immigration Canada...
.
Early life and career
Dykstra has a Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Political Science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Brock University
Brock University
Brock University is a comprehensive university located in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. Brock offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs that include co-op and other experiential learning opportunities to an enrolment of over 17,000 full-time students.The enabling legislation is...
, and a Master's Certificate in Project Management from York University
York University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
. He served for twelve years as president of Dykstra Landscaping, a family business.
His brother, Larry Dykstra, was a Niagara Regional Council
Niagara Regional Council
The Niagara Regional Council is the governing body of the Regional Municipality of Niagara in Ontario, Canada.The council consists of a Regional Chair, the Mayors of all twelve Niagara Regional municipalities, and eighteen additional regional councillors elected to represent the various...
lor from 1994 to 1997.
St. Catharines municipal politics
Dykstra served on the St. Catharines City CouncilSt. Catharines City Council
The St. Catharines City Council is the governing body of the City of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.The council consists of the mayor plus twelve elected councilors, with two councilors representing each of the six municipal wards...
from 1991 to 1997, representing St. Patrick's ward. In 1992, he encouraged the provincial government of Bob Rae
Bob Rae
Robert Keith "Bob" Rae, PC, OC, OOnt, QC, MP is a Canadian politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Toronto Centre and interim leader of the Liberal Party of Canada....
to lower its gas tax to combat cross-border shopping, which was adversely affecting Ontario businesses.
He served as chair of the Standing Committee on Finance for five of the six years he served on Council. He was responsible for the first budget to decrease spending in a budget year. He also served six years on the Library Board and chaired the board in 1997. In 1996, he attempted to have a book entitled Invisible Darkness by Stephen Williams banned from the city library. The book detailed the crimes of Paul Bernardo
Paul Bernardo
Paul Kenneth Bernardo, also known as Paul Jason Teale , is a Canadian serial killer and rapist, known for the sexual assaults and murders he committed with his wife Karla Homolka and the serial rapes he committed in Scarborough.-Early life:Bernardo's mother, Marilyn, was the adopted daughter of a...
and Karla Homolka
Karla Homolka
Karla Leanne Homolka, also known as Karla Leanne Teale , is a Canadian serial killer. She attracted worldwide media attention when she was convicted of manslaughter following a plea bargain in the 1991 and 1992 rape-murders of two Ontario teenage girls, Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French, as well as...
. Bernardo and Homolka were former residents of St. Catharines, and Dykstra argued that he was acting to protect the interests of their victims. The board voted to keep the book in circulation, but ruled that patrons could not remove it from the library.
Dykstra ran for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of St. Catharines in 1997, and finished second against Tim Rigby
Tim Rigby
Timothy H. Rigby is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Mayor of St. Catharines from 1997 to 2006, and is currently a Niagara Regional Councillor....
.
Provincial government
Dykstra worked for the Ontario provincial government from 1998 to 2002, during Mike HarrisMike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...
's administration, and served in two Ministries and in the Office of the Premier
Premier of Ontario
The Premier of Ontario is the first Minister of the Crown for the Canadian province of Ontario. The Premier is appointed as the province's head of government by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, and presides over the Executive council, or Cabinet. The Executive Council Act The Premier of Ontario...
. He worked at Management Board as a senior policy advisor, served as chief of staff to Minister of Community and Social Services John Baird
John Baird (Canadian politician)
John Russell Baird, PC, MP is a Canadian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper....
, and was director of caucus and public relations. While working for John Baird, Dykstra was among a group of political staff members who were criticized for excessive expense spending. Between January 2000 and March 2001, Dykstra billed over $7,000 while serving as Baird's executive assistant. Including $200 dinners at Toronto's Bier Market and Fiddlers Green pub.
Dykstra was appointed to the Niagara Parks Commission in 2003.
Dykstra co-chaired Conservative candidate Dean Allison
Dean Allison
Dean Allison is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2004 federal election for the new riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook...
's campaign in Niagara West—Glanbrook
Niagara West—Glanbrook
Niagara West—Glanbrook is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004.The riding was created in 2003 from parts of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot,...
for the 2004 federal election
Canadian federal election, 2004
The Canadian federal election, 2004 , was held on June 28, 2004 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 38th Parliament of Canada. The Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin lost its majority, but was able to form a minority government after the elections...
.
Member of Parliament
Dykstra was first elected to the House of Commons in 2006, defeating LiberalLiberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
incumbent Walt Lastewka
Walt Lastewka
Walter Thomas "Walt" Lastewka, PC is a Canadian politician. He was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2006, representing the Ontario riding of St...
by 244 votes, one of the closest races in the country. The Conservative Party won a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
in the election, and Dykstra sat in parliament as a government backbencher and serves as a member of the Standing Committees on Justice and Finance. In 2007, he co-authored the "Dissenting Opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada" to a document entitled "Taxing Income Trusts: Reconcilable or Irreconcilable differences?" which agreed with the government's decision to implement a 31.5% tax on income trusts.
In April 2007, Dykstra and his colleague Dean Allison
Dean Allison
Dean Allison is a Canadian politician. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in the 2004 federal election for the new riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook...
introduced a private member's bill
Private Member's Bill
A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called a private member's bill or a member's bill in some parliaments, is a proposed law introduced by a member of a legislature. In most countries with a parliamentary system, most bills are proposed by the government, not by individual members of the...
proposing to eliminate the so-called faint-hope clause. In November 2007, he introduced a private member's bill seeking to end the practice of giving double-credit for time served in custody prior to sentencing.
In April 2008, Dykstra introduced a motion to have the Finance Committee study the abolishment of the penny. He later brought forward a motion to have the Justice Committee study the investigative approach of the Canadian Human Rights Commission
Canadian Human Rights Commission
The Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...
.
On November 7, 2008, Dykstra was appointed by the Prime Minister as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Parliamentary Secretaries are charged with coordinating government policy through the committee process, and responding to questions in the House of Commons when the Minister is on official business.
On November 11, 2009, Dykstra received criticism when he was photographed using his BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
during a remembrance day ceremony in St. Catharines. Dykstra stated that he was writing a brief note about the event to be uploaded to his blog and using the device's camera to photograph the wreaths. The photograph was taken by Renate Hodges, the campaign manager for former Liberal candidate Walt Lastewka.
On September 7, 2010, the federal Ethics Commissioner
Ethics Commissioner (Canada)
The Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner of Canada is a Canadian government institution. It was created as a result of the Federal Accountability Act, also known as The Federal Accountability Act created the which came into effect on July 9, 2007.The position currently is...
, issued a report in which the Commissioner found that “Mr. Dykstra personally solicited funds from individuals with whom he had official dealings shortly before and after the fundraising event”. While the Commissioner determined that this soliciting was not in breach of the Conflict of Interest Act, the Commissioner did note that, in this case, the Act was a lesser standard than under the Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment Code for Public Office Holders which applied before the Stephen Harper
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election...
government came to power.
Electoral record
Dykstra was elected to the St. Catharines city council for Ward Four (St. Patrick's Ward) in 1991 and 1994.All federal election information is taken from Elections Canada
Elections Canada
Elections Canada is an independent, non-partisan agency reporting directly to the Parliament of Canada. Its ongoing responsibility is to ensure that Canadians can exercise their choices in federal elections and referenda through an open and impartial process...
. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed total are not available.
The 1997 municipal results are taken from the Hamilton Spectator, 11 November 1997, B9. The final official results were not significantly different.