A record crowd turned out to support John Oliver, the federal Liberal candidate for the riding of Oakville, at a barbecue held August 18 at the Oakville Power Boat Club.
The barbecue is an annual event for members and friends of the Oakville Federal Liberal Association, but this is the first time it has ever sold out, according to organizer Fiona Fraser.
OFLA President and campaign co-chair John-Frederick Cameron said, “People are thrilled that we have such a strong candidate in John Oliver, and they are excited to meet him and support him. John has been very well-received by the community as well, and we are confident that he is the right candidate for Oakville.”
Oliver, who recently retired from Halton Healthcare Services as president and CEO, is the leader who realized Oakville needed a new, state-of-the-art hospital and shepherded the $2.7-billion project through years of development, debate, site selection, approvals, fundraising and, finally, construction. The new hospital will open to the public this December.
“John has already proven he has the tenacity to pursue community needs to the finish line,” Jarvis Sheridan, the other campaign co-chair, said at the barbecue. “And, as an accountant and senior executive, he knows how to do it while getting the best value for our dollars. John is rightly proud of the fact that, in 30 years of hospital administration, he never ran a deficit.”
The Hon. John McCallum, an economist, former cabinet minister and the current MP for Markham-Unionville who is now running in the new riding of Markham-Thornhill, was also on hand to ask the crowd to work hard to send Oliver to Ottawa. “John Oliver is another example of the depth of experience on the Liberal team,” McCallum said, citing Oliver’s years in the health sector, both locally and provincially, where he was an assistant deputy minister.
After thanking the campaign team and the many volunteers in attendance, Oliver pledged to fight for those aspects of our country in which Canadians take great pride: our universal health care system, our spirit of caring for the disadvantaged and the ill, our desire to protect the environment, and our entrepreneurial spirit. This message of positivity was welcomed by the crowd.
Oliver is a life-long Ontario resident who has lived in Oakville for more than 20 years. Married and the father of three children, he holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McMaster University and a Master’s degree in Health Sciences Administration from the University of Toronto. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (FCPA) and a recipient in 2013 of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for service to Canada.