Wayne Arthurs

For information on the Australian tennis player, see Wayne Arthurs (tennis player).

Wayne Arthurs is politician in Ontario, Canada. He is currently a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, representing the district of Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge.

Arthurs has a Bachelor of Arts degree from York University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Toronto. He worked as a teacher before entering politics. Arthurs was a member of the Pickering municipal council from 1982 to 1988, and served as Mayor of the city from 1988 to 2003. He was also a member of the Durham Regional Council.

Arthurs was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 2003, defeating high-profile Progressive Conservative cabinet minister Janet Ecker by 1010 votes.

Arthurs's candidacy was unusual in a number of particulars. Prior to his provincial victory, he was also listed as a candidate for re-election as Mayor of Pickering, in a municipal election scheduled for one month after the provincial contest. This was a direct violation of an order from party leader Dalton McGuinty, which stipulated that all Liberal candidates withdraw from municipal races. Moreover, despite the Liberal Party's reputation for being more supportive of environmental issues than the Progressive Conservatives, Arthurs was also a prominent supporter of a development study for the Duffins-Rouge Agricultural Preserve — which Ecker opposed.

Notwithstanding these controversies, Arthurs was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Gerry Phillips, Chair of the Management Board of Cabinet, on October 23, 2003.