Rob Sampson

He was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1995, defeating Liberal Steve Mahoney (later a federal cabinet minister under Jean Chrétien) by about 3,000 votes in the riding of Mississauga West.^[1] This was considered an upset; the Tories performed extremely well in Mississauga in this election, but most observers expected that Mahoney would retain his seat. He was named a Minister without Portfolio in Mike Harris's government on 16 August 1996, with responsibility for privatization.^[2]

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.^[3] 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 in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal George Winter by over 4,000 votes.^[4] He was promoted to Minister of Correctional Services on 17 June 1999.^[5] He stepped down from this position on 4 December 2000 to demonstrate ministerial responsibility after a backbench Tory named Doug Galt listed the names of several young offenders in the legislature; he was returned to his position on March 8, 2001.^[6][7]

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. 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 succeeded Mike Harris as party leader in 2002.

In the provincial election of 2003, he was defeated by Liberal Harinder Takhar by fewer than 3,000 votes, amid a general decline in support for the Tories in Mississauga.^[8]

• Ontario Legislative Assembly parliamentary history