Rick Nicholls
{{Short description|Canadian politician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Rick Nicholls
| honorific-suffix =
| image = Rick_Nicholls, MPP.jpeg
| alt =
| caption = Nicholls in 2011
| parliament1 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start1 = June 7, 2018
| term_end1 = May 3, 2022
| predecessor1 = Constituency established
| successor1 = Trevor Jones
| riding1 = Chatham-Kent—Leamington
| parliament2 = Ontario Provincial
| term_start2 = October 6, 2011
| term_end2 = June 7, 2018
| predecessor2 = Pat Hoy
| successor2 = Constituency abolished
| riding2 = Chatham-Kent—Essex
| party = Ontario Party
| otherparty = Progressive Conservative (2011–2021)
| birth_name = Frederick Rumball Nicholls
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1950|10|11}}
| birth_place = Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada
| relatives = Frederick George Rumball (great-great-grandfather)
Brooke Nicholls (daughter)
| residence = Chatham-Kent, Ontario, Canada
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
}}
Frederick Rumball Nicholls{{cite tweet |user=ONPARLeducation|number=1547261235305058304|date=13 July 2022 |title=Within the halls of the Legislature are walls that contain the names of every Member of Provincial Parliament elected to Ontario's Legislature since 1867. The names for the 42nd Parliament were recently added. For the first time a Member's name was inscribed in Oji-Cree syllabics }} (born October 11, 1950) is a former Canadian politician who sat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2011 to 2022. He represented the riding of Chatham-Kent—Leamington.
Nicholls was originally a member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party before he was removed by Doug Ford in 2021 due to refusing a vaccine.{{cite news |url=https://www.rebelnews.com/kicked_out_of_caucus_for_refusing_covid_vaccine_ontario_mpp_rick_nicholls_speaks_out |title=INTERVIEW: Ontario MPP Rick Nicholls speaks out on ejection from Ontario PC Party caucus |publisher=Rebel News |date=2021-08-24 |quote= His own words in the video}} In December 2021, he joined the Ontario Party, becoming its first and only member in the legislature until losing his seat in the 2022 election.
Background
Nicholls was born in Chatham-Kent, Ontario. He attended St. Clair College and the University of Windsor. His great-great-grandfather, Frederick George Rumball, was the mayor of London, Ontario from 1900 to 1901. Amongst his political heroes is former US president Ronald Reagan.{{cite news |url=https://lfpress.com/news/london/2011/10/11/18808036.html |title=Nicholls {{not a typo|persues}}[sic] his dream |newspaper=The London Free Press |date=October 11, 2011 |access-date=October 4, 2018 |archive-date=April 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424224053/http://www.lfpress.com/news/london/2011/10/11/18808036.html |url-status=dead }}
Nicholls was the founder of Nicholls Training Group, a training and development company. His clients included the Canadian Embassy to the United Nations, Canada Post and Ford Motor Company of Canada.{{cite web |url=http://ricknichollsmpp.ca/about/ |title=About Rick |access-date=May 15, 2014}} He and his wife Dianne live in Chatham-Kent where they raised three children,{{cite news |title=Conservatives looking to slay deficit and debt |first=Don |last=Robinet |date=May 26, 2014 |url=http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/2014/05/26/conservatives-looking-to-slay-deficit-and-debt |newspaper=Chatham Daily news}} including singer/songwriter Brooke Nicholls.
Political career
Nicholls ran in the 2011 Ontario general election as the Progressive Conservative candidate and flipped the riding of Chatham-Kent—Essex from the Liberal Party and remained in position for 11 years.{{cite web |url=http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |title=Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate |publisher=Elections Ontario |date=October 6, 2011 |access-date=2014-03-02 |page=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130330163815/http://elections.on.ca/NR/rdonlyres/7849B894-4C4F-490E-9E8C-271BCF0C0D4D/5712/SummaryofvalidvotescastforeacndGE2011.pdf |archive-date=March 30, 2013 }}{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ontario-election/liberals-suffer-losses-to-tories-in-southwestern-ontario/article2193956/?from=sec368 |title=Liberals suffer losses to Tories in Southwestern Ontario |first=Kim |last=MacKrael |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=October 6, 2011}}
While serving in the Official Opposition from 2011 to 2018, Nicholls served 4 years as the Opposition’s Shadow Cabinet in Community Safety and Correctional Services. In addition, he served as the Official Opposition Deputy Speaker. Since the 2018 election and until 2022, he served as the Government Deputy Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly.
Nicholls is an outspoken opponent of wind turbines. Alleging health hazards of wind turbines, he has called for a moratorium on their construction.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/mpp-wants-stop-to-turbines-popping-up-everywhere-1.1269976 |title=MPP wants stop to 'turbines popping up everywhere' |publisher=CBC News |date=July 20, 2012}}
In 2012, Nicholls called for a more thorough investigation into a massive fish kill incident along the shores of Lake Erie in early September 2012.{{cite news |url=http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/search-for-cause-after-thousands-of-fish-washed-up-dead-on-the-canada-shore-of-lake-erie |title=Mystery deepens after thousands of fish and birds wash up dead on the Canada shore of Lake Erie |first=Colin |last=McDermott |publisher=ABC News |date=September 5, 2012 |access-date=October 24, 2012 |archive-date=October 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024071541/http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/search-for-cause-after-thousands-of-fish-washed-up-dead-on-the-canada-shore-of-lake-erie |url-status=dead }}
He was re-elected in the 2014 election.{{cite web|date=June 12, 2014|title=General Election by District: Chatham-Kent-Essex|url=http://wemakevotingeasy.ca/en/general-election-district-results.aspx?d=014|publisher=Elections Ontario|access-date=August 17, 2014|archive-date=September 23, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923153824/http://wemakevotingeasy.ca/en/general-election-district-results.aspx?d=014|url-status=dead}} Where he was the party's critic for Tourism, Culture, and Sport as well as Community Safety and Correctional Services.
In 2015, during a debate about the province's new sexual education curriculum, Nicholls revealed that he does not believe in evolution, and he was not kidding when he said it was "not a bad idea" to stop teaching it in schools. His stance was met with criticism from other members of the PC Party.{{Cite news|date=February 25, 2015|title=Ontario Tories distance themselves from anti-evolution MPP|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-tories-distance-themselves-from-anti-evolution-mpp-1.2972748}}{{Cite news|last=Ferguson|first=Rob|date=2015-02-25|title=Tory MPP Rick Nicholls says he doesn't believe in evolution|language=en-CA|work=The Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/02/25/tory-mpp-rick-nicholls-says-he-doesnt-believe-in-evolution.html|access-date=2022-02-19|issn=0319-0781}}
Following the 2018 election, Nicholls served as Deputy Speaker of the House. He was also on the Caucus Advisory Teams for Corrections and Community Safety, Ministry of the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Children, Community, and Social Services.
= Dismissal from Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus =
Nicholls was ejected from the caucus by Premier Doug Ford on August 19, 2021, for vaccine hesitancy, against the policy made by the party. Nicholls cited personal reasons, requiring clinical studies on long-term safety before mandatory injection.{{Cite web|date=August 19, 2021|title=Ontario MPP ousted from PC caucus over refusal to get vaccinated|url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-mpp-ousted-from-pc-caucus-over-refusal-to-get-vaccinated-1.5553838|access-date=August 19, 2021|website=Toronto|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=August 19, 2021|title=MPP Rick Nicholls booted from Ontario PC caucus after refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine|url=https://www.cp24.com/news/mpp-rick-nicholls-booted-from-ontario-pc-caucus-after-refusing-to-get-covid-19-vaccine-1.5553865|access-date=August 19, 2021|website=CP24|language=en}} On October 5, 2021, he was removed from his role as deputy speaker, and announced that he would not seek re-election when his term expires in 2022.{{cite news |last1=DeClerq |first1=Katherine |title=Ontario MPP Rick Nicholls removed from role as deputy speaker after refusing to get COVID-19 vaccine |url=https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-mpp-rick-nicholls-removed-from-role-as-deputy-speaker-after-refusing-to-get-covid-19-vaccine-1.5611620 |access-date=October 5, 2021 |publisher=CTV News Toronto |date=October 5, 2021}}
In December 2021, Nicholls joined the Ontario Party to become its first sitting member in the Legislative Assembly.{{cite news |first=Ellwood |last=Shreve |title=Chatham-Kent—Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls officially joins the Ontario Party |url=https://www.chathamdailynews.ca/news/chatham-kent-leamington-mpp-rick-nicholls-officially-joins-the-ontario-party |access-date=22 December 2021 |work=Chatham Daily News |publisher=Postmedia |date=22 December 2021}}
Electoral history
{{2022 Ontario general election/Chatham-Kent—Leamington}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://ricknichollsmpp.ca}}
- {{Ontario MPP biography|id=rick-nicholls}}
- [http://www.nichollstraining.com/ Nicholls Training Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615224240/http://nichollstraining.com/ |date=June 15, 2013 }}
{{Portal|Canada|Politics|Ontario}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholls, Rick}}
Category:Politicians from Chatham-Kent
Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs
Category:21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario