Jonathan Wilkinson
- Born
- June 11, 1965 — Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
- Education
- Bachelor of Arts from the University of Saskatchewan in 1988; master's degrees in international relations, politics, and economics from the University of Oxford and McGill University
- Career
- Advisor to Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow; civil servant from 1991 to 1995; Bain & Company; QuestAir Technologies; Nexterra Systems; BQE Waters
- Political Experience
- Former leader of the New Democratic Party's youth wing in Saskatchewan; Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard from 2018 to 2019; Minister of Environment and Climate Change from 2019 to 2021; Minister of Energy and Natural Resources from 2021 to 2025; MP for North Vancouver—Capilano since 2015
- Notable
- Prairies Rhodes Scholar in 1988; publicly sponsored political prisoners detained by the Iranian government during the 2022–2023 Iranian protests
Where Jonathan falls on key policy spectrums
Your Money
People & Society
How We're Governed
Land & Community
Jonathan Wilkinson won with 37,907 votes (59.8%)
Total votes cast: 63,364
Okay, so why would professional and special services go from $2.5 million in 2024-25 to $750,000 in 2025-26?
Okay. You said that in terms of staff in years when there's not an election, it's just one and a half. It's basically one full-time person and one part-time person.
I understand the total in terms of spending, but in terms of what's allocated in the main estimates, it's $3.5 million, $3.5 million, and $3 million, yet the way the funds are categorized is very different, as I say.
Can you just walk us through the main chunks of work that are done in years between elections?
Right. There's that, and then the questions I have are these: First, how do you determine that's sufficient, and second, how many people does it then grow to during an election year?
I understand that, but I still don't really understand why the numbers flip between professional services and special services in the estimates. I'm not talking about the actual costs during the year.
Thank you. I'll turn it over to my colleague, Mr. Louis.
I want to flip what Mr. Kram was talking to you about a bit on its head. We did have a period of time when we didn't have this organization. Now we've had it for a number of elections. If it wasn't in place, if we didn't have the LDC in place, what are the most important things we would lose?
Thank you for coming today. I think a lot of this is actually pretty straightforward, and I assume the answer to this question just has to do with categorization. In the comparison of the main estimates, I noticed that in 2024-25, information was $190,000. Then it jumps to $2 million, and then it goes to $1.8 million. Professional services was at $2.5 million, and then it goes to $750,000 and [more]
I just have a couple of questions, and then I may turn it over to my colleague. You said that it used to cost $1.7 million. It's now down to $1.1 million in terms of putting on the debate. Maybe you could break down for us what the big chunks of cost are in that. Obviously, it's a good thing that it's come down, but what are the big chunks of cost?