unpopular with the province's public-schools unions. Johnson's own political philosophy was considerably more centrist than that of the Harris government. He made little secret of the fact that he was a Red Tory, and often appeared uncomfortable defending the Harris ministry's more right-wing initiatives. In a parliamentary democracy resigning from cabinet is the most visible way to express disagreement with government policy. Johnson never resigned from cabinet. In the 1999 provincial election, and following a redistribution of seats, he surprised many observers by running in the marginal riding of Don Valley East rather than the safer Tory seat of Don Valley West. Some even speculated that he was giving himself a means of leaving the government after a single term. Johnson was defeated by Liberal David Caplan, by about 2,500 votes. After the election, he was appointed chair of the Ontario Municipal Board. He was removed in 2003 after the Ontario Liberal Party took power. Cabinet positions Federal In the 2004 federal election, Johnson ran as the Conservative candidate in the federal Don Valley East riding. He lost to Liberal Yasmin Ratansi by more than 10,000 votes. See also List of University of Waterloo people References External links 1945 births Living people Conservative Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Mayors of East York, Ontario McMaster University alumni Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Metropolitan Toronto councillors Politicians from Hamilton, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs