Ted McMeekin (born ) is politician in Ontario, Canada. He is the Ward 15 Councillor, for the City of Hamilton. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2000 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale and Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Aldershot. He served as a cabinet minister in the governments of Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne. Background McMeekin completed his bachelor's degree in social work at McMaster University and his master's degree in social work from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has served as executive director of the Burlington Social Planning Council, and was for a time the chair of part-time studies at Mohawk College (where he also taught courses). He has also worked on social justice issues for the United Church of Canada, and was the owner and operator of a small bookstore for eight years. Municipal politics Before entering provincial politics, McMeekin was a member of the Hamilton, Ontario City Council representing Ward 7 (Hamilton Mountain). After retiring from Council, he moved to Flamborough, Ontario, a rural community which lies on the outskirts of Hamilton, and later served a term of six years as mayor. McMeekin was also for a number of years Flamborough's representative on the Hamilton-Wentworth regional council, which the provincial government of Mike Harris eliminated in 2000 by amalgamating the city and outlying regions into a single political entity. McMeekin was one of the most vocal opponents of this change, noting that it would result in a loss of autonomy for Flamborough. On October 24, 2022 Ted returned to municipal politics, after winning a five person race to win a seat on Hamilton City Council in Ward 15. Provincial politics McMeekin's plans to jump from municipal to provincial politics had been rumoured for years, and it came as no surprise when he won the Liberal nomination for a by-election to be held in ADFA on September 7, 2000 (called following the resignation of Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Toni Skarica, another vocal opponent of the amalgamation scheme). Although the seat had gone overwhelmingly for the Progressive Conservatives the previous year, McMeekin defeated PC candidate Priscilla de Villiers by over 9,000 votes. The Conservatives had spent $211,989 on his competitor, nearly $80,000 in excess of McMeekin's $132,143. Local opposition to amalgamation was generally cited as the reason for this shift. In the provincial election of 2003, McMeekin defeated Tory candidate Mark Mullins by a somewhat