Sam Oosterhoff | |
|---|---|
 Oosterhoff in 2017 | |
| Associate Minister of Energy Intensive-Industries | |
| Assumed office June 6, 2024 | |
| Member of theOntario Provincial Parliament | |
| Assumed office June 7, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Riding established |
| Constituency | Niagara West |
| In office November 17, 2016 – May 9, 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Tim Hudak |
| Succeeded by | Riding dissolved |
| Constituency | Niagara West—Glanbrook |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Samuel Earl Oosterhoff (1997-08-22)August 22, 1997 (age 28)[1] Vineland, Ontario, Canada |
| Political party | Progressive Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Vineland, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | Brock University McMaster University (BA) |
| Website | samoosterhoffmpp |
Samuel Earl Oosterhoff[2] (/ɒstɛrhɒff/OSTERHOFF born August 22, 1997) is aCanadian politician. Oosterhoff is currently theMember of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for the riding ofNiagara West and currently the Associate Minister of Energy and intensive Industries. Oosterhoff is a member of theProgressive Conservative Party of Ontario and was first elected at the age of 19 in a November 2016byelection, the youngest Ontario MPP to ever be elected.[3] The previous record was held byReid Scott who was elected as aCo-operative Commonwealth Federation MPP in 1948 at the age of 21.[4]
Oosterhoff was born August 22, 1997 inVineland, Ontario, to Carl Oosterhoff and Monica Oosterhoff (née Viersen). He was raised inBeamsville nearVineland, Ontario.[5] He attended the local schools there and was residing there still with his parents at the time of thebyelection.[6]
His paternal grandfather, Richard Jacob "Jake" Oosterhoff (1936–2021), was born inLaaghalerveen inDrenthe, Netherlands. He came to Canada in 1952, where his parents where farming.[7] Oosterhoff is a member of theCanadian Reformed Church.[8] He is primarily of Dutch descent.
Before being nominated, Oosterhoff had briefly worked aslegislative assistant and policy analyst onParliament Hill inOttawa.[5] At the time of his election, he was in the middle of his first year studyingpolitical science atBrock University,[6] which he entered after beinghomeschooled.[3] After his election, he planned to resume his studies in January 2017 with night classes and summer school.[9]
In October 2016, Oosterhoff was nominated as the Progressive Conservative candidate inNiagara West—Glanbrook to replaceTim Hudak, who resigned his seat that September.[10] Former MP and current president of the Progressive Conservative Party of OntarioRick Dykstra was the favoured candidate by both the party establishment and PC leaderPatrick Brown, but Oosterhoff had more local support, including that of his church.[6][11][12]
Social conservatives such asCharles McVety accused Brown of muzzling Oosterhoff during the campaign because of the candidate's opposition to the newsexual education curriculum.[13] On November 17, 2016, Oosterhoff defeatedNew Democratic challenger Mike Thomas by 9,528 votes.[6]
He was sworn in as an MPP on November 30, one day afterNathalie Des Rosiers, who also won a byelection on November 17, was sworn in. Critics said the delay was to keep Oosterhoff out of the legislature for a vote on Bill 28 which was unanimously passed on November 29. Bill 28 made it easier for same-sex couples to become legal parents, and Oosterhoff had previously voiced objections to the bill saying he "definitely would not have supported it" and that it was "disrespectful to mothers and fathers".[14] Brown said the delay was so that Oosterhoff could organize a celebration party for his family and supporters.[14][15]
Oosterhoff is asocial conservative,[3][6][11] and believes thatabortion andsame-sex marriage should be illegal.[16] However, in 2016 he stated that he is “absolutely not” a homophobe.[14]
On March 7, 2017, Oosterhoff defeated PC vice-president andNiagara Regional Councillor Tony Quirk for the PC nomination for thenext provincial election in the new constituency ofNiagara West, which replaced Niagara West—Glanbrook as a result offederal redistribution.[17][18]
Oosterhoff picked up 24,361 (52.74%) of the vote in the2018 Ontario general election, defeating NDP candidate Curtis Fric.[19] On June 29, 2018, Oosterhoff was appointed to the role ofParliamentary Assistant toLisa Thompson, theMinister of Education.[20]Oosterhoff was widely criticized on April 20, 2018, for his televised rendition of African-American spiritual 'Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen' given his socially conservative views and trouble-free middle class upbringing.[21]
On October 31, 2018,Halloween, Oosterhoff celebrated the passing of theCap and Trade Cancellation Act with a rendition of "Monster Mash" atQueen's Park.[22]
In May 2019, Oosterhoff participated in an anti-abortion rally at Queen's Park hosted by March for Life, where he made a stage appearance. During his speech at the rally, he said that "We have survived 50 years of abortion in Canada and we pledge to fight to make abortion unthinkable in our lifetime."[23]
In October 2020, amid theCOVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Oosterhoff took group photos with about forty people in abanquet hall, none of whom were wearing masks orsocial distancing, which was contrary to provincial public health measures. Oosterhoff deleted the photos and apologized, saying that he should have worn a mask and that except for the photograph, the group had otherwise distanced.[24]
On June 6, 2024, Oosterhoff took office as the Associate Minister of Energy-Intensive Industries.[25]
In 2019, Oosterhoff married Keri Nicole (née Ludwig).[26] They have one son;
| 2025 Ontario general election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Sam Oosterhoff | 22,916 | 51.13 | +6.20 | ||||
| Liberal | Shauna Boyle | 11,091 | 24.75 | +5.58 | ||||
| New Democratic | Dave Augustyn | 7,312 | 16.32 | –4.39 | ||||
| Green | Mark Harrison | 1,794 | 4.00 | –2.46 | ||||
| New Blue | Aaron Albano | 676 | 1.51 | –1.12 | ||||
| Ontario Party | Aaron Allison | 629 | 1.40 | –3.88 | ||||
| Libertarian | Stefanos Karatopis | 326 | 0.73 | +0.11 | ||||
| Populist | Jim Torma | 73 | 0.16 | –0.03 | ||||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,817 | 99.38 | –0.02 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 278 | 0.62 | +0.02 | |||||
| Turnout | 45,095 | 55.58 | +2.42 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 81,137 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | +0.31 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Ontario[28][29] | ||||||||
| 2022 Ontario general election:Niagara West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Progressive Conservative | Sam Oosterhoff | 18,779 | 44.93 | –7.88 | $76,009 | |||
| New Democratic | Dave Augustyn | 8,658 | 20.71 | –9.09 | $63,171 | |||
| Liberal | Doug Joyner | 8,013 | 19.17 | +8.65 | $16,498 | |||
| Green | Laura Garner | 2,702 | 6.46 | +0.86 | $37 | |||
| Ontario Party | Dan Dale | 2,207 | 5.28 | N/A | $13,247 | |||
| New Blue | Chris Arnew | 1,098 | 2.63 | N/A | $5,952 | |||
| Libertarian | Stefanos Karatopis | 259 | 0.62 | –0.36 | none listed | |||
| Populist | Jim Torma | 80 | 0.19 | N/A | none listed | |||
| Total valid votes | 41,796 | 99.40 | +0.64 | |||||
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 251 | 0.60 | –0.64 | |||||
| Turnout | 42,047 | 53.16 | –10.12 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 78,138 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | +0.61 | ||||||
Source(s)
| ||||||||
| 2018 Ontario general election:Niagara West | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Sam Oosterhoff | 24,361 | 52.74% | |||||
| New Democratic | Curtis Fric | 13,744 | 29.75% | |||||
| Liberal | Joe Kanee | 4,933 | 10.68% | |||||
| Green | Jessica Tillmanns | 2,578 | 5.58% | |||||
| Libertarian | Stefanos Karatopis | 451 | 0.98% | |||||
| Multicultural | Geoffrey E. Barton | 127 | 0.27% | |||||
| Total valid votes | 46,194 | 100.0 | ||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 0 | 0% | ||||||
| Turnout | 46,194 | 64.10% | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 72,067 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativepickup new district. | ||||||||
| Source:Elections Ontario[19] | ||||||||
| Ontario provincial by-election, November 17, 2016:Niagara West—Glanbrook Resignation ofTim Hudak | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Progressive Conservative | Sam Oosterhoff | 17,652 | 53.95 | +12.18 | ||||
| New Democratic | Mike Thomas | 8,159 | 24.94 | +2.63 | ||||
| Liberal | Vicky Ringuette | 4,997 | 15.27 | -13.05 | ||||
| Green | Donna Cridland | 892 | 2.73 | -2.64 | ||||
| Libertarian | Stefanos Karatopis | 355 | 1.09 | -0.65 | ||||
| None of the Above | Greg Vezina | 343 | 1.05 | |||||
| Independent | Martin Poos | 200 | 0.61 | |||||
| Stop the New Sex-Ed Agenda | Queenie Yu | 76 | 0.23 | |||||
| Canadian Constituents' | Arthur Smitherman | 44 | 0.13 | |||||
| Total valid votes | 32,718 | |||||||
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 182 | 0.56 | ||||||
| Turnout | 32,900 | 32.23 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 102,076 | |||||||
| Progressive Conservativehold | Swing | +4.78 | ||||||
_(cropped).jpg)