John Vanthof

John Vanthof MPP (/ˈvænθɔːf/ VAN-thoff, born c. 1963) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He is a New Democratic member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in 2011. He represents the riding of Timiskaming—Cochrane. On August 23, 2018 he was named one of the party's two Deputy Leaders alongside Sara Singh, and critic for Agriculture and Food, and for Rural Development.^[1] As of August 11, 2024, he serves as the House leader of the Official Opposition and as critic for Agriculture and Food, for Rural Affairs.

John Vanthof MPP
Vanthof in 2020
Chief Whip of the Ontario New Democratic Party
Incumbent
Assumed office July 13, 2022
Leader	Peter Tabuns (interim) Marit Stiles
Critic, Agriculture and Food, Rural Development
Incumbent
Assumed office August 23, 2018
Leader	Andrea Horwath Peter Tabuns (interim) Marit Stiles
Deputy Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party
In office August 23, 2018 – July 13, 2022 Serving with Sara Singh
Leader	Andrea Horwath
Preceded by	Jagmeet Singh
Succeeded by	Sol Mamakwa and Doly Begum
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Timiskaming—Cochrane
Incumbent
Assumed office October 6, 2011
Preceded by	David Ramsay
Personal details
Born	1963 (age 61–62) New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada
Political party	New Democratic
Relatives	Ernie Hardeman (uncle)
Residence(s)	Earlton, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Politician dairy farmer
Portfolio	Deputy Leader and critic for Agriculture and Food, and for Rural Development

Background

Vanthof was born and raised on a dairy farm near New Liskeard, Ontario.^[2] He is the nephew of veteran Progressive Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman.^[3] Prior to entering politics he was president of the Temiskaming Federation of Agriculture, a farmer's lobby group.^[4] He was a vocal opponent of the proposal to ship garbage from Toronto and bury it at Adams Mine.^[2]

Politics

In the 2007 provincial election, Vanthof ran as the New Democrat candidate in the riding of Timiskaming—Cochrane. He was defeated by incumbent Liberal David Ramsay by 634 votes.^[5] He tried again in 2011 this time winning against Liberal candidate Denis Bonin by 6,101 votes.^[6][7] He was re-elected in the 2014 provincial election defeating Liberal candidate Sébastien Goyer by 8,490 votes.^[8] In the 2018 provincial election he was re-elected by a margin of 10,646 votes over Progressive Conservative Margaret Williams. Vanthof was re-elected for a third time in the 2022 provincial election, defeating Progressive Conservative candidate Bill Foy.

In opposition, he served as his party's critic for Natural Resources and Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.^[9]

Electoral record

v t e 2025 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	11,085	43.96	+1.22
	Progressive Conservative	Tory Delaurier	9,549	37.87	+2.64
	Liberal	Rick Ellsmere	2,446	9.70	+2.68
	Green	Kris Rivard	1,359	5.39	–1.13
	New Blue	Stephen MacLeod	777	3.08	–2.10
Total valid votes/expense limit			25,216	99.27	–0.05
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			185	0.73	+0.05
Turnout			25,401	51.55	+8.94
Eligible voters			49,278
	New Democratic hold		Swing		–0.71
Source: Elections Ontario[10][11]

v t e 2022 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	9,735	42.74	−18.46	$39,902
	Progressive Conservative	Bill Foy	8,024	35.23	+12.79	$36,553
	Liberal	Brian Johnson	1,600	7.02	−1.99	$0
	Green	Kris Rivard	1,485	6.52	+3.89	$8,064
	New Blue	Garry Andrade	1,181	5.18		$1,923
	Ontario Party	Geoffrey Aitchison	349	1.53		$0
	Libertarian	Eric Cummings	248	1.09	+0.39	$100
	None of the Above	Jeff Wilkinson	157	0.69		$0
Total valid votes/expense limit			22,779	99.32	+0.45	$85,519
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			157	0.68	-0.45
Turnout			22,936	42.61	-10.47
Eligible voters			52,988
	New Democratic hold		Swing		−15.63
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023.

2018 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	16,806	61.20	+6.17
	Progressive Conservative	Margaret Williams	6,160	22.43	+4.94
	Liberal	Brian A. Johnson	2,476	9.02	-14.12
	Northern Ontario	Shawn Poirier	1,105	4.02	+1.67
	Green	Casey Lalonde	723	2.63	+0.64
	Libertarian	Lawrence Schnarr	191	0.70	-0.05
Total valid votes			27,461	100.0
	New Democratic hold		Swing
Source: Elections Ontario[12]

2014 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	14,651	55.03	+4.91
	Liberal	Sébastien Goyer	6,161	23.14	-2.78
	Progressive Conservative	Peter Politis	4,656	17.49	-3.69
	Northern Ontario Heritage	Gino Chitaroni	625	2.35	+0.80
	Green	Cody Fraser	529	1.99	+0.75
Total valid votes			26,622	100.00
	New Democratic hold		Swing		+3.85
Source: Elections Ontario[13]

2011 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	12,633	50.12	+9.57
	Liberal	Denis Bonin	6,532	25.92	-16.98
	Progressive Conservative	Randy Aulbrook	5,337	21.18	+7.63
	Northern Ontario Heritage	Gerry Courville	391	1.55
	Green	Tina Danese	312	1.24	-1.76
Total valid votes			25,205	100.00
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			91	0.36
Turnout			25,296	50.04
Eligible voters			50,554
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+13.28
Source: Elections Ontario[14]

2007 Ontario general election: Timiskaming—Cochrane
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	David Ramsay	11,588	42.90	-16.66
	New Democratic	John Vanthof	10,954	40.55	+22.07
	Progressive Conservative	Doug Shearer	3,659	13.55	-6.83
	Green	Patrick East	811	3.00	+1.43
Total valid votes			27,012	100.00