Mike Harris Jr.

Mike Harris Jr. MPP (born 1985) is a Canadian politician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election.^[1] He represents the riding of Kitchener—Conestoga as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. In the 2024 Provincial Cabinet Shuffle Mike Harris was appointed Minister of Red Tape Reduction.

The Honourable Mike Harris Jr. ECO MPP
Minister of Red Tape Reduction
Incumbent
Assumed office June 6th, 2024
Preceded by	Parm Gill
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry
Incumbent
Assumed office June 26, 2019
Minister	Paul Calandra
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Kitchener—Conestoga
Incumbent
Assumed office June 29, 2018
Preceded by	Michael Harris
Personal details
Born	February 1985 (age 40)
Political party	Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario
Relations	Mike Harris (father)
Residence	Kitchener, Ontario
Occupation	Politician

He is the son of former Ontario premier Mike Harris.^[2] He is not related to Michael Harris, his immediate predecessor as MPP for Kitchener—Conestoga.^[3]

Political career

In the 2018 Ontario general election, Harris unsuccessfully stood to become the PC candidate in the district of Waterloo, losing to management consultant Dan Weber.^[4] Instead, Harris was chosen as the party's nominee in the district of Kitchener—Conestoga. At the time of his election in 2018, he was said to have "only recent expressed an interest in politics".^[5] Harris was reelected in the 2022 general election.^[2]

Personal life

Harris lives in Kitchener with his wife Kim and their five children.^[6]

Electoral record

v t e 2025 Ontario general election: Kitchener—Conestoga
** Preliminary results — Not yet official **
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Harris Jr.	16,946	41.5	+1.5
	Liberal	Joe Gowing	12,031	29.5	+12.0
	New Democratic	Jodi Szimanski	7,551	18.5	–10.4
	Green	Brayden Wagenaar	2,227	5.5	–0.7
	New Blue	Jim Karahalios	1,152	2.8	–3.1
	Ontario Party	Patrick Doucette	890	2.2	+0.9
Total valid votes/expense limit
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots
Turnout				51.2	+2.3
Eligible voters			79,677
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		–5.3
Source: Elections Ontario[7]

v t e 2022 Ontario general election: Kitchener—Conestoga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Harris Jr.	15,045	40.03	+0.45	$97,578
	New Democratic	Karen Meissner	10,851	28.87	−9.11	$102,506
	Liberal	Melanie Van Alphen	6,590	17.53	+3.49	$13,807
	Green	Nasir Abdulle	2,315	6.16	−0.48	$0
	New Blue	Jim Karahalios	2,223	5.91		$68,446
	Ontario Party	Elisabeth Perrin Snyder	501	1.33		$0
	Populist	Jason Adair	64	0.17		$0
Total valid votes/expense limit			37,589	99.38	+1.28	$108,331
Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots			234	0.62	-1.28
Turnout			37,823	48.88	-11.05
Eligible voters			76,692
	Progressive Conservative hold		Swing		+4.78
Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18. "Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21.

2018 Ontario general election: Kitchener—Conestoga
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Progressive Conservative	Mike Harris Jr.	17,005	39.57	+3.18
	New Democratic	Kelly Dick	16,319	37.97	+16.78
	Liberal	Joe Gowing	6,035	14.04	-19.30
	Green	Bob Jonkman	2,853	6.64	-0.33
	Libertarian	Daniel Benoy	550	1.28	-0.85
	Consensus Ontario	Dan Holt	212	0.49
Total valid votes			42,974	100.0
Turnout				60.8
Eligible voters			70,712
Source: Elections Ontario[8]