Neil Ellis (politician)

Neil R. Ellis (born 1962) is a Canadian politician, currently serving as the mayor of Belleville, Ontario. He is a former Liberal Member of Parliament, who was elected to represent the riding of Bay of Quinte in the House of Commons of Canada in the 2015 federal election. In the 2019 federal election, Ellis was reelected as the Member of Parliament for the Bay of Quinte. He was defeated in the 2021 federal election.

His Worship Neil Ellis
Ellis in 2023
Member of Parliament for Bay of Quinte
In office October 19, 2015 – September 20, 2021
Preceded by	Daryl Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings)
Succeeded by	Ryan Williams
Mayor of Belleville
Incumbent
Assumed office November 15, 2022
Preceded by	Mitch Panciuk
In office December 1, 2006 – December 1, 2014
Preceded by	Mary-Anne Sills
Succeeded by	Taso Christopher
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs
In office February 16, 2016 – December 12, 2019
Minister	Seamus O'Regan Kent Hehr
Preceded by	Royal Galipeau
Succeeded by	Bryan May
Personal details
Born	1961 or 1962 (age 62–63)[1]
Political party	Liberal
Residence(s)	Belleville, Ontario, Canada[2]
Education	Carleton University
Profession	businessman, politician

Background

Ellis holds a bachelor's degree in law and psychology from Carleton University in Ottawa.^[3] In 1984, he became the proprietor of Doug's Bicycle, a bicycle store in Belleville which his brother had operated for five years.^[4] Ellis relinquished control of the store in 2012 after twenty-eight years of ownership.

Political career

Mayor of Belleville

During the 2003 municipal elections in Ontario Ellis ran against Belleville's incumbent mayor Mary-Ann Sills, losing by only 202 votes.^[5] Nevertheless, Ellis would run again in 2006, defeating Mary-Ann Sills to become mayor of Belleville. He would serve two terms as mayor, being reelected in 2006, and leaving office in 2014.^[6] As mayor, Ellis guided city council through the Build Belleville initiative, which involved pursuing twenty-two infrastructure projects worth $91 million.^[7] He was elected again in 2022, defeating incumbent mayor Mitch Panciuk.

Member of Parliament

In 2015, Ellis became the Liberal nominee in the newly created Bay of Quinte riding, and won the subsequent election.^[8] He would go on to win reelection in 2019. From 2015 to 2019, Ellis served as the chairman of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, until being appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in December 2019.^[9]

Electoral record

Federal

v t e 2019 Canadian federal election: Bay of Quinte
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Neil Ellis	24,099	39.16	-11.58	$96,721.36
	Conservative	Tim Durkin	22,650	36.80	+2.53	$55,922.84
	New Democratic	Stephanie Bell	9,851	16.01	+3.87	none listed
	Green	Danny Celovsky	3,740	6.08	+3.86	$592.37
	People's	Paul Bordonaro	1,207	1.96		none listed
Total valid votes/expense limit			61,547	99.25
Total rejected ballots			464	0.75	+0.38
Turnout			62,011	65.83	-2.30
Eligible voters			94,197
	Liberal hold		Swing		-7.05
Source: Elections Canada[10][11]

v t e 2015 Canadian federal election: Bay of Quinte
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Neil Ellis	29,281	50.74	+29.86	$118,473.86
	Conservative	Jodie Jenkins	19,781	34.27	−17.53	$109,092.53
	New Democratic	Terry Cassidy	7,001	12.13	−10.88	$21,205.50
	Green	Rachel Nelems	1,278	2.21	−1.56	–
	Independent	Trueman Tuck	372	0.64	–	$4,425.20
Total valid votes/expense limit			57,713	99.64		$221,051.99
Total rejected ballots			211	0.36	–
Turnout			57,924	68.13	–
Eligible voters			85,021
	Liberal notional gain from Conservative		Swing		+23.69
Source: Elections Canada[12][13]

Municipal

2022 Belleville Mayoral Election^[14]

2022 Belleville mayoral election
Mayoral Candidate	Vote	%
Neil Ellis	9,194	59.3
Mitch Panciuk	5,654	36.4
Kyle Thompson	668	4.3

2010 Belleville Mayoral Election

2010 Belleville mayoral election
Mayoral Candidate	Vote	%
Neil Ellis	10,081	75.09
Mitch Panciuk	2,825	21.17
Lonnie D. Herrington	350	2.62
Graham K. Longhurst	149	1.12

2006 Belleville Mayoral Election

2006 Belleville mayoral election
Candidate	Vote	%
Neil Ellis	10,427	61.8
Mary-Anne Sills	3,957	23.5
Doug Rollins	2,483	14.7

2003 Belleville Mayoral Election

2003 Belleville mayoral election
Candidate	Vote	%
Mary-Anne Sills	5,945	39.7
Neil Ellis	5,707	38.1
Doug Parker	3,256	21.7
Trueman Tuck	57	0.5