Bill Saunderson

William J. Saunderson is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 1999, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.

Saunderson was educated at the University of Trinity College in the University of Toronto, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree and subsequently becoming a certified accountant. He continued his education as an adult, and received a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa in 1994. After graduation, he worked as an accountant with Clarkson and Gordon. He co-founded Spectre Investment Counsel Ltd. in 1971, and worked with the Ontario Pension Commission from 1972 to 1983. Saunderson also had financial ties to the cigarette industry, which became controversial after he entered political life.

Saunderson was active in political organization before running for office himself. He took part in fundraising activities for several municipal, provincial and federal campaigns for such figures as Brian Mulroney, Joe Clark, David Crombie and Art Eggleton, and was the financial comptroller for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada's national election campaigns in 1984 and 1988.

He ran in the riding of Elginton in the 1995 provincial election, and defeated Liberal incumbent Dianne Poole by about 4,500 votes. From June 26, 1995 to October 10, 1997, he served in the Harris government as Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism. In 1997, Saunderson announced that the government would be cutting its spending on Ontario's seven "centres of excellence" by 13%. After leaving cabinet, he was named to chair the Ontario International Trade Corporation.

By some accounts, Saunderson was not especially respected in cabinet, and was regarded as ideologically closer to the more centrist Progressive Conservative government of Bill Davis (1971-1985) than to Harris's right-wing ministry.