2007 election campaign In January 2007, Hillier resigned as president of the OLA to seek the Progressive Conservative nomination in
Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington in the upcoming provincial election. Some members of the party suggested that Hillier's activist past made him an unsuitable candidate, and the
Toronto Star speculated that the party might disqualify him.
Scott Reid, the federal MP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, responded that he would be "very disappointed" if Hillier were prevented from running, adding "I can't think of anything more dangerous to our prospects [of winning in this riding]". On 5 May, Hillier won a three-way nomination against Jay Brennan and Brent Cameron. He was elected MPP for the riding on 10 October 2007, capturing 40.58 per cent of the vote and defeating Liberal candidate Ian Wilson by 820 votes. During the election campaign, some observers questioned Hillier's fitness for elected office, given his history of civil disobedience. But this history won him some admirers as well. Similarly, his willingness to take contrarian positions (for example, announcing his denial of
climate change at a mid-election meeting of the
editorial board of the
Ottawa Citizen) earned him approval as well as opposition. Shortly after this meeting, the
Citizen's editorial board endorsed Hillier. An editorial in the paper advised voters to "[t]ake a chance on Randy Hillier" and stated that "the landowners'-rights activist is doing the right thing by running for the legislature and trying to change the system he's been battling for so very long."
2007–2009: Early career as a Member of Provincial Parliament Following the 2007 election, Hillier was appointed his party's critic for rural affairs. However, it became increasingly clear that Hillier was unhappy with the leadership of PC leader
John Tory. In March 2008, an article in the
Ottawa Citizen reported that Hillier was considering leaving the Progressive Conservative caucus and joining the small
Reform Party of Ontario. Hillier brushed aside this rumour as "void of fact."
2009: Ontario PC leadership candidate In early March 2009, John Tory resigned as leader of the Ontario PCs. On 30 March, Hillier announced his candidacy in the
leadership race to succeed Tory. Few observers thought Hillier had a realistic chance of winning, but some media commentators speculated that he might fill the role of kingmaker. Lacking in high-profile endorsements, Hillier instead focused his leadership bid on a series of policy announcements. These included: • Allowing Ontarians to vote to elect their senators; • Enacting a law, which he proposed to call the
Freedom of Association and Conscience Act, which would allow health care professionals and other government-paid individuals to refuse to provide services to which, for religious or moral reasons, they were personally opposed (such as doctors and nurses refusing to perform abortions and marriage commissioners refusing to perform same-sex marriages); • Abolishing the
Ontario Human Rights Commission and allowing all legal proceedings under the province's
Human Rights Code to be dealt with in the regular court system. Hillier placed fourth in the September 2009 leadership vote, with just under 10 per cent of the vote. However, the initial vote-count showed no clear leader among the other three candidates:
Tim Hudak had won 33.9 per cent,
Frank Klees had 29.9 per cent, and
Christine Elliott had 26.4 per cent. Because the election was structured as a
preferential vote, the ballots cast by Hillier supporters were then redistributed among the other candidates. This system meant that Hillier's prior public endorsement of
Tim Hudak as his own second choice for leader was important: two-thirds of the second-preference votes of Hillier supporters went to Hudak, doubling his lead over Klees.
2009–present: Political career after the leadership election Following the election, Tim Hudak appointed Hillier as the party's critic for Labour, and for Northern Development, Mines and Forestry in the provincial legislature. Regarding Hillier's support of
Jack MacLaren, former Ontario Landowners Association President, to challenge sitting MPP
Norm Sterling at the Annual General Meeting of the
Carleton-Mississippi Mills Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Riding Association, the
Globe and Mail described Hillier as a "shrewd political operator" Prior to the 2011 provincial election, Randy Hillier and federal counterpart Scott Reid introduced motions to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario and the federal
House of Commons, respectively, to enshrine property rights for Ontarians in the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
2011 election During the
2011 provincial election, it was reported that, as the result of a dispute over with the agency over taxes said to be owing for the sale of some land, the
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had placed two liens with a total value of $15,000 on property owned by Hillier and his wife. Hillier responded that they were working with CRA to resolve the dispute. The dispute did not hurt Hillier's re-election effort; he won by a 10,000-vote margin.
2012 After the 2011 provincial election, Randy Hillier co-sponsored a bill to repeal Ontario's breed-specific restrictions on
pit bull ownership. The bill was supported by members of all three parties at second reading in February 2012. Despite passing second reading and committee, Ontario's Liberal Government did not call the Bill for third
reading. It died on the order table with Premier McGuinty's
prorogation of the legislature. Following revelations in January 2012 that the head of a union local in Toronto was rehired after improperly spending public funds, Hillier called on the Ontario Government to make unions receiving public money to be made more accountable. In March 2012, Hillier introduced a bill to proclaim "Constitution Day", recognizing the day that the
British North America Act and the
Constitution Act were proclaimed into law. With the support of the
Canadian Taxpayers Federation, Hillier introduced a bill to strengthen the Taxpayer Protection Act introduced by the Harris government and to require all pieces of legislation be costed before they are introduced to the Ontario Legislature.
2013 In September 2013, Hillier was stripped of his role as the party's labour critic after the
Toronto Star published an email Hillier had sent to the PC caucus raising concerns over colleague Monte McNaughton's private member's bill abrogating construction company
EllisDon's 1950s-era collective bargaining agreement. The Star revealed that Hillier's concerns included that the PC Party would receive donations from Ellis Don for pushing the legislation. Hillier acknowledged that the email was his but did not comment on it. Hillier voted against the bill at second reading along with the members of the New Democratic caucus. Hudak, McNaughton and nine other members of the Tory caucus and 22 Liberals voted for the bill at second reading. All but two Liberals voted against the Bill at third reading. Hillier was not in attendance for the third reading vote. At the end of October 2013, Hillier introduced a bill to allow provincial politicians to be
recalled from public office. Hillier's bill received some public support after he recommended that it should apply to Toronto mayor
Rob Ford, who was embroiled in a
crack cocaine scandal. In the fall of 2013, Hillier wrote an article for the
Canadian Parliamentary Review detailing his ideas to reform Ontario's Legislature to "empower" Members of Provincial Parliament.
Interim leadership bid Hillier stood for the position of
interim leader of the party following
Tim Hudak's resignation in the aftermath of the
2014 provincial election. Hillier advocated moving power out of the hands of the leader and having more decisions made by caucus, including the selection of
House Leader and
Whip. Prior to the caucus meeting where the vote for interim leader was held, Wilson had dismissed Hillier's bid as a stunt, saying "He's crazy... he has consistently betrayed the trust of caucus." "He purposely and willfully lied to the people of Ontario." An investigation found no evidence to support Hillier's allegations that Brown failed to disclose gifts of travel. Brown publicly responded calling Hillier's allegations "garbage," and "fabricated".
2019 Hillier was suspended from the PC caucus by Premier Doug Ford on 20 February 2019 after making what Ford characterized as "disrespectful comments to parents of children with autism." Hillier denied the allegation, and said he was ousted for other reasons. A letter sent by the PC Party President was released blaming him for a lack of commitment to the caucus. He was subsequently removed from the PC caucus on 15 March 2019.
2020–present: opponent of COVID-19 measures and laws At the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Hillier was sitting as an independent MPP after being removed from the PC caucus in 2019. He has been skeptical of the pandemic and has been a vocal proponent of ending the emergency measures put in place by the Ontario government, such as
lockdowns,
stay-at-home orders, and advice regarding
social distancing and use of
face masks. In June 2020, he took part in a rally protesting the
COVID-19 lockdown in
Ontario at
Queen's Park, and was later condemned by
Premier Doug Ford who described Hillier's participation in the rally as "totally irresponsible" and said it goes against "what everybody has been working for." In October 2020, Kingston public health officials sent a letter to Hillier expressing concerns regarding his spreading of
misinformation about the pandemic. Hillier refused to say whether he thought the pandemic was real, said he was anti-mask and likened the pandemic to a bad flu season. He had also asserted on Twitter that public health officials were guilty of
crimes against humanity. On 26 November 2020, Hillier organized an anti-COVID-19 lockdown rally at Queen's Park. Unlike the first such rally that Hillier organized (on 21 October), this rally led to Hillier being issued a court summons by police, for violating the lockdown restrictions in place in Toronto at the time, which limited outdoor gatherings to 10 people. His court date was set for 7 January 2021. On 29 December 2020, Hillier
tweeted a Christmas photo of a gathering at his home with 15 people from multiple households. At the time, Ontario was in a province-wide lockdown and the number of people allowed to gather indoors had been restricted to only members of a family living in the same household. On 24 January 2021, Hiller attended an in-person service at a
Waterloo, Ontario church, during a time when such services were prohibited by provincial law due to the pandemic. On 25 February 2021, Hillier tweeted that "there is no (COVID-19) pandemic & never was, we were duped", and in a separate tweet urged his followers that "we must start shaming those who wear a mask, as they shame others, the masks are coercing us to live their lie." Hillier was blocked from Twitter for 24 hours for violating its terms of service, and when he returned he blamed "
trolls and bots" for his temporary ban. On 1 April 2021, Hillier tweeted an image of
Adolf Hitler with a caption that read "The Third ....wave. Everyone who has ever been to the sea, knows there is no end to waves. Its only 28 days this time. Truth does not mind being questioned. Lies do not like to be challenged. #onpoli #WeAreLivingaLie #nomorelockdowns", drawing a comparison between Ontario's COVID-19 lockdowns (a 28-day province-wide lockdown had been announced to begin on 3 April 2021, to combat the so-called "third wave" of the province's pandemic) and the fascist government of
Nazi Germany under Hitler. Hillier's tweet coincided with the Jewish holiday
Passover, and the
Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, a Canadian Jewish advocacy group, criticized Hillier's insensitivity and drawing of "false equivalencies" between lockdown measures and
the Holocaust. He was also condemned by
Kingston and the Islands MPP
Ian Arthur and MP
Mark Gerretsen, the latter calling for Hillier's removal from office. On 8 April 2021, Hillier was billed as the special guest speaker at a "Mask Burning" event at the South Branch Bistro,
Kemptville, Ontario, organized by No More Lock Downs Canada. On 25 April 2021, Hillier attended a church service in
Aylmer, Ontario at Church of God Restoration. Hillier, along with
Hastings—Lennox and Addington MP Derek Sloan (who had also been expelled from his own Conservative caucus after receiving a donation from a white supremacist) attended the event without wearing face masks or maintaining physical distancing, as shown in a video of the event. Four individuals were charged with violating the
Reopening Ontario Act, including two that fit the description of Hillier and Sloan. Those charged have been summoned to court, with scheduled appearances in June. The local governments of several municipalities within Hillier's riding have passed motions condemning Hillier and asking the provincial government to sanction him in any way possible. Motions to this effect have been passed in
South Frontenac,
Central Frontenac, Perth,
Smiths Falls,
Carleton Place, and the
Kingston, with the latter city council's motion calling for an investigation from the Ontario Integrity Commissioner. As of 5 May 2021, Hillier has been charged eight times for his defiance of the
Reopening Ontario Act, including for hosting an anti-lockdown protest and march in
Belleville on 16 April. According to a Facebook post, Hillier plans to fight all charges. In October 2021, families of several people in Ontario accused Hillier of spreading fake news and unauthorized use of their relatives photos and personal details to promote his anti-vaccination views. Hillier tweeted the images of 11 deceased people, suggesting they died or suffered from a "permanent adverse reaction shortly after receiving their first or second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," contrary to what their obituaries and relatives said. On 28 October, the Ontario legislature unanimously condemned and called for a public apology for Hillier's "disreputable conduct", in particular the post misrepresenting several people's deaths. As of that time, Hillier had violated the legislature's rules regarding the use of face masks four times. On 15 November, Hillier falsely claimed on his Facebook page that Public Health Ontario (PHO) had undertaken investigations into "37 possible deaths" caused by COVID-19 vaccines, according to a 2021 Global News article on the role of
COVID-19 misinformation has contributed to "radicalizing Canadians". Hillier went camping with people who displayed a Diagolon flag; Diagolon is a Canadian-founded neo-fascist group linked to the convoy protests.
Freedom Convoy protests During the
Canada convoy protests' occupation of Ottawa in January and February 2022, Hillier claims to have spent much of three weeks among the protesters. On 25 January, Hillier posted a tweet that referred to federal Minister of Transportation
Omar Alghabra as a "terrorist." In a separate tweet, Hillier called on the
RCMP to open an investigation into Justin Trudeau, whom he accused of an "act of domestic terrorism" by depriving Canadians of food and essentials in the winter (a reference to perceived
supply chain issues caused by the vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, an inciting reason for the convoy protest). Public Safety Minister
Marco Mendicino urged Twitter to remove the post that referred to Alghabra, as
Islamophobic hate speech. The provincial Liberal and
New Democratic Party leaders called for increased sanctions against Hillier, beyond the "disreputable conduct" mechanism previously used. Hillier called for "dialogue" with the occupiers, on 8 February and attended a press conference on 9 February, reiterating his support for the convoy. On Twitter, Hillier claimed that protesters would leave Ottawa shortly after a press conference to be held at 1:00 PM on 19 February. He claims that police blocked him from attending the conference. He urged supporters to "keep calling" and jam the phone lines of the Ottawa Police. It was compared it to the "counselling to commit mischief" charge applied to protest leaders like
Tamara Lich, suggesting Hillier should be jailed. On 22 February, the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario unanimously passed a motion that authorized the
Speaker to not recognize him in the legislature until he publishes written apologies for his actions and the Speaker is satisfied of their sincerity. The motion stated that "this House expresses its disapproval of, and dissociates itself from, continued disreputable conduct by the Member for Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston, most specifically his use of social media to make racist and discriminatory statements about a federal cabinet minister and for publishing social media posts insinuating a call to violence." On 28 March, Hillier turned himself in to the Ottawa Police, while facing nine charges against him due to his actions at the protest: one count of assaulting a peace or public officer (allegedly checking an officer with his shoulder and hip), two counts of obstructing or resisting a public officer, one count of obstructing or resisting someone aiding a public or peace officer, three counts of counselling an uncommitted indictable offence, two of them considered mischief, and two counts of mischief or obstructing property exceeding $5,000. He was granted bail and released later that day, on the conditions that he would avoid the general area of downtown Ottawa, not associate with any of the protest organizers, and refrain from posting on social media about the convoy and anti-vaccine or mask mandates. The justice of the peace at his bail hearing noted that his social media activity "poses a substantial risk." In November 2024, all charges were stayed against Hillier because of excessive delay pursuant to the
Jordan ceiling of which 30-months ceiling to protect the right to be tried within a reasonable time. Taking into account 65 days of defence delay and 40 days of delay for exceptional circumstances, Hillier had been waiting for over 31 months.
2022 general election In November 2021, Hillier announced his intention to run for re-election under the banner of the
People's Party of Canada's Ontario wing. Hillier launched the
Ontario First Party (
OFP) on 4 December 2021 as an unregistered provincial political party. The party began a registration process with
Elections Ontario on 17 December 2021, with Paul Maletta requesting the registration. While the party name was approved on 19 January 2022, it remains an unregistered party. There were also plans to run candidates in the
2022 Ontario general election, though none were ultimately confirmed. Initially, there were attempts by the federal
People's Party of Canada (PPC) to register the name "People's Party of Ontario" with Elections Ontario. The elections agency rejected the name five times due to its similarity to the existing
Peoples Political Party, which has been registered since 2011 by
perennial candidate Kevin Clarke. In March 2021, the PPC and Clarke discussed Clarke relinquishing his rights to the name in exchange for running under the PPC banner. The discussions, while initially productive, later broke down after Clarke posted about the matter on social media and added other people to his email conversations with the PPC. On 3 March 2022, Hillier announced by a video posted on social media that he had decided not to run for re-election in the 2022 provincial election, saying "our political system is broken... there is no sense spending any more time trying to fix a broken system from within when the problem lies without." This would have been his first attempt at running against a Progressive Conservative, instead of running as a PC candidate. The website and social media for the Ontario First Party were shut down. The
Populist Party Ontario (PPO) was announced as an unregistered provincial political party upon the closure of the Ontario First Party (OFP). The party began a registration process with
Elections Ontario on 17 December 2021, with Shelley Batcules requesting the registration. The party name was approved on 24 January 2022, The OFP website redirected to the Populist Party Ontario website, where a few references to the OFP remain. On 12 May 2022, Hillier's daughter Chelsea Hillier joined the
PPO to contest his seat in
Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston. == Other controversies ==