John Snobelen

John Snobelen
Ontario MPP
In office 1999–2003
Preceded by	New riding
Succeeded by	Bob Delaney
Constituency	Mississauga West
In office 1995–1999
Preceded by	Steve Offer
Succeeded by	Riding abolished
Constituency	Mississauga North
Personal details
Born	1954 (age 62–63) Guelph, Ontario
Political party	Progressive Conservative
Occupation	Businessman

John Snobelen (born c. 1954) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2003, and served as a cabinet minister in the government of Mike Harris.

Snobelen was raised in Meadowlark, Ontario, and dropped out of high school in Grade 11. He eventually became a successful businessman, making a fortune in the waste-haulage business. He served as President of Jarnso Environmental Inc., Mid-Ontario Equipment Limited and the Cameron Group.

Snobelen was also a chair of the Hunger Project, and an associate of the Carter Center, a human-rights organization started by former United States President Jimmy Carter.

Snobelen ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, placing third behind incumbent Liberal Steve Offer and a New Democrat in Mississauga North. In the provincial election of 1995, he ran in the same riding and defeated Offer by about 4,500 votes.

The Progressive Conservatives won a majority government in the 1995 election, and Snobelen was appointed as Minister of Education and Training in Mike Harris's government on June 26, 1995. Shortly after his appointment, Snobelen was filmed arguing that the PC government needs to "bankrupt" and to create a "useful crisis" in the education system so as to initiate significant reforms. This controversy provoked several calls for his resignation, and further unsettled the relationship between the government and the teaching community, which were already tense after the previous NDP administration unilaterally imposed a Social Contract.

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