Frank de Jong

Frank de Jong was born in Ontario in 1955 to Dutch immigrant parents and grew up on a dairy farm north of Guelph. Living on the land in the close-knit community of Arthur strongly influenced de Jong’s views, which he describes as socially progressive, fiscally conservative and environmentally aware.

Frank has been thinking globally and acting locally for a long time. In the 1980s, was active in campaigns to ban nuclear weapons, to support women’s right to choose, to save Ontario's old growth forests, and to promote human rights in Central America. He joined the Green Party in 1987, attracted by its holistic approach to the environment, the economy, health care and other issues.

Frank de Jong served as leader of the Green Party of Ontario from 1993 to 2009, helping the party become influential in provincial politics. Since 2000 he has become an international writer and speaker promoting the economic theories of the 19th century American economist Henry George, specifically, financing government through economic rent capture in lieu of taxes on jobs, business and and consumption. He lives in Toronto with his partner, writer and artist Kelley Aitken.