David Tilson (born March 19, 1941 in Toronto, Ontario) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 2002, and was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as a Conservative MP in 2004.
Tilson was educated at the University of New Brunswick and Queen's University, and practicing law in Orangeville, Ontario in 1970. He served as a trustee on the Dufferin County Board of Education for two terms, and then as a municipal councillor in Orangeville for six years. In the latter capacity, he was a the founding Chair of Orangeville's Blue Box program and a Director of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario . He also served on the board of the Westminister United Church.
Tilson was elected to the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1990, defeating incumbent Liberal Mavis Wilson in Dufferin—Peel by 572 votes. The New Democratic Party won this election, and Tilson spent the next five years as an opposition member.
The Ontario Tories won a majority government in the provincial election of 1995, and Tilson greatly increased his margin of victory, defeating Wilson by almost 15,000 votes in a rematch. Despite his parliamentary experience, he was not appointed to cabinet by Premier Mike Harris. He was, however, appointed chair of the government caucus in November 1997.
Tilson won another landslide re-election victory for the new riding of Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey in the 1999 election. On April 2, 2002, he resigned his seat in the legislature to allow Premier Ernie Eves (who had been elected party leader without holding a seat) to take his place. In 2003-04, he served as vice-chair of the Ontario Municipal Board .
Tilson ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the federal election of 2004 and defeated incumbent Liberal Murray Calder by a margin of 43% to 39% in the new riding of Dufferin—Caledon . (There were several former "Harris Tories" who ran for the federal Conservatives in 2004; Tilson was the only one actually elected. It should be noted that he was also the only one of the group whose availability to run did not result from having been defeated in the provincial election of 1999 or that of 2003.)
The Liberal Party won a minority government in this election, and Tilson now sits in the opposition benches.