He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, from 2003 to 2011 representing the predominantly rural ridings of Perth—Middlesex and Perth—Wellington for the Liberal Party.
Before entering public life, Wilkinson was a financial planner in Stratford.
[1] He is a member of the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus Advisory Board.
[2] Wilkinson ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1999 election, losing to Progressive Conservative incumbent Bert Johnson by over 6000 votes.
[3] The Liberals won the election,[4] and on May 21, 2004 Wilkinson was named parliamentary assistant to Leona Dombrowsky, the Minister of the Environment.