Dykstra's parents, born in the Netherlands, immigrated to Montreal in 1951 and moved to the area around Halifax a year later, where they started an agricultural company.
In 1992, he encouraged the provincial government of Bob Rae to lower its gas tax to combat cross-border shopping, which was adversely affecting Ontario businesses.
He worked at the management board as a senior policy advisor, served as chief of staff to the Minister of Community and Social Services John Baird, and was director of caucus and public relations.
[10] Dykstra was first elected to the House of Commons in 2006, defeating Liberal incumbent Walt Lastewka by 244 votes, one of the closest races in the country.
[11] In 2007, he co-authored the "Dissenting Opinion of the Conservative Party of Canada" to a document entitled "Taxing Income Trusts: Reconcilable or Irreconcilable differences?
In April 2007, Dykstra and his colleague Dean Allison introduced a private member's bill proposing to eliminate the so-called Faint-Hope Clause.
[13] In November 2007, he introduced a private member's bill seeking to end the practice of giving double credit for time served in custody prior to sentencing.
Parliamentary Secretaries are charged with coordinating government policy through the committee process, and responding to questions in the House of Commons when the Minister is on official business.
[20] Commissioner Dawson issued a warning to Dykstra to exercise caution in the future when making decisions that would have a significant impact on those he was soliciting donations from.
[23] In August 2015, Dykstra was present for the raising of the Pride flag at city hall in St. Catharines, in support of the gay and lesbian community in St.
[30] On October 22, 2016, Dykstra's bid to stand for a by-election in Niagara-West Glanbrook was defeated by the local party membership, who nominated in his stead socially and politically conservative 19-year-old Brock University student Sam Oosterhoff.
According to the article, which was published later that night, the allegation had been brought to the attention of the Conservative campaign war room during the 2015 federal election, but Dykstra was not dropped as a candidate.
[30] On February 2, 2018, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper revealed in a statement that he knew about the allegations during the 2015 election but could not justify removing him as a candidate because the investigation was closed by police a year ago.