Gila Martow

Gila Martow
MPP
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Thornhill
Assumed office
February 13, 2014
Preceded by Peter Shurman
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour
Assumed office
June 29, 2018
Personal details
Born Gila Deborah Gladstone
(1961-06-05) June 5, 1961
Montreal, Quebec
Political party Progressive Conservative
Children 4
Residence Thornhill, Ontario
Occupation Optometrist

Gila Deborah Martow (née Gladstone; born June 5, 1961) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She represents the electoral district of Thornhill in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party.[1] She is currently Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour.

Background

Originally from Chomedey, Quebec, Martow was an optometrist. She and her husband, an ophthalmologist, jointly ran an eye clinic at the Markham Stouffville Hospital.[2]

Martow's maternal grandparents lived on a kibbutz organized by the Hashomer Hatzair Marxist-Zionist[3] youth movement in the early 1930s in Mandatory Palestine (later to become Israel).[4] Martow attended the socialist movement's summer camp, Camp Shomria, from 1973 to 1977. The camp's Mia Gladstone Art Program is named in memory of Martow's mother.[5]

Political activism

In 2007, she was a spokesperson for the Multi-Faith Coalition. During the provincial election that year, she supported Progressive Conservative leader John Tory's plan to create funding among Ontario’s private faith-based schools. She said, "By not funding non-Catholic faith-based schools, there is going to be social unrest. This is discrimination against non-Catholics."[6] Martow's first run for elected office was in 2010, when she ran for city council in Vaughan Ward 5, placing second.

Ontario legislature

In early 2014, she ran in a by-election in the riding of Thornhill to replace the retiring Peter Shurman. She defeated Liberal candidate Sandra Yeung Racco on February 13, 2014.[1] Four months later she ran again in the 2014 provincial election. She faced Racco again in a rematch. Initially Racco was declared the winner but the decision was reversed the next day following the official Elections Ontario tally of the vote. Martow was declared the winner by 85 votes.[7] A recount was done and Martow was declared the winner on June 23, 2014 by a margin of 106 votes.[8]

On December 1, 2016, Martow presented a motion in the legislature rejecting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. It passed by a vote of 49-5 with the governing Liberals and PCs supporting, and NDP opposing.

In the past, Martow has served as the PC Critic for Intergovernmental Affairs (2014) and as the Anti-Racism Secretariat (2016). She then served in the shadow cabinet as the critic for: Children, Youth, and Families; GTA Issues; and Francophone Affairs until 2018.[9]

After the Progressive Conservatives formed government following the 2018 provincial election, Martow was appointed Parliamentary Assistant to Labour Minister Laurie Scott by Premier Doug Ford.[10]

Election results

Provincial

Ontario general election, 2018
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeGila Martow28,88961.13+17.18
New DemocraticEzra Tanen9,13419.33+11.17
LiberalSabi Ahsan6,98514.78-29.00
GreenRachel Dokhoian1,0432.21-0.27
LibertarianMike Holmes6231.31+0.15
None of the AboveAbove Znoneofthe4100.87
Ontario Moderate PartyAleksei Polyakov1770.37
Total valid votes 47,261100.0  
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +13.24
Source: Elections Ontario[11]
Ontario general election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeGila Martow21,88643.95-3.94
LiberalSandra Yeung Racco21,78043.78+2.18
New DemocraticCindy Hackelberg4,0528.16+1.37
GreenDavid Bergart1,2292.48+1.04
LibertarianGene Balfour5711.16+0.11
FreedomErin Goodwin2330.47-0.08
Total valid votes 50,291 100.0  
Progressive Conservative hold Swing -3.06
Source: Elections Ontario[12]
Ontario provincial by-election, February 13, 2014
Resignation of Peter Shurman
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeGila Martow13,43847.67+0.96
LiberalSandra Yeung Racco11,67741.43+0.51
New DemocraticCindy Hackelberg1,9056.75-2.21
GreenTeresa Pun4041.43-0.25
LibertarianGene Balfour2961.05-0.34
FreedomErin Goodwin1530.54+0.21
People's Political PartyKevin Clarke1440.51
Pauper Party of OntarioJohn Turmel470.17
Total valid votes 28,184
Turnout 27.4%
     Progressive Conservative hold Swing +0.34%

Municipal

2010 Vaughan election, Ward 5[13]
Candidate Votes
Alan Shefman (x)5,561
Gila Martow4,279
Bernie Green2,898
Vernon Hendrickson1,870
Yehuda Shahaf694
Stellios Missirlis231

References

  1. 1 2 "NDP win Niagara Falls, Tories hold Thornhill in Ontario byelections". Global News. February 13, 2014.
  2. ↑ Joseph, Simone (January 14, 2014). "Parties get set as Thornhill byelection called". yorkregion.com. Metroland Media. .
  3. ↑ http://magnes.berkeley.edu/collections/archives/western-jewish-americana/hashomer-hatzair-records-1938-1942
  4. ↑ "House proceeedings (hansard)". Legislative Assembly of Ontario. April 23, 2015.
  5. ↑ http://www.cjnews.com/news/hashomer-hatzair-marks-85-years-canada
  6. ↑ Eby, Chris. "Ont. Tories trash Liberal promise-keeping record". CTV Toronto News. CTV. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "It's official: PC Martow wins Thornhill in wake of vote tally error". York Region. June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Martow proclaimed winner in recount". York Region. Metroland Media. June 23, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Legislative Assembly of Ontario | Members (MPPs) | Current MPPs | Gila Martow, MPP (Thornhill)". www.ontla.on.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-10.
  10. ↑ https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2018/06/premier-ford-announces-parliamentary-assistant-assignments-as-part-of-ontarios-government-for-the-pe.html
  11. ↑ "Candidate Search". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  12. ↑ "General Election Results by District, 089 Thornhill". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  13. ↑ "City of Vaughan Unofficial Results" (PDF).
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.