Lisa MacLeod

The Honourable
Lisa MacLeod
MPP
Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
Assumed office
June 29, 2018
Premier Doug Ford
Preceded by Michael Coteau
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament
for Nepean
Nepean—Carleton (2006—2018)
Assumed office
March 30, 2006
Preceded by John Baird
Personal details
Born (1974-10-29) October 29, 1974
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Political party Progressive Conservative
Spouse(s) Joseph Varner
Children 1
Residence Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Occupation Executive assistant

Lisa MacLeod is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She is a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was elected in a by-election in 2006. She represents the riding of Nepean, and serves as the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services in Doug Ford's cabinet.

Background

Macleod was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.[1] She went to St. Francis Xavier University where she obtained a degree in political science.[2] She moved to Ottawa in 1998 with a goal of becoming involved in politics.[3] She worked as an assistant to Ottawa City Councillor Jan Harder and as a riding assistant to federal Member of Parliament (MP) Pierre Poilievre.[4][5] She is married to Joseph Varner and they have one daughter, Victoria. Varner was a candidate in the 2003 provincial election but lost to Richard Patten.[4]

Politics

Macleod was elected to the Ontario legislature in a by-election that was held to replace John Baird who resigned to run for the federal House of Commons. She won the election on March 30, 2006, beating her Liberal opponent Brian Ford in the Ottawa-area riding of Nepean—Carleton by a margin of 6,000 votes.[6] She was re-elected in 2007, 2011 and 2014.[7][8][9]

In 2007 MacLeod was satirized by Liberal strategist Warren Kinsella when she was mockingly portrayed in a spoofed picture suggesting she would rather be at home baking cookies than attending a political event with then PC Leader John Tory. Kinsella later removed the posting and apologized to MacLeod. Following the incident MacLeod wrote a cookbook called I'd Rather Be Baking Cookies: A Collection of Recipes from Lisa MacLeod and Friends. Macleod said, "Why not play off that experience, make a cookbook and poke fun at the absurdity of it?" The money raised from the sale of the cookbooks went to her election campaign.[10]

In 2012, she criticized Dalton McGuinty's Bill 13 legislation as being "unfair" to Catholic separate school boards because it forced them to allow Gay Straight Alliances. She labelled the Liberals as "bullies".[11]

In April 2014, Premier Kathleen Wynne launched a libel lawsuit against MacLeod and PC Party Leader Tim Hudak after they said that she "oversaw and possibly ordered the criminal destruction of [gas plant] documents."[12] In July 2015, Wynne, MacLeod and Hudak reached an agreement whereby the lawsuit was dropped. They said in a joint statement, "Politics is not for the thin-skinned. However, our system also requires that politicians act honestly and based on fact, while respecting the views of others... In the lead-up to the last election the debate went beyond differences over our approach and at times became personal. The lawsuit between us, and the comments that led to it, did not reflect our view that the other is in fact a great mother/father, an honourable person and a dedicated public servant." The statement avoided any apology or placement of blame.[13]

MacLeod announced her candidacy for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party on October 6, 2014 but withdrew on February 6, 2015 following federal cabinet minister John Baird's announcement that he was resigning from cabinet and would not be running for re-election to the House of Commons of Canada. MacLeod told reporters that she has been "under enormous pressure from my constituents to seek the federal nomination to replace John Baird," in the new riding of Nepean.[14] MacLeod decided not to seek Baird's seat in the House of Commons, and remained at Queen's Park.[15]

In July 2014, Macleod became the party's critic for Treasury Board issues, and in October of that year, she became the Vice-Chair for the Standing Committee on Public Accounts. She was Critic for Digital Government from June 2016 until February 2017, when she became the party' critic for Ottawa issues and the Anti-Racism Secretariat.[16] In January 2018, after party leader Patrick Brown stepped down and Vic Fedeli became leader, Macleod was chosen to replace Fedeli as the party's finance critic.[17]

In the 2018 Provincial election, MacLeod won all the polls in Nepean, and won the riding with 45.2 per cent of the vote. NDP Candidate Zaff Ansari came in second, and Liberal Candidate Lovina Srivastsva came in third. On June 29, 2018, it was announced she would be the minister responsible for children, community, and social services, and Minister Responsible for woman’s issues. In total she has five portfolios including immigration and anti-racism.

As Social Services Minister, MacLeod admitted to breaking a Progressive Conservative election promise by cutting the Ontario Basic Income Pilot on July 31, 2018.[18][19]

Cabinet positions

Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford
Cabinet post (1)
Predecessor Office Successor
New position[lower-alpha 1] Minister of Children, Community and Social Services
June 29, 2018–present
Also responsible for women's issues, immigration, and anti-racism.		 Incumbent

Electoral record

Ontario general election, 2018: Nepean
Party Candidate Votes%
Progressive ConservativeLisa MacLeod23,91945.20%
New DemocraticZaff Ansari15,11028.55%
LiberalLovina Srivastava10,38319.62%
GreenJames O'Grady2,6795.06%
LibertarianMark A. Snow4150.78%
None of the AboveRaphael Louis3510.66%
Objective TruthDerrick Lionel Matthews600.11%
Total valid votes 100.00
Turnout 60.29
Eligible voters 87,778
Progressive Conservative pickup new district.
Source: Elections Ontario[20]
Ontario general election, 2014: Nepean—Carleton
Party Candidate Votes%±%
Progressive ConservativeLisa MacLeod30,90146.77−7.71
LiberalJack Uppal21,97433.26+6.29
New DemocraticRic Dagenais8,62813.06−1.71
GreenGordon Kubanek3,6305.49+2.51
LibertarianCoreen Corcoran9401.42+1.01
Total valid votes 66,073 100.0   +20.00
Progressive Conservative hold Swing −7.00
Source(s)
Elections Ontario (2014). "Official result from the records – 052, Nepean—Carleton" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2015.
Ontario general election, 2011: Nepean—Carleton
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
Progressive ConservativeLisa MacLeod29,98554.48+4.20$   61,855.47
LiberalDon Dransfield14,84426.97−5.9720,300.63
New DemocraticRic Dagenais8,12714.77+7.3418,039.80
GreenGordon Kubanek1,6412.98−5.382,855.87
LibertarianRoger Toutant2230.41 0.00
FreedomMarco Rossi2170.39 0.00
Total valid votes / Expense limit 55,037 100.0   +2.23 $ 131,703.25
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots 193 0.35 −0.17
Turnout 55,230 49.91 −4.70
Eligible voters 110,662  +11.69
Progressive Conservative hold Swing +5.09
Source(s)
"Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 6, 2011 General Election" (PDF).
"Statistical Summary – General Elections 2011" ( Excel Spreadsheet). Retrieved May 28, 2014.
"2011 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
Ontario general election, 2007: Nepean—Carleton
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
Progressive ConservativeLisa MacLeod27,07050.28−7.29$   58,239.69
LiberalJai Aggarwal17,73132.94+1.5035,359.08
GreenGordon Kubanek4,5008.36+6.253,130.46
New DemocraticTristan Maack4,0007.43−0.8411,543.93
Family CoalitionSuzanne Fortin5330.99 0.00
Total valid votes/Expense limit 53,834 100.0  +79.01 $ 107,004.24
Total rejected ballots 277 0.52 +0.20
Turnout 54,111 54.61 +26.09
Eligible voters 99,078   −6.36
Source(s)
"Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate – October 10, 2007 General Election" (PDF).
"Statistical Summary – General Elections 2007" (PDF). Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
"2007 Candidate Campaign Returns (CR-1)". Retrieved May 31, 2014.
Ontario provincial by-election, March 30, 2006: Nepean—Carleton
Party Candidate Votes%±%Expenditures
Progressive ConservativeLisa MacLeod17,31257.57+3.51$  89,547.03
LiberalBrian Ford9,45531.44−4.2158,560.17
New DemocraticLaurel Gibbons2,4878.27+1.7332,687.68
GreenPeter V. Tretter6342.11−1.65852.94
IndependentJohn Turmel1120.37 0.00
FreedomJurgen Vollrath730.24 0.00
Total valid votes/Expense Limit 30,073 100.0  −48.65 $ 114,226.16
Total rejected ballots 97 0.32 −0.13
Turnout 30,170 28.52 −33.71
Eligible voters 105,802  +11.91
Source(s)
"By-Election 2006 – Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate". Elections Ontario. March 30, 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
"By-Election 2006 – Poll by Poll Results". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
"CR-1 Campaign Returns". Elections Ontario. Retrieved May 28, 2014.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Replaces Michael Coteau who was Minister of Children and Youth Services and Minister of Community and Social Services and Harinder Malhi who was Minister responsible for Women's Issues

Citations

  1. ↑ Brennan, Richard; Benzie, Robert (July 19, 2006). "Backbencher raises ire of Atlantic Canada; Liberal MPP suggests region is an economic underperformer". Toronto Star. p. A14.
  2. ↑ Denley, Randall (April 1, 2006). "MacLeod will deliver for city". The Ottawa Citizen. p. E1.
  3. ↑ Pearson, Matthew (September 21, 2013). "A political paradox; Depending on who you talk to, Lisa MacLeod is either a hard-working MPP who cares deeply about her community or a partisan attack dog whose loyalty is first to the Progressive Conservative party". The Ottawa Citizen. p. B1.
  4. 1 2 Reevely, David (September 24, 2003). "Varner brings out the big guns: MacKay, Prentice help Ottawa Centre candidate". The Ottawa Citizen. p. A8.
  5. ↑ Mohammed, Adam (March 2, 2006). "Ex-police chief seeks Liberal nomination: Byelection called for Nepean-Carleton". The Ottawa Citizen. p. C3.
  6. ↑ Lackner, Chris; Pilieci, Vito (March 31, 2006). "Tories' MacLeod posts easy victory in Nepean-Carleton byelection". The Ottawa Citizen. p. F1.
  7. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 10, 2007. p. 9 (xviii). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 7, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  8. ↑ "Summary of Valid Ballots Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. October 6, 2011. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  9. ↑ "General Election by District: Nepean—Carleton". Elections Ontario. June 12, 2014. Archived from the original on September 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Conservatives, including PM, share recipes for cookbook". CTV News. 11 September 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Catholic schools' opposition to gay clubs revives public-funding debate". National Post. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "Kathleen Wynne sues Tim Hudak, MPP Lisa MacLeod and PC party". Toronto Star. 4 April 2014.
  13. ↑ "Wynne, Hudak, and MacLeod resolve their legal differences". Toronto Star. July 9, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Lisa MacLeod to withdraw from Progressive Conservative leadership race". Toronto Star. February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod rules out run for John Baird's federal seat". Toronto Star. February 17, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Lisa MacLeod, MPP (Nepean—Carleton)". www.ontla.on.ca. Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Ontario Progressive Conservatives shuffle critic roles after Patrick Brown resignation". Global News. The Canadian Press. January 30, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  18. ↑ Ferguson, Rob (August 1, 2018). "Ontario minister admits she broke election promise when she axed basic income project | The Star". The Toronto Star. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  19. ↑ Loriggio, Paola (August 1, 2018). "Ontario government defends move to axe basic income pilot project". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Nepean Election Night Results". Elections Ontario. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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