Merrilee Fullerton
The Honourable Doctor Merrilee Fullerton MPP | |
---|---|
Ontario Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities | |
Assumed office June 29, 2018 | |
Premier | Doug Ford |
Preceded by | Mitzie Hunter |
Member of the Ontario Provincial Parliament for Kanata—Carleton | |
Assumed office June 7, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Riding established |
Personal details | |
Political party | Progressive Conservative |
Spouse(s) | Steve |
Education | University of Ottawa |
Occupation | Physician |
Merrilee Fullerton is a Canadian politician and physician who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario during the 2018 general election. She represents the riding of Kanata—Carleton as a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario.[1][2][3][4] On June 29, 2018, Fullerton was named as Minister of Training, Colleges, and Universities.[5]
Early life
Fullerton was born in Whitehorse, Yukon[6] but grew up in the Beaverbrook neighbourhood of Kanata, Ontario.[7]
Medical career
Career
Fullerton is a graduate of the University of Ottawa's medical school.[8] She initially practiced from the Carleton Place and District Hospital before going into private practice as a family physician in the Ottawa area.[8]
Fullerton practiced medicine in Ontario for over 30 years, but also spent time in Alberta during her medical training.[6] She first practiced out of the Carleton Place Hospital, before opening a practice as a family physician at Med-Team Clinic in Kanata.[7]
She is a former President of The Academy of Medicine Ottawa and served as a member of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network’s Health Professionals Advisory Committee.[6] She was selected as a City of Ottawa Board of Health member for a four-year term that ended 2014. She was also a member of The Ottawa Hospital’s Community Advisory Committee from 2008-2010.[6]
Fullerton was a representative on the Ontario Medical Association Council as well as a delegate to the Canadian Medical Association Council. In these roles, she brought forward concepts surrounding the sustainability of Canada’s health care system, health human resource planning, social determinants of health, and virtual care including mHealth, otherwise known as "mobile health".[6] Most recently she assisted in creating and delivering a leadership program for women physicians.[6] She has advocated for a hybrid public health care system in Canada.[6]
Ottawa Citizen Columnist
Fullerton wrote a number of columns in the Ottawa Citizen from 2004 to 2007.[6] Her columns were on a variety of information related to general health and the healthcare system. She also ran a medical blog on her website.
Political career
Fullerton entered provincial politics in 2016, declaring her intention to run against then-Progressive Conservative MPP Jack MacLaren in Kanata-Carleton. MacLaren caused and encountered a number of issues around this time. On May 28, 2017, MacLaren was kicked out of the Ontario PC caucus and barred from being a candidate in the 2018 election,[9] leading to a two-way race between Fullerton and Police Sergeant Rick Keindel.[10] Fullerton won the nomination.
Controversy
Fullerton came under fire during the 2018 campaign for her tweets, which were labelled Islamophobic by the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Committee, as well as for blocking Muslim leaders in her community on Twitter.[11] She was also accused of being in favor of a two-tier healthcare system,[12] a claim which she disputes.
Electoral record
Ontario general election, 2018: Kanata—Carleton | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
Progressive Conservative | Merrilee Fullerton | 23,089 | 43.57% | |||||
New Democratic | John Hansen | 15,161 | 28.61% | |||||
Liberal | Stephanie Maghnam | 9,110 | 17.19% | |||||
Green | Andrew West | 2,827 | 5.33% | |||||
Trillium | Jack MacLaren | 1,898 | 3.58% | |||||
Libertarian | Peter D'Entremont | 524 | 0.99% | |||||
None of the Above | Robert LeBrun | 384 | 0.72% | |||||
Total valid votes | 100.0 | |||||||
Progressive Conservative pickup new district. | ||||||||
Source: Elections Ontario[13] |
Cabinet Posts
Ontario Provincial Government of Doug Ford | ||
Cabinet post (1) | ||
---|---|---|
Predecessor | Office | Successor |
Mitzie Hunter | Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities June 29, 2018–present |
Incumbent |
References
- ↑ "Progressive Conservative Merrilee Fullerton wins Kanata–Carleton". CBC News. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ↑ "Fullerton takes Kanata-Carleton, as voters turf MacLaren". Ottawa Citizen. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ↑ "Election results for Ottawa and Eastern Ontario". CTV News. June 8, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ↑ "Provincial election: Naqvi and Chiarelli defeated, PCs and NDP pick up seats in Ottawa (updated)". Ottawa Business Journal. June 7, 2018. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ↑ "Doug Ford names his first cabinet - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2018-06-29. Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 http://www.merrileefullerton.com/profile/
- 1 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20161104221052/http://votemerrileefullerton.ca:80/about-merrilee/
- 1 2 "Election primer: Kanata-Carleton". Ottawa Citizen. May 29, 2018. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ↑ https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/controversial-ont-mpp-jack-maclaren-kicked-out-of-caucus-1.3432760
- ↑ https://www.toronto.com/news-story/7401047-merrilee-fullerton-wins-pc-nomination-in-kanata-carleton/
- ↑ "Elfeitori: Why Merrilee Fullerton should apologize for tweets about Muslims". Ottawa Citizen. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- ↑ "Kanata Tory called for privatized health care, Liberals charge". Ottawa Citizen. 2018-05-09. Retrieved 2018-09-01.
- ↑ "Kanata—Carleton". Election Night Results. Elections Ontario. Retrieved June 10, 2018.