Carolyn Bennett

The Honourable Carolyn Bennett PC MP
Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office November 4, 2015
Prime Minister	Justin Trudeau
Preceded by	Bernard Valcourt
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Toronto—St. Paul's St. Paul's (1997-2015)
Incumbent
Assumed office June 2, 1997
Preceded by	Barry Campbell
Minister of State (Public Health)
In office December 12, 2003 – February 5, 2006
Prime Minister	Paul Martin
Personal details
Born	Carolyn Ann Bennett December 20, 1950 Toronto, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse(s)	Peter O'Brian
Children	2
Residence	Toronto, Ontario
Alma mater	Havergal College, University of Toronto
Profession	Physician

Carolyn Ann Bennett, PC MP (born December 20, 1950) is Canada's Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs and the Member of Parliament for the riding of Toronto—St. Paul's, a constituency located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, and was formerly a candidate for its leadership. During the Paul Martin government, Bennett, who was a family physician before entering politics, was Minister of State for Public Health and set up the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Background

Bennett was born in Toronto on December 20, 1950, and attended Havergal College.^[1][2] She obtained a degree in medicine from the University of Toronto in 1974.^[3] Bennett received her certification in family medicine in 1976. Bennett worked as a family physician at Wellesley Hospital and Women's College Hospital in Toronto from 1977 to 1997 and was a founding partner in Bedford Medical Associates. She was also president of the medical staff association of Women's College Hospital and has a clinical adjunct appointment as an assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at the University of Toronto.^[3] Bennett served on the boards of Havergal College, Women's College Hospital, the Ontario Medical Association, and the Medico-Legal Society of Toronto.

In 1986, Bennett received the Royal Life Saving Society Service Cross, a Commonwealth award recognizing her more than twenty years of distinguished service. In 1990, she was named as one of Simpson's "Women Who Make a Difference". She was the recipient of the inaugural EVE Award for contributing to the advancement of women in politics in 2002, and in 2003 received the first ever CAMIMH Mental Health Champion Award.^[4][5] Bennett is also author of Kill or Cure? How Canadians Can Remake their Health Care System, published in October 2000. In 2004, she was awarded an honorary fellowship from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada for her contributions to medicine, especially women's health.^[6]

She is married to Canadian film producer Peter O'Brian. They have two sons.

Early political career

Bennett ran for public office in the 1995 Ontario provincial election as a candidate of the Ontario Liberal Party.^[7] Running in the riding of St. Andrew—St. Patrick, she lost to Progressive Conservative candidate Isabel Bassett by about 3,500 votes.^[8]

Bennett was more successful in the 1997 federal election, defeating her closest opponent in St. Paul's by almost 15,000 votes.^[9] She was re-elected by increased margins in the elections of 2000 and 2004.^[10][11]

On December 12, 2003, after Paul Martin became Prime Minister, he appointed Bennett as his Minister of State for Public Health. The Minister of State (Public Health) assists the Minister of Health. In this role, Bennett oversaw the establishment of the Public Health Agency of Canada.^[3]

She was chair of the Canada-Israel Friendship Group from 1999 to 2003 and is a member of Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel.

In opposition

In the 2006 election, Bennett defeated two main challengers who were both touted as star candidates, Peter Kent of the Conservatives and Paul Summerville of the New Democratic Party.^[12][13] Bennett was re-elected, but lost her cabinet position as the Liberals were defeated.^[14] She became only the third opposition MP in the history of St. Paul's. The riding had once been a noted bellwether, but swung heavily to the Liberals along with most other central Toronto ridings.

She announced on April 24, 2006 that she would pursue the leadership of the party.^[15] On September 15, 2006, she withdrew from the leadership race and threw her support behind former Ontario Premier Bob Rae.^[16]

In the 39th Parliament, Bennett was the Official Opposition critic for social development, social economy, seniors, persons with disabilities, and public health.^[1]

She was re-elected in 2008.^[17] In the 40th Parliament, Bennett was the Official Opposition critic for health.^[1]

She was re-elected in 2011.^[18] In the 41st Parliament, Bennett was the Liberal critic for Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development, and the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency.^[1]

Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs

On November 4, 2015, Bennett was appointed the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the present Cabinet, headed by Justin Trudeau.^[19] As a senior cabinet minister, Bennett is fifth in the order of succession after Justin Trudeau.^[20]

Electoral record

Toronto—St. Paul's, 2015–present

Canadian federal election, 2015
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	31,481	55.26	+15.34	–
	Conservative	Marnie MacDougall	15,376	26.99	-5.43	–
	New Democratic	Noah Richler	8,386	14.72	-7.91	–
	Green	Kevin Farmer	1,729	3.03	-1.45	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			56,972	100.0		$208,833.75
Total rejected ballots			252	–	–
Turnout			57,224	–	–
Eligible voters			77,433
Source: Elections Canada[21][22][23]

St. Paul's, 1997-2015

Canadian federal election, 2011
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	22,409	40.6	-9.9
	Conservative	Maureen Harquail	17,864	32.4	+5.8
	New Democratic	William Molls	12,124	22.0	+8.7
	Green	Jim McGarva	2,495	4.5	-4.6
	Libertarian	John Kittredge	303	0.5	-0.1
Total valid votes/Expense limit			55,195	100.0
Total rejected ballots			276	0.5	–
Turnout			55,471	68.2	–
Eligible voters			81,288	–	–

Canadian federal election, 2008
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	26,326	50.5	+0.2	$69,331
	Conservative	Heather Jewell	13,800	26.6	+0.8	$53,617
	New Democratic	Anita Agrawal	6,880	13.3	-5.9	$13,606
	Green	Justin Erdman	4,713	9.1	+4.3	$3,526
	Libertarian	John Kittredge	313	0.6	–	$182
Total valid votes/Expense limit			52,032	100.0	$86,488

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	29,295	50.3	-8.1
	Conservative	Peter Kent	15,021	25.8	+5.4
	New Democratic	Paul Summerville	11,189	19.2	+3.5
	Green	Kevin Farmer	2,785	4.8	-0.7
Total valid votes			58,290	100.0

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	32,171	58.4	+4.1
	Conservative	Barry Cline	11,226	20.4	-13.1*
	New Democratic	Norman Tobias	8,667	15.7	+6.3
	Green	Peter Elgie	3,031	5.5	+3.9
Total valid votes			55,095	100.0

*Comparison to total of Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance vote in 2000.

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	25,110	54.3	0.0
	Progressive Conservative	Barry Cline	10,035	21.7	-2.0
	Alliance	Theo Caldwell	5,415	11.7	+4.4
	New Democratic	Guy Hunter	4,372	9.7	-2.7
	Green	Don Roebuck	759	1.6	+0.4
	Marijuana	Andrew Potter	221	0.5
	Canadian Action	Mark Till	125	0.3	-0.1
	Marxist–Leninist	Barbara Seed	88	0.2	-0.1
	Natural Law	Ron Parker	83	0.2	-0.3
Total valid votes			46,208	100.0

Note: Canadian Alliance vote is compared to the Reform vote in 1997 election.

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Carolyn Bennett	26,389	54.3	-0.1
	Progressive Conservative	Peter Atkins	11,520	23.7	-0.7
	New Democratic	Michael Halewood	6,028	12.4	+7.3
	Reform	Francis Floszmann	3,564	7.3	-3.8
	Green	Don Roebuck	597	1.2	+0.3
	Natural Law	Neil Dickie	221	0.5	-0.2
	Canadian Action	Daniel Widdicombe	182	0.4
	Marxist–Leninist	Fernand Deschamps	135	0.3	+0.1
Total valid votes			48,636	100.0

References

1. "BENNETT, The Hon. Dr. Carolyn, P.C., M.D.". Library of Parliament. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
2. "NOTABLE OLD GIRLS". Havergal College. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
3. "Meet the new cabinet ministers from the University of Toronto". University of Toronto. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
4. "EVE Award Recipients". Equal Voice. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
5. "CAMIMH Honours Canadians for Raising Awareness About Mental Illness". Canadian Psychiatric Association. December 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
6. "Media Advisory: The Honourable Dr. Carolyn Bennett Receives Honorary Fellowship from the SOGC.". June 25, 2004.
7. "Carolyn Bennett takes your questions on the Liberal leadership race". The Globe and Mail. September 13, 2006.
8. "Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. June 8, 1995.
9. "Final Results Riding by Riding". Calgary Herald. June 4, 1997. p. A5.
10. "Election Results". Star — Phoenix (Saskatoon, SK). November 28, 2000. p. A8.
11. "Election results...riding by riding". The Globe and Mail. June 29, 2004. p. A14.
12. Bill Doskoch (September 7, 2008). "Toronto's political landscape unlikely to shift". CTV.
13. "NDP won't raise taxes, pledges Jack Layton". CTV. December 5, 2005.
14. Justin Skinner (September 4, 2008). "Federal election call expected soon". Inside Toronto. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
15. "Liberal leadership field grows with Bennett's entry". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. April 24, 2006. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
16. Susan Delacourt (September 16, 2006). "Bennett quits contest, backs Rae". Toronto Star.
17. "Greater Toronto Area Results". The Toronto Star. October 15, 2008. p. U2.
18. "Riding results from across Canada". Edmonton Journal. May 3, 2011. p. A6.
19. "Full list of Justin Trudeau's cabinet 31-member cabinet includes 15 women, attempt at regional balance". CBC News. 2015-11-04.
20. McGregor, Janyce (7 November 2015). "Justin Trudeau's cabinet: 6 changes found in the fine print". CBC News. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
21. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Toronto—St. Paul's, 30 September 2015
22. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates

External links

• Official website
• Carolyn Bennett – Parliament of Canada biography