Susan Kadis
Susan R. Kadis | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Thornhill | |
| Assumed office 2004 election | |
| Preceded by | Elinor Caplan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 11, 1953 Toronto, Ontario |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | David Kadis |
| Residence | Thornhill |
| Profession | Newspaper publisher, volunteer worker |
Susan R. Kadis (born January 11, 1953) is the Liberal Member of Parliament for Thornhill in the Canadian House of Commons.
Early career
Born in Toronto, Ontario, she achieved a Bachelor of Sociology from York University. A [2] breast cancer survivor, Kadis has served on the board of directors of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Kadis first rose to prominence in the late 1980’s as the spokesperson for and co-chair of the Parents Advocating Student Support group. Kadis called for a provincial investigation into the practices of the York Board of Education and sought help from Ontario Education Minister Sean Conway. [1] She accused the board of anti-semitism based on allegations that there were a disproportionate number of students of the Jewish faith that had failed a grade, including her own son.[2] She succeeded in getting the province to investigate. As a result the province then retested the students that had originally failed a grade.[3] Kadis received much praise from the community for her efforts and parlayed this support into getting elected in the 1988 municipal election as the area's School Board Trustee, thus starting her political career. She also established a local newspaper, the Thornhill Times. She served as school board trustee in Vaughan from 1988 to 1994. From 1997 to 2004, she was a municipal councillor.
Kadis ran for the provincial Liberal Party nomination for the riding of Thornhill in 2003, but was defeated by fellow municipal councillor Mario Racco.
38th Canadian Parliament
She was elected to the House of Commons as a Liberal candidate in the 2004 federal election on June 28, 2004, in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) riding of Thornhill. She officially resigned her position as city councillor after being elected. [3] During that session of Parliament, Kadis was elected chair of the Liberal Party's GTA caucus as well as chair of the standing committee on the status of women. One of her accomplishments as MP was successfully introducing a bill that created a national Alzheimer's strategy.[4]
39th Canadian Parliament
In the 2006 federal election, Kadis was re-elected as the MP in Thornhill with 53% of the vote. Kadis obtained 29,934 votes, achieving about 11,000 votes over any other candidate. Since being re-elected, Kadis was appointed associate critic for infrastructure and communities in the Official Opposition shadow cabinet. Kadis is also the past Vice-Chair of the Public Safety and Security Committee.[5] Following the departure of fellow Liberal MP Joe Fontana in September 2006, Kadis was appointed Critic for Science and Research.
Kadis was appointed to the Caucus Committee on Economic Prosperity and Vice Chair of the Health Committee after Stéphane Dion's election as party leader.In addition, she was appointed the chair of a Task Force on Cultural Communities-at-Risk. She was not included in Dion's Shadow Cabinet until 23 January 2008, when she was appointed Critic for National Revenue[6]
Political endorsments
Kadis had announced that she would be endorsing MP Michael Ignatieff for the 2006 Liberal leadership convention and had been appointed as his GTA co-chair for his campaign. However, on October 11, Kadis, who is a member of both the Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel and Canada Israel Friendship Group, withdrew her support over comments made by Ignatieff on the war in Lebanon.[7][8]. She later endorsed Bob Rae [9] and following Rae's loss on the 3rd ballot, she endorsed Stéphane Dion.
Kadis endorsed Vaughan, Ontario Mayor Michael Di Biase in his unsuccessful bid for re-election during the 2006 Vaughan municipal election. [10]
Kadis endorsed a number of candidates in the Ontario general election, 2007. She endorsed former Thornhill Liberal MPP Mario Racco in his unsuccessful bid for re-election [11] and successful Richmond Hill Liberal candidate Reza Moridi [12].
In 2007, Kadis became one of only two MP’s across Canada to endorse a leadership candidate in the New Youth Parliament of Canada.
Press coverage
Kadis commented to the news media about the Liberal Women's Caucus reaction to public sexist remarks following the defection of Belinda Stronach to the Liberals [13]. She appeared in an interview, defending Governor General Michaëlle Jean against allegations of separatism[14].
She is a cousin of Lorne Michaels, the executive producer and creator of Saturday Night Live. [15]
References
- ^ Liberal Susan Kadis, was one of five Jewish MPs in the last House of Commons
- ^ "39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION, EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 041, Thursday, June 15, 2006".
- ^ "Minutes of the City of Vaughan Committee of the Whole for September 7, 2004 which contains Susan Kadis' resignation letter" (PDF).
- ^ "Description of National Strategy at Alzheimers.ca".
- ^ "Member of Parliament Profile (Current)".
- ^ Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion Shuffles Critics in Anticipation of Upcoming Session. News Release
- ^ "Kadis's endorsement of Ignatieff".
- ^ MP withdraws support for Ignatieff over 'war crimes' comment, Scott Deveau, Globe and Mail, October 11, 2006
- ^ Ignatieff's former co-chair joins rival's campaign
- ^ Michael DiBiase Campaign endorsements
- ^ Mario Racco Campaign endorsments
- ^ Reza Moridi 'What People Say"
- ^ "CTV article "Women's caucus calls Belinda backlash 'sexist.'"".
- ^ "CTV interview with Susan Kadis about Michaëlle Jean's separatist tie".
- ^ Maclean's magazine: Capital diary: week starting Nov. 10
External links
