Lisa Raitt
Lisa Raitt | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Halton | |
| Assumed office 2008 federal election | |
| Preceded by | Garth Turner |
| Minister of Natural Resources | |
| Assumed office 2008 | |
| Prime Minister | Stephen Joseph Harper |
| Preceded by | Gary Lunn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1968 Sydney, Nova Scotia |
| Political party | Conservative |
Lisa Raitt, PC, MP (born 1968) is a Canadian politician, who is the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the riding of Halton. She is the current Minister of Natural Resources in the Cabinet of Canada.
Background
Raitt was born Lisa MacCormack in Sydney, Nova Scotia as the youngest of seven children. Her father, Colin A. MacCormack, worked for a local coal mine, loading coal onto ships, and later served as city alderman, and secretary-treasurer and a lead negotiator for the Cape Breton Railway Transportation and General Workers. Her mother, Tootsie, worked as a small businesswoman. Raitt is married to comedy writer David Raitt and has two sons.[1]
Raitt graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia with a Bachelor of Science degree. She went on to do a Masters degree in Chemistry specializing in environmental biochemical toxicology from the University of Guelph. Raitt possesses an LL.B from Osgoode Hall Law School, and was called to the Ontario bar in 1998. That year, she was granted a Dr. Harold G. Fox Scholarship.[2] As a result, she trained with barristers of the Middle Temple in London, United Kingdom, who specialized in international trade, commerce, transportation and arbitration.
Toronto Port Authority
Prior to the election campaign, Raitt was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Port Authority (TPA), a Canadian federal corporation that manages commerce, transportation (including the Toronto City Centre Airport) and recreation in the Toronto Harbour. She has also served as the TPA’s Corporate Secretary and General Counsel,[3] and harbourmaster (she was the first female harbourmaster of a Canadian port).[4]
S.L.A.P.P. controversy
In 2006, Raitt in her capacity as CEO of Toronto Port Authority, initiated a rare political libel action against a citizen group, Community Air, that had criticized her. The Globe and Mail described TPA's multi-million dollar strategic lawsuit against public participation, as designed to prevent "the volunteer activists from making any more allegedly defamatory statements about the federal agency -- a category of speech, according to the wide-open statement of claim the authority filed in court last week, that would seem to include every public statement any of the activists has ever made in this hotly contested, thoroughly aired, public debate".[5] The suit was eventually settled out of court when Community Air agreed to retract its statements and apologize.[6]
Federal politics
In September 2008, Raitt was appointed to run as the Conservative candidate in Halton against Liberal incumbent Garth Turner.[7] Turner was formerly a Conservative member but was suspended from the Conservative caucus in 2006 for breaching confidentiality. He later joined the Liberals after briefly sitting as an independent member.[8] A bitter campaign between Turner and Raitt ensued. Turner made public accusations of dirty tricks by the local Conservative association and Raitt, calling Raitt a "master of deceit."[9]. Raitt made controversial comments about the North and global warming. At an October 8 meeting of the Oakville, Ontario, Chamber of Commerce, Raitt was on record cheering about the possibilities of increased tourism and shipping opportunities in the North, thanks to the melting polar ice cap.[10][9]
On October 14, 2008, Raitt defeated Liberal incumbent Garth Turner by over 7,000 votes. Raitt was named to the Cabinet of Canada on October 30, 2008 as Minister of Natural Resources, one of eleven women named to the Cabinet.[11]
On June 2, 2009, CTV news reported that a folder of confidential and secret ministerial briefing documents had been left by Raitt or her staff at the CTV news Ottawa office for a week. CTV news chose to reveal the contents which listed the funding for the Chalk River nuclear reactor which had recently shut down, causing a shortage of medical radioisotopes. On June 3, the opposition parties demanded that the government fire Raitt or accept her resignation. Raitt claimed to have offered her resignation and that offer was rejected by the Prime Minister. Her aide offered her resignation which was accepted by Raitt.[12]
References
- ^ Brennan, Richard (November 9, 2008). "Resources minister used to taking heat; Former head of Toronto Port Authority clashed with waterfront residents, city over island airport". Toronto Star. p. A8.
- ^ "Past Recipients". The Harold G. Fox Education Fund Website. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^ "Port CEO rips Martin for bridge comments". The Globe and Mail, Online Edition. 28 November 2003.
- ^ "Covering the waterfront; Toronto's first female harbourmaster takes helm of complex port job". Toronto Star. 5 April 2001. p. B1..
- ^ Barber, John (June 21, 2006). "Port Authority's cynical SLAPP aimed at silencing its critics". The Globe and Mail. p. A13.
- ^ Gray, Jeff (May 3, 2007). "Port agency settles suit against Community Air". The Globe and Mail. p. A15.
- ^ "Port Authority CEO to run for Tories". The Globe and Mail. 6 September 2008. p. A18.
- ^ "Raitt leaves incumbent Turner in her wake". Toronto Star. October 15, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ a b Depko, Tina (October 9, 2008). "Sparks fly at Halton debate". The Oakville Beaver. p. 1.
- ^ Findlay, Andrew (February 5, 2009). "Pipeline would bring tankers into B.C. inlets". straight.com. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "The new face of cabinet". Toronto Star. October 30, 2008.
- ^ "Minister grilled, aide resigns after secret documents left at news bureau". CBC news. June 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-03.