Elizabeth Witmer
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Witmer is a politician in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. She has been a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...

 since 1990, originally representing Waterloo North and later Kitchener—Waterloo
Kitchener—Waterloo (provincial electoral district)
Kitchener—Waterloo is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1999...

 for the Progressive Conservative Party.

Witmer moved with her family to Ontario at a young age. She received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree from the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...

, and later attended the Althouse College of Education
Althouse College of Education
Althouse College of Education is a teacher's college at University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada.-History:Althouse College was established at University of Western Ontario on April 16, 1963. It was originally created to train educators at the secondary level...

. She did postgraduate work at the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

. Witmer worked as a secondary school teacher from 1968 to 1980, in West Lorne, London
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...

 and Guelph
Guelph
Guelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...

. She was named the "Kitchener-Waterloo Woman of the Year" in 1968.

Career in Ontario politics

Witmer began her political career as a school trustee, serving on the Waterloo County Board of Education from 1980 to 1990; she became its chair in 1984. She first ran for the Ontario legislature in the 1987 election
Ontario general election, 1987
The Ontario general election of 1987 was held on September 10, 1987, to elect members of the 34th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada.The governing Ontario Liberal Party, led by David Peterson, was returned to power with a large majority...

, but was defeated by Ontario Liberal Party
Ontario Liberal Party
The Ontario Liberal Party is a provincial political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. It has formed the Government of Ontario since the provincial election of 2003. The party is ideologically aligned with the Liberal Party of Canada but the two parties are organizationally independent and...

 Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Herb Epp
Herb Epp
Herbert Arnold "Herb" Epp is a retired politician from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1977 to 1990 and is a former three-term mayor of the City of Waterloo.-Political career:...

 in Waterloo North
Waterloo North (provincial electoral district)
Waterloo North was a provincial electoral district represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from Confederation in 1867 until 1999.It was abolished in 1999 when provincial ridings were defined to have the same borders as federal ridings...

.

Epp retired before the 1990 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1990
The Ontario general election of 1990 was held on September 6, 1990, to elect members of the 35th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada....

, and Witmer again won the Progressive Conservative nomination in the riding. She was successful this time, defeating New Democrat
Ontario New Democratic Party
The Ontario New Democratic Party or , formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a provincial section of the federal New Democratic Party. It was formed in October 1961, a few months after the federal party. The ONDP had its...

 Hugh Miller
Hugh Miller
Hugh Miller was a self-taught Scottish geologist and writer, folklorist and an evangelical Christian.- Life and work :Born in Cromarty, he was educated in a parish school where he reportedly showed a love of reading. At 17 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and his work in quarries, together with...

 and Liberal Andrew Telegdi
Andrew Telegdi
Andrew Telegdi, PC is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons from 1993 to 2008, representing Waterloo and the successor riding of Kitchener—Waterloo....

 (later a federal Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

). The NDP scored an upset victory in this election while the Progressive Conservatives won only 20 of 130 seats for third-party status.

Cabinet appointment

There was a significant swing to the Progressive Conservatives in the 1995 provincial election
Ontario general election, 1995
The Ontario general election of 1995 was held on June 8, 1995, to elect members of the 36th Legislative Assembly of the province of Ontario, Canada...

, and Witmer was re-elected by more than 17000 votes over her nearest opponent. On June 26, 1995, she was appointed Minister of Labour in the government of Mike Harris
Mike Harris
Michael Deane "Mike" Harris was the 22nd Premier of Ontario from June 26, 1995 to April 15, 2002. He is most noted for the "Common Sense Revolution", his Progressive Conservative government's program of deficit reduction in combination with lower taxes and cuts to government...

. In October 1997, she was promoted to the key portfolio of Minister of Health
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Ontario)
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is the Government of Ontario ministry responsible for administering the health care system and providing services to the province of Ontario...

, replacing the more confrontational Jim Wilson.

Harris's government was initially regarded by many as uniformly right-wing, although moderate Red Tory
Red Tory
A red Tory is an adherent of a particular political philosophy, tradition, and disposition in Canada somewhat similar to the High Tory tradition in the United Kingdom; it is contrasted with "blue Tory". In Canada, the phenomenon of "red toryism" has fundamentally, if not exclusively, been found in...

 figures such as Witmer and Isabel Bassett
Isabel Bassett
Isabel Bassett is a Canadian broadcaster and former politician. From 1999 until 2005 she was the chair and CEO of TVOntario/TFO, Ontario's provincial public television network. She has been a controversial figure at times, but is also a highly regarded pioneer in Canadian...

 eventually emerged in key portfolios. Witmer's appointment as Minister of Health was generally interpreted as signalling that the government desired a more moderate approach to negotiations with the health sector. Despite this, she presided over a controversial restructuring process which included a number of government cutbacks.

Witmer was re-elected in the 1999 election
Ontario general election, 1999
An Ontario general election was held on June 3, 1999, to elect members of the 37th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

, defeating Liberal Sean Strickland by just under 10,000 votes. On July 17, 1999 her portfolio was renamed the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Ontario)
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care is the Government of Ontario ministry responsible for administering the health care system and providing services to the province of Ontario...

, and she focused her ministry's attention on community services and long-term care. Following a cabinet shuffle on February 8, 2001, she became Minister of the Environment.

2002 PC leadership campaign and afterward

She ran in the 2002 PC leadership election
Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership conventions
This page lists the results of leadership elections within the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario .Before 1920, leaders of the Conservative Party were usually chosen by caucus...

 to succeed Harris as Tory leader and Premier, but placed fourth on the first ballot and threw her support to the eventual winner, Ernie Eves
Ernie Eves
Ernest Lawrence "Ernie" Eves was the 23rd Premier of the province of Ontario, Canada, from April 15, 2002, to October 23, 2003.-Beginnings:...

. In April 2002, she was appointed Deputy Premier
Deputy Premier of Ontario
The Deputy Premier of Ontario is the representative of the Premier of Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario when the current Premier is unable to attend functions executed by the Premier...

 and Minister of Education.

The 2003 election
Ontario general election, 2003
The Ontario general election of 2003 was held on October 2, 2003, to elect the 103 members of the 38th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada....

 saw a significant backlash against the Conservative government. Witmer was re-elected in Kitchener—Waterloo (again defeating Strickland, this time by 1501 votes), but was one of only 24 Progressive Conservatives returned. Moreover, she is considered to be one of the few moderates in a caucus dominated by the right-wing of the party. She was named as deputy leader of the opposition, and serves as her party's critic on long-term care and women's issues.

Witmer considered running to succeed Eves in the 2004 PC leadership election
Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership election, 2004
On January 23, 2004, the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader Ernie Eves announced his intention to step down as leader before the fall of 2004. Eves was elected party leader in the party's 2002 leadership election, and became Premier of Ontario...

, but ultimately supported John Tory
John Tory
John Howard Tory is a Canadian businessman, political activist, former leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, former Member of Provincial Parliament and broadcaster...

's successful candidacy instead. Tory re-appointed Witmer as deputy leader. Her appointment was considered a notable victory for the centrist wing of the party. In the 2007 provincial election
Ontario general election, 2007
The Ontario general election of 2007 was held on October 10, 2007 to elect members of the 39th Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Liberals under Dalton McGuinty won the election with a majority government, winning 71 out of a possible 107 seats with 42.2% of the popular...

, Witmer won re-election by 4,917 votes.

Witmer again considered running in the 2009 PC leadership election
Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election, 2009
On March 6, 2009, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader John Tory announced his intention to step down as leader following his defeat in a by-election. Tory was elected party leader in the party's 2004 leadership election, and led the party to defeat in the 2007 provincial election in...

, following the resignation of John Tory, but ultimately she decided to endorse Christine Elliott
Christine Elliott
Christine Janice Elliott is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in a byelection on March 30, 2006. Elliott was a candidate in the 2009 Progressive Conservative leadership election and came in third place behind winner Tim Hudak and runner-up Frank...

.

Witmer recently won the "Ontario's Greatest Female Premier" contest conducted by Equal Voice
Equal Voice
Founded in 2001 by Rosemary Speirs and Donna Dasko Equal Voice: Electing More Women in Canada is a multi-partisan, non-governmental, non-profit organization that promotes the election of more women in Canadian politics...

 where runners up were political activist Georgina Bencsik and Federal MP Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow
Olivia Chow is a Canadian New Democratic Party Member of Parliament and former city councillor in Toronto. She won the Trinity—Spadina riding for the New Democratic Party on January 23, 2006, becoming a member of the Canadian House of Commons. Most recently, she was re-elected in her riding for...

.

External links

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