Brenda Elliott (born October 27, 1950) is a former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

in Ontario, Canada. She served in the

Legislative Assembly of Ontario The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

as a Progressive Conservative from 1995 to 2003, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, � ...

in the governments of

Mike Harris Michael Deane Harris (born January 23, 1945) is a Canadian retired politician who served as the 22nd premier of Ontario from 1995 to 2002 and leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (PC Party) from 1990 to 2002. During his time ...

and

Ernie Eves Ernest Larry Eves (born June 17, 1946) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 23rd premier of Ontario from 2002 to 2003. A Progressive Conservative, he took over the premiership upon Mike Harris's resignation as party leade ...

Background

Elliott was born in

Goderich, Ontario Goderich ( or ) is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario and is the county seat of Huron County, Ontario, Huron County. The town was founded by John Galt (novelist), John Galt and William "Tiger" Dunlop of the Canada Company in 1827. First ...

. She went to

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

, and worked as a teacher and librarian. In 1972, she was elected to the Wellington County Board of Education. She became interested in environmental causes during the 1990s, and in November 1989 opened a store in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

called For Earth's Sake.

Politics

Elliott was elected to the Ontario legislature in the 1995 provincial election, defeating former

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Rick Ferraro and incumbent

New Democrat New Democrats, also known as centrist Democrats, Clinton Democrats, or moderate Democrats, are a centrist ideological faction within the Democratic Party in the United States. As the Third Way faction of the party, they are seen as culturall ...

Derek Fletcher Derek Fletcher (born ) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, representing Guelph. Background Fletcher was born in England and moved to Canada w ...

in the

constituency. The Tories won a majority government in this election under

's leadership, and Elliott was appointed as Minister of Environment and Energy on June 26, 1995. Due to Elliott's background in the

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

, many believed she would be a strong advocate for "green" policies in the Harris cabinet. She was dropped from cabinet on August 16, 1996, and served as a

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

supporter in the legislature for the next three years. Elliott was easily re-elected in the 1999 provincial election for the redistributed riding of Guelph—Wellington by about ten thousand votes. On February 8, 2001, she returned to cabinet as

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs The minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Infrastructure and Communities (french: Ministre des Affaires intergouvernementales) is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who is responsible for the federal government's relations wi ...

. When

replaced Mike Harris as

Premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly of On ...

in 2002, he named Elliott as his Minister of Community, Family and Children's Services. The Tories were defeated in the 2003 provincial election, and Elliott lost her seat to Liberal candidate

Liz Sandals Liz Sandals (née MacNaughton; born ) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2018 who represented the ridings of Guelph—Wellington and Guelph. She served in cabinet a ...

by 2,800 votes.

Cabinet positions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Brenda 1950 births Women government ministers of Canada Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario People from Goderich, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs Women MPPs in Ontario 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians