Celina R. Caesar-Chavannes (born June 24, 1974) is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician who served as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for the
riding of
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
in the
House of Commons of Canada from 2015 to 2019. Elected as a
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 ...
in the
2015 federal election, she later sat as an
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
member.
As a member of the Liberal caucus, she was appointed
Parliamentary Secretary to the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
in December 2015 and served in that role until January 26, 2017, when she became Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister of International Development
An International development minister is a position in many governments responsible for development aid and international development.
Country-related articles and lists
*: Minister for International Development
*: Minister of International D ...
. On August 31, 2018, Caesar-Chavannes returned to the
backbenches
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 ...
after the Prime Minister decided to shuffle his parliamentary secretaries. On March 2, 2019, Caesar-Chavannes announced that she would not be seeking re-election in 2019
and almost three weeks later, on March 20, the
Prime Minister's Office announced that she had decided to resign from the Liberal caucus.
Education and designations
She graduated from
New College at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
, earning a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...
degree in biology, followed by an online
MBA
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
in healthcare management from the
University of Phoenix
University of Phoenix (UoPX) is a private for-profit university headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Founded in 1976, the university confers certificates and degrees at the certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree level ...
, and an executive MBA. She subsequently served on the University of Toronto's governing council, including time as vice chair of the council for the
University of Toronto, Scarborough.
Caesar-Chavannes worked as an international research consultant, as well as a lecturer on the need to include marginalized populations in clinical research. She was named Business Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012 by the
Toronto Region Board of Trade.
Elections
She was the Liberal candidate for the riding of
Whitby—Oshawa in the
2014 by-election
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrel ...
resulting from the sudden death of former
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
Jim Flaherty
James Michael Flaherty (December 30, 1949 – April 10, 2014) was a Canadian politician who served as the federal minister of finance from 2006 to 2014 under Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
First elected to the Legislative Assembly ...
. She finished second to Conservative candidate
Pat Perkins
Patricia "Pat" Perkins (born September 3, 1953) is a Scottish-Canadian politician. Perkins served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Whitby—Oshawa from 2014 to 2015. She was elected in a by-election held on November 17, 2014 followi ...
.
In the general election held the following year, Caesar-Chavannes was again the Liberal nominee in the newly created
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
riding, this time defeating Perkins in a rematch.
Member of Parliament
Advocacy for gender and racial equity
Caesar-Chavannes has repeatedly spoken out her experiences of anti-black
racist micro-aggressions on
Parliament Hill
Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their archit ...
that has characterized her time as a Member of Parliament, including being denied entry into her office building by security. She has been criticized by Maxime Bernier for focusing on the colour of her skin as opposed to the issues facing her constituents.
Intention not to seek re-election
On February 12, 2019, Caesar-Chavannes informed Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...
that she had chosen not to seek re-election in the
upcoming federal election. Because
Jody Wilson-Raybould had resigned from the Cabinet that day in the wake of the
SNC-Lavalin Affair, Trudeau told her that she should wait before making her announcement. Caesar-Chavannes publicly announced her intention not to seek re-election on March 2, 2019, citing reasons that had arisen prior to Jody Wilson-Raybould's resignation.
Caesar-Chavannes later claimed that her conversation with Trudeau about her resignation led to anger and hostility by Trudeau, and she publicly criticized Trudeau's leadership style for the interaction.
Resignation from the Liberal caucus
On March 20, 2019, Caesar-Chavannes informed the Prime Minister that she would be resigning as a member of the Liberal caucus and would be moving forward as an independent Member of Parliament. She cited conflict with the Prime Minister for the decision to sit as an independent. Caesar-Chavannes cited allegations of racism, microaggressions and tokenization during her interactions with the Prime Minister before her resignation. Her request occurred around the same time as the resignation of Liberal MP
Jody Wilson-Raybould and she said she was met with hostility. According to Caesar-Chavannes, Trudeau allegedly said that “he couldn’t have two powerful women of colour leave at the same time.”
After politics
In 2021 Caesar-Chavannes published ''Can You Hear Me Now?,'' a book detailing her upbringing, journey as a young Black woman entrepreneur, former politician and the adversity that she overcame. ''Can You Hear Me Now?'' is a book about the journey of healing, finding your authentic voice and demonstrating that "effective and humane leaders grow as much from their mistakes and vulnerabilities as from their strengths." The book was nominated for the 2021
Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing
The Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing is a Canadian literary award, presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the best nonfiction book on Canadian political and social issues. It has been presented annually in Ottawa at the Writer ...
.
Caesar-Chavannes is a contributor to the
Canadaland
Canadaland is a Canadian company that operates a news site and a network of podcasts. It was founded by Jesse Brown in 2013. Canadaland has produced podcasts on Canadian media, art and culture, cooking, medicine, and politics. Podcasts include ...
podcast The Backbench.
In the
2019 federal election Liberal nominee
Ryan Turnbull won election in
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, succeeding Caesar-Chavannes to the seat. In the
2021 federal election, Caesar-Chavannes endorsed Maleeha Shahid, the
Conservative Party of Canada nominee in Whitby;
Shahid placed second to Turnbull in that contest.
Electoral record
External links
MP website (archived)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar-Chavannes, Celina
1974 births
Living people
Liberal Party of Canada MPs
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
Black Canadian politicians
Black Canadian women
Businesspeople from Ontario
People from Whitby, Ontario
University of Toronto alumni
University of Phoenix alumni
Women in Ontario politics
Grenadian emigrants to Canada
Black Canadian businesspeople
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians
Independent MPs in the Canadian House of Commons
People from Saint David Parish, Grenada
Canadian women memoirists
Canadian women non-fiction writers
21st-century memoirists
Black Canadian writers
21st-century Canadian women writers
21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers
Black Canadian scientists