Cheryl Gallant (born May 23, 1960) 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 represents the riding of
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons since 1979.
It is represented by Cheryl Gallant of the Conservative Party.
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke inc ...
in the
House of Commons of Canada
The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada.
The House of Common ...
. She is a member of the
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
. She is currently the longest-serving woman in the federal caucus.
Early life and career
Gallant was born in
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...
,
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 ...
. She attended the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
, graduating with 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 of ...
degree in
chemistry
Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...
. Prior to becoming a politician, she worked for a major Canadian
life insurance
Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...
company as a group insurance executive and for a time as an office manager of a family-owned professional practice. Gallant has been married since 1985, and is the parent of four daughters. She has served as the Chair of the City of Pembroke Downtown Development Commission and as a member of the Economic Advisory Committee for the city.
Political career
Gallant won her seat in the
2000 federal election, defeating
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 ...
incumbent
Hec Clouthier
Hector Daniel Clouthier (born October 18, 1949) is a former Federal Member of Parliament for the riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke in Ontario, Canada. He is known for wearing a fedora and his election slogan, "Give 'em Hec".
Early lif ...
and making history as the first woman elected to federal office in
Renfrew County
Renfrew County is a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It stands on the west bank of the Ottawa River. There are 17 municipalities in the county.
History Bathurst District
When Carleton County was withdrawn from Bathurst District in 183 ...
. Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke was one of only three Ontario federal riding districts not to elect a Liberal. Gallant took advantage of local opposition to Bill C-68, the
Firearms Act
Firearms Act is a stock short title used for legislation in Canada, Hong Kong, Jamaica, and the United Kingdom. This list includes not only Firearms Acts as such, but legislation of different names governing firearms and also other weapons.
List
...
, and benefited from backlash to Clouthier's support for gun control.
She is currently a member of the
Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservative Party of Canada (french: Parti conservateur du Canada), colloquially known as the Tories, is a federal political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main right-leaning parties, the Progressive Con ...
in the House of Commons of Canada, having previously been a member of the
Canadian Alliance
The Canadian Alliance (french: Alliance canadienne), formally the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance (french: Alliance réformiste-conservatrice canadienne), was a centre-right to right-wing federal political party in Canada that existed u ...
party from 2000 to 2003. She is largely viewed as one of the strongest
social conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
s in the House of Commons. While a popular figure among the
Christian Right
The Christian right, or the religious right, are Christian political factions characterized by their strong support of socially conservative and traditionalist policies. Christian conservatives seek to influence politics and public policy with t ...
and property rights activists, she has occasionally drawn the ire of opponents. Serving in a riding with the largest military base and only national nuclear research facility in Canada, she has advocated for increased federal support for
CFB Petawawa
Garrison Petawawa is located in Petawawa, Ontario. It is operated as an army base by the Canadian Army.
Garrison facts
The Garrison is located in the Ottawa Valley in Renfrew County, northwest of Ottawa along the western bank of the Ottawa ...
and the
Chalk River Laboratories
Chalk River Laboratories (french: Laboratoires de Chalk River; also known as CRL, Chalk River Labs and formerly Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, CRNL) is a Canadian nuclear research facility in Deep River, about north-west of Ottawa.
CRL is a ...
.
During the 37th Parliament, Gallant served as deputy house leader of the Official Opposition. She has served as CPC critic for science, research and development, was a member of the Commons Standing Committee on National Defence and Veteran's Affairs, and the Standing Committee on Industry. She has also served as opposition critic of Canadian Heritage, Amateur Sport, the
National Capital Commission
The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...
, Science, Research and Development, the
Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario In Canada, the Regional Development Agencies (RDA) are the seven federal government agencies responsible for addressing key economic challenges and furthering economic development, diversification, and job creation specific to their respective regi ...
, and Small Business. In the 39th Parliament, she served as government vice-chair of the House
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
committee and on the House Committee for Natural Resources.
In the 38th Parliament, Gallant served as a member on the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure of the Standing Joint Committee on Library of Parliament, and the Library of Parliament.
Her service continued in the 39th Parliament, where she served on the committee for the Status of Women, National Defence, and Library of Parliament.
During the 40th Parliament, she served for varying lengths of time as a member on the following committees: National Defence, the Library of Parliament, the Subcommittee on Agenda and Procedure on the Standing Committee on National Defence, Scrutiny of Regulations, Natural Resources, and Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities.
In the
2008 election, Gallant won her fourth term in Parliament, winning 28,906 of 47,314 votes (61.1% of the total). Her nearest rival, Liberal candidate Carole Devine, received 9,740 votes (20.6%).
Gallant won her fifth term in Parliament in a landslide election, collecting 27,462 of 51,398 votes (53.43% of the total). Her closest opponent, Independent Hec Clouthier, received 9,611 votes (18.70%).
In the 41st Parliament, Gallant serves as a member of the Standing Committee on Industry, Science, and Technology, as well as the Standing Committee on National Defence.
She was elected by colleagues to represent Canada as Chair of the Canadian-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Association. The Canada-NATO Parliamentary Association consists of membership of all political parties represented in the House of Commons.
In March 2012, Gallant traveled to Norway to observe Canadian Forces from Petawawa participate in NATO exercises. In April 2012, she received second place in ''
The Hill Times
''The Hill Times'' is a Canadian twice-weekly newspaper and daily news website, published in Ottawa, Ontario, which covers the Parliament of Canada, the federal government, and other federal political news. Founded in 1989 by Ross Dickson and Jim ...
'' poll for Best Conservative Constituency MP.
Gallant was re-elected for a sixth term in 2015. In a statement on April 2, 2019, Gallant addressed the Speaker in the House regarding
carbon pricing in Canada
Carbon pricing in Canada is implemented either as a regulatory fee or tax levied on the carbon content of fuels at the Canadian provincial, territorial or federal level. Provinces and territories of Canada are allowed to create their own system ...
stating that the effects would necessitate higher tuition fees on college and university students to make up for increased heating and carbon payments.
Gallant was challenged for the Conservative nomination in
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons since 1979.
It is represented by Cheryl Gallant of the Conservative Party.
Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke inc ...
for the
2019 election by Mike Coates, the campaign manager for former
Conservative leadership candidate
Kevin O'Leary
Terence Thomas Kevin O'Leary (born 9 July 1954), also known as Mr. Wonderful, is a Canadian businessman, entrepreneur, and television personality. From 2004 to 2014, he appeared on various Canadian television shows. These include the business n ...
. However, Gallant was successful in winning the nomination 866 votes to 522.
On October 21, 2019, Gallant was re-elected for her seventh term in office after winning 30,387 of 57,506 ballots cast, or 52.67% of the vote. She is the longest serving woman in the federal caucus. During the ensuing
43rd Canadian Parliament
The 43rd Canadian Parliament was in session from December 5, 2019, to August 15, 2021, with the membership of its Lower House, the House of Commons of Canada, having been determined by the results of the 2019 federal election held on October 21, ...
, she introduced one private member bill, Bill C-222, ''An Act to amend the Expropriation Act'' (protection of private property) which sought to disallow the exemption of a public hearing in cases where private land is being expropriated for the purposes of "restoring historical natural habitats or addressing, directly or indirectly, climate variability". It was brought to a vote on February 17, 2021, but defeated with only Conservatives Party members voting in favour.
In the
2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election
The 2020 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election was a leadership election held to elect a successor to Andrew Scheer, who in December 2019 announced his pending resignation as leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. The electio ...
she endorsed
Peter MacKay
Peter Gordon MacKay (born September 27, 1965) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. He was a Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015 and has served as Minister of Justice and Attorney General (2013–2015), Minister of National Defence (2007 ...
.
She won re-election in 2021, despite being "nowhere to be found" during the campaign, according to CTV News Ottawa. During the campaign, Gallant claimed "Now that the pandemic is passing, they’re rebranding climate change as a climate emergency in order to justify climate lockdowns." The claim was cited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as an example of a need for Conservative leader Erin O'Toole to control his candidates.
Controversies
In 2002, she made
anti-gay remarks to then
Minister of Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Bill Graham, when during a heated exchange, she kept interrupting "Ask your boyfriend" or "How's your boyfriend?".
Shortly before the
2004 election, Gallant made headlines for her criticism of
Bill C-250
''An Act to amend the Criminal Code (hate propaganda)'', also known as ''Bill C-250'' during the second and third sessions of the 37th Canadian parliament, originated in a Canadian Private Member's Bill to amend the ''Criminal Code''. It added ...
, an amendment to the
Criminal Code
A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
introduced by
NDP
NDP may stand for:
Computing
* Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol
* Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP
* Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language
Government
* National ...
MP
Svend Robinson
Svend Robinson (born March 4, 1952) is a Canadian politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1979 to 2004, who represented suburban Vancouver-area constituencies of Burnaby for the New Democratic Party (NDP). He is noted as the first me ...
which would protect sexual orientation from hate propaganda. Among other things, Gallant claimed that the bill would limit freedom of opinion, make sections of the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
"hate literature" and provide protection to
pedophiles
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
.
[
During the 2004 election, a controversy erupted when Gallant compared ]abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
to the beheading of Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...
Nick Berg
Nicholas Evan Berg (April 2, 1978 – May 7, 2004) was an American freelance radio-tower repairman who went to Iraq after the United States' invasion of Iraq. He was abducted and beheaded according to a video released in May 2004 by Islamist mi ...
. The Conservative Party then announced that she was suffering from laryngitis
Laryngitis is inflammation of the larynx (voice box). Symptoms often include a hoarse voice and may include fever, cough, pain in the front of the neck, and trouble swallowing. Typically, these last under two weeks.
Laryngitis is categorised ...
, and after this, she did not appear at some scheduled debates.
Gallant resurfaced in the spotlight on March 17, 2005, when she suggested that Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
were being persecuted by the Liberal Party in a flyer she sent to her constituents. Conservative leader Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. Harper is the first and only prime minister to come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ...
, confronted with the news, said "I'll let Cheryl Gallant explain those remarks herself; I haven't seen them."
Several constituents have accused Gallant of obtaining birth-date information from passport applications during the 2006 campaign. Her office regularly sent out greeting cards to constituents when their birthday came. One affected resident told the ''Ottawa Citizen
The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
History
Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...
'', "The principle is really bothering me: that my information has been gathered without my knowledge. I don't know how it's going to be used." Two families who received cards have sent letters to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
The privacy commissioner of Canada (french: Commissaire à la protection de la vie privée du Canada) is a non-partisan ombudsman and officer of the Parliament of Canada. The commissioner investigates complaints regarding violations of the feder ...
, asking confirmation the MP won't use the collected personal information. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has no jurisdiction in investigating such matters. Gallant's aide says the Member receives many requests for birthday and anniversary cards, and the office is unsure how the information was put on the list, since Gallant receives thousands of requests for salutations and the birth date could have been on one of the request forms returned by a constituent. In addition, two constituents named Mr. and Mrs. White, who were unsatisfied with the response they received from Gallant's office, contacted the Liberal MP for Ottawa-Vanier Mauril Bélanger
Mauril Adrien Jules Bélanger (June 15, 1955 – August 15, 2016) was a Canadian politician.
A member of the Liberal Party of Canada, he represented Ottawa—Vanier in the House of Commons through a by-election victory in 1995 until his death ...
. Bélanger contacted the Office of the Ethics Commissioner on their behalf, who found grounds for and did conduct a preliminary inquiry into the matter. Although in their report they commented "personal information should only be used for the purpose for which it is gathered, or for a use consistent with that purpose," they found Gallant's use of the information did not further her private interests as alleged. Because the use of the constituents' information did not meet the definition in Section 3(2) of the Member's Code for furthering private interests, the Office of the Ethics Commissioner discontinued their inquiry.
Of around 60 major candidates in 15 Eastern Ontario
Eastern Ontario (census population 1,763,186 in 2016) (french: Est de l'Ontario) is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies in a wedge-shaped area between the Ottawa River and St. Lawrence River. It sh ...
and Western Quebec ridings, Gallant was the only one who didn't attending a meeting with the ''Ottawa Citizen'' editorial board. "Ms. Gallant's decision to duck every difficult question from the media is nothing short of childish", commented ''Citizen'' columnist Kelly Egan. Gallant has stated that she was focused on campaigning locally in order to keep in touch with the concerns of local constituents.
In February 2011, during Defence Committee hearings in St. John's before an audience which included the family and co-workers of mariners lost at sea in recent accidents on the Atlantic, Gallant remarked, "In Ontario we have inland seas, the Great Lakes, and it would never occur to any of us, even up in the Ottawa River, to count on the Coast Guard to come and help us." Gallant said federal search and ocean rescue should be coordinated with privately operated resources and local governments. Gallant's comparison of recreational boaters in sheltered inland waters to mariners on the Atlantic hundreds of miles from land drew outrage from many who had lost family at sea. She initially refused to apologize saying her remarks were misinterpreted, but on February 10, Gallant said she was sorry and did not mean to minimize ocean dangers.
On March 28, 2011, after stating in a press release that she hoped for a clean election campaign, Gallant compared Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...
to Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi. Gallant wrote on her Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
page: "No carbon tax please, Igaffi!" Her initial tweet was deleted, but not before it was screen-captured and distributed to the national press. She tweeted an apology to Ignatieff for her remarks on April 1.
In March 2016, Gallant caused further outrage and controversy by using the death of Corporal Nathan Cirillo
The 2014 shootings at Parliament Hill were a series of shootings that occurred on October 22, 2014, at Parliament Hill in Ottawa. At the National War Memorial (Canada), Canadian National War Memorial, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a Canadian Army, Ca ...
as a means to generate money for her campaign through an Easter ham lottery. Cirillo was killed while standing guard at the National War Memorial on Oct. 22, 2014.
In May 2016, Gallant accused the Rideau Institute of having ties to North Korea, Iran, and Russia on account of the Institute having those countries as options on their donation page when stating their nation of origin.
In June 2017, Gallant was the only Member of Parliament to vote against a government motion re-affirming support for the Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement (french: Accord de Paris), often referred to as the Paris Accords or the Paris Climate Accords, is an international treaty on climate change. Adopted in 2015, the agreement covers climate change mitigation, Climate change a ...
.
In February 2021, Gallant was recorded on a Zoom meeting with a university student group, accusing Liberals of wanting to “normalize sexual activity with children”.
During the so-called "Freedom Convoy
A series of protests and blockades in Canada against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, called the Freedom Convoy (french: Convoi de la liberté, links=no) by organizers, began in early 2022. The initial convoy movement was created t ...
", Gallant commented on her Facebook page to "Watch for Trudeau's gang to pull off false flag operations." She advertised a Pembroke protest on her Facebook page, and has encouraged protests nationwide.
Electoral record
References
External links
Cheryl Gallant
official site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallant, Cheryl
1960 births
Canadian anti-abortion activists
Canadian Roman Catholics
Women members of the House of Commons of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada MPs
Living people
Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Ontario
People from Pembroke, Ontario
People from Sarnia
University of Western Ontario alumni
Women in Ontario politics
21st-century Canadian politicians
21st-century Canadian women politicians