Donna Skelly is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2018 provincial election. Skelly, who is a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario represents the riding of Flamborough-Glanbrook. She currently serves as the Deputy-Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. Skelly previously served as the Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney-General and when first elected in 2018, she served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Prior to being elected as a member of provincial parliament, Donna Skelly represented the residents of Ward 7 on Hamilton City Council.

Provincial politics

Donna Skelly’s political priorities include ending hallway healthcare, lowering the cost of hydro, reducing bureaucratic red tape, and respecting taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. Skelly felt compelled to enter provincial politics because of the mess the previous Liberal government made of the hydro file. She could no longer sit on the sidelines and watch soaring costs and deepening debt chase away businesses and jobs. In March 2019, Skelly introduced a Private Member’s Motion in the Ontario Legislature encouraging people to donate their clothing rather than have it end up in a landfill. The initiative was an effort to combat the negative impacts of fast fashion on the environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Skelly launched a website called “Relief Within Reach” to connect small businesses with provincial and federal support programs, an initiative that was applauded by Hamilton City Council. In March 2023, Donna Skelly announced that Carmeuse Lime Limited would not proceed with its application to burn Alternative Low-Carbon Fuels at its Dundas operations. Skelly had been meeting regularly with the company and listening to the concerns of the community regarding the project. Donna Skelly was re-elected by a wide margin in the 2022 Ontario general election. In March 2019, Skelly introduced a motion 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 ...

to encourage clothing donation. Skelly said the move was an effort to combat the negative environmental impacts of

fast fashion Fast fashion is a term used to describe the clothing industry's business model of replicating recent catwalk trends and High fashion, high-fashion designs, mass production, mass-producing them at a low cost, and bringing them to retail stores qui ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in C ...

, Skelly launched a website called Relief Within Reach to connect local small businesses with available provincial and federal support programs. The initiative was praised by members of Hamilton City Council. Skelly was re-elected by a wide margin in the

2022 Ontario general election The 2022 Ontario general election will be held on or before June 2, 2022, to elect Members of Provincial Parliament to serve in the 43rd Parliament of Ontario. As of December 2016, Ontario elections are held on the first Thursday in June in th ...

Municipal politics

In 2016, Donna Skelly won a by-election to represent Ward 7 on Hamilton City Council. During her time as a councillor Skelly developed a reputation for battling wasteful spending at city hall.

Media career

Skelly entered politics after a successful 30-year career in broadcast journalism. She produced and hosted Square Off, a widely acclaimed, current affairs program at CHCH Television. Skelly anchored daily regional newscasts and reported on local, provincial, and national news events. She held leadership roles as President of the local union employee bargaining unit. She also stepped up to advocate before the CRTC and parliamentary committees for the value in supporting local news. Skelly began her broadcast journalism career at CHIP-FM Radio in Fort Coulonge, Quebec. She then moved on to CHRO-TV in Pembroke, Ontario where she anchored the local newscasts. Skelly spent many hours reporting on the activities at the Canadian military base in Petawawa, which later prepared her for an assignment covering the Canadian troops stationed at Doha, Qatar during the first Gulf War.

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skelly, Donna Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPPs 21st-century Canadian politicians Living people 21st-century Canadian women politicians Women MPPs in Ontario Politicians from Greater Sudbury Hamilton, Ontario city councillors Canadian television news anchors Canadian women television journalists Canadian television reporters and correspondents Women municipal councillors in Canada 1961 births