Indira Naidoo-Harris is a Canadian former politician and journalist who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 2014 provincial election, sitting as the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Halton until 2018. A member of the

Ontario Liberal Party The Ontario Liberal Party (OLP; french: Parti libéral de l'Ontario, PLO) is a political party in the province of Ontario, Canada. The party has been led by interim leader John Fraser since August 2022. The party espouses the principles of li ...

, Naidoo-Harris was the province's minister of education in 2018, minister of the status of women from 2017 to 2018, early years and child care minister from 2016 to 2018, and associate minister of finance in 2016.

Background

Naidoo-Harris was born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

under Apartheid. She immigrated to Canada as a child and grew up in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. She graduated from the

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

and moved briefly to the United States in

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

, New York, where she developed a broadcasting career with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

before returning to Canada in the 1990s, eventually anchoring for CBC Ottawa,

CITV CITV (short for Children's ITV, also known as the CITV Channel) is a British free-to-air children's television channel owned by ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive and acquisitions, every day from 6 am to 9 pm which ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, CTV National,

CBC National ''The National'' (officially ''CBC News: The National'') is a Canadian national television news program which serves as the flagship broadcast for the English-language news division of CBC News by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It report ...

, and

Newsworld International Newsworld International (NWI) was an American news-oriented cable and satellite television network that operated from June 1994 to July 2005. The network carried a mix of newscasts from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and other internation ...

. Prior to the election, she was a

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

newsreader and a CBC Television journalist. She lives in

Milton, Ontario Milton ( 2016 census population 110,128) is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Between 2001 and 2011, Milton was the fastest growing municipality in Canada, with a 71.4% increase in popu ...

with her husband Randy.

Political career

Naidoo-Harris ran in the 2011 provincial election as the

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 ...

candidate in the riding of Halton. She was defeated by Progressive Conservative incumbent Ted Chudleigh by 3,148 votes. She ran again in the 2014 election against Chudleigh this time defeating him by 5,726 votes. From 2014 to 2016 she was a

Parliamentary Assistant In UK politics, a parliamentary assistant is an unelected partisan member of staff employed by a Member of Parliament (MP) to assist them with their parliamentary duties. Parliamentary assistants usually work at the House of Commons in the ...

to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. On June 13, 2016, she was named Associate Minister of Finance Responsible for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. On August 24, 2016 she was transferred from the pension role to a new educational ministerial position responsible for early year education and child care. In addition to her role as Minister Responsible for Early Years and Child Care, in January 2017, Minister Naidoo-Harris was also named Minister of the Status of Women. In January 2018, she was named Minister of Education and kept her role as Minister Responsible for Early Years and Child Care. Naidoo-Harris was nominated to run for re-election as the Liberal candidate for the newly formed riding of Milton but was defeated in the ensuing election.

After politics

In August 2019, Naidoo-Harris was appointed as the University of Guelph’s associate vice-president of diversity and human rights.

Electoral history

References

Notes

Citations

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Naidoo-Harris, Indira 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians CBC Television people Canadian television reporters and correspondents Canadian radio reporters and correspondents Canadian politicians of Indian descent Canadian women television journalists Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Durban People from Milton, Ontario South African emigrants to Canada South African people of Indian descent University of Alberta alumni University of Lethbridge alumni Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario Canadian women radio journalists Year of birth missing (living people)