Mitzie Jacquelin Hunter (born September 14, 1971) is a politician in

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 C ...

, Canada. She is 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 ...

member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario who was first elected in a by-election on August 1, 2013 and later re-elected in the elections of 2014 and 2018. She represents the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

riding of

Scarborough—Guildwood Scarborough—Guildwood is a federal electoral district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It was created in 2003 from parts of Scarborough East, Scarborough Southwest and S ...

. She served as a member of cabinet in the government of

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was elected to the Legislative Assembly in 2003 and sat as the ...

. She was a candidate for the

2020 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election The 2020 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election concluded on March 7, 2020, resulting in the election of Steven Del Duca, a former cabinet minister in the government of Kathleen Wynne, as Ontario Liberal Party’s 33rd leader. The leadership ...

, having placed fourth place with 5.7% of the ballot.

Background

Hunter and her family immigrated to Canada from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

in 1975. She grew up in

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, graduated from 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 ...

with a BA, and completed her MBA from the

Rotman School of Management The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management (commonly known as the Rotman School of Management, the Rotman School or just Rotman) is the University of Toronto's graduate business school, located in Downtown Toronto. The University of Toronto has b ...

. She was CEO of the Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance, and was previously

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Toronto Community Housing Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) is the public housing agency in Toronto, Ontario. A municipal corporation of the City of Toronto, TCHC provides approximately 60,000 units of housing to an estimated 165,000 residents, making it is the ...

. She also served as Vice President at

Goodwill Industries Goodwill Industries International Inc., often shortened in speech and writing to Goodwill (stylized as goodwill), is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides job training, employment placement services, and other community-bas ...

of Toronto.

Politics

In 2013 she ran as the

candidate in a by-election called to replace

Margarett Best Margarett R. Best is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 to 2013 who represented the riding of Scarborough—Guildwood. She was a cabinet minister in the government ...

who resigned due to health reasons. She defeated Progressive Conservative candidate Ken Kirupa by 1,246 votes. She faced Kirupa again in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

this time defeating him by 7,610 votes. In June 2014, she was appointed as an Associate Minister for the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

responsible for the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan. On June 13, 2016, she was promoted to the senior position of Minister of Education. On January 17, 2018, it was announced that Ms. Hunter would leave her position as Minister of Education to replace outgoing Deb Matthews as the new Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. On August 14, 2019, Hunter announced her candidacy for the 2020 Ontario Liberal Party leadership race. At the leadership convention on March 7, 2020, she finished fourth. She was re-elected in the 2022 Ontario general election.

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Mitzie 1971 births Black Canadian politicians Black Canadian women Women government ministers of Canada Jamaican emigrants to Canada Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs People from Scarborough, Toronto Politicians from Toronto Women MPPs in Ontario University of Toronto alumni 21st-century Canadian politicians 21st-century Canadian women politicians