Deborah Drake Matthews is a former Canadian politician who served as the 10th

deputy premier of Ontario The deputy premier of Ontario () is a minister of the Crown and senior member of the provincial Executive Council (Cabinet). The office was first created in 1977, and is conferred on the advice of the premier of Ontario. Though the role is seen ...

from 2013 to 2018. A member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

, Matthews was the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for London North Centre from 2003 to 2018, and was a

cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ' prime minister', ' p ...

from 2008 to 2018 in the governments of

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a Canadian former politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

and

Kathleen Wynne Kathleen O'Day Wynne ( ; born May 21, 1953) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 25th premier of Ontario and leader of the Ontario Liberal Party from 2013 to 2018. She was Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario), member of provinci ...

Early life and education

Her father is Donald Jeune Matthews, former president of the

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC; ) was a Centrism, centre to centre-right List of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada that existed from 1942 to 2003. From Canadian Confederation in 1867 unti ...

and her sister is Shelley Peterson, the wife of former Ontario Premier

David Peterson David Robert Peterson (born December 28, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 20th premier of Ontario from 1985 to 1990. He was the first Liberal officeholder in 42 years, ending the so-called Tory dynasty. Back ...

. She graduated from St. George's Public School and A.B. Lucas Secondary School. She studied at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...

where she earned a PhD in social demography. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled the "Consequences of immigrant concentration in Canada, 2001–2051."

Political career

2003 election

In the 2003 election, Matthews defeated Progressive Conservative cabinet minister

Dianne Cunningham Dianne Esther Cunningham (born December 5, 1939) is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. She was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1988 to 2003, and a cabinet minister in the governments of Mike Ha ...

by almost 7,000 votes.

2007 election and in cabinet

Matthews was re-elected in the 2007 election. She was appointed as the minister of children and youth services and minister responsible for women's issues after the election. On December 4, 2008, Matthews introduced Ontario's Poverty Reduction Strategy as chair of the Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction. The long-term reduction plan set a target to reduce the number of children living in poverty by 25 per cent over 5 years

2011 election

Matthews was re-elected in the 2011 election, and was re-appointed as health minister on October 20, 2011. In 2012, Matthews came under pressure because of revelations at

Ornge Ornge (pronounced ''Orange''), formerly Ontario Air Ambulance Corporation and Ontario Air Ambulance Service, is a Canadian not-for-profit corporation and registered charity that provides air ambulance and associated ground transportation serv ...

, Ontario's air ambulance service. Members of the opposition Progressive Conservative and New Democratic parties called for her to resign. In response to the revelations at Ornge, Matthews announced an

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the State police, provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. The OPP patrols Provincial highways in Ontario, provincial highways and waterways; protects Government of Ontario, provincial government buil ...

(OPP) investigation.

2014 election

Following her re-election in 2014, Matthews was shuffled from health to a revamped role as president of the Treasury Board. On June 13, 2016, she retained her position as deputy premier and was also appointed as minister of advanced education and skills development. She was additionally responsible for digital government. Matthews left cabinet on January 17, 2018, having declined re-election in the 2018 election.

Cabinet positions

Electoral record

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, Deb 1953 births 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario 21st-century Canadian women politicians Deputy premiers of Ontario Ministers of health of Ontario Living people Members of the Executive Council of Ontario Ontario Liberal Party MPPs Politicians from London, Ontario University of Western Ontario alumni Women government ministers of Canada Women MPPs in Ontario